15 enero 2007
The Arrogance of Power - Senator J.W. Fulbright
I recently finished reading "The Arrogance of Power", by former US Senator J.W. Fulbright, who is mostly known outside the USA for the scholarship program he devised and got approved very skillfully (he got aproval after promising it was going to be finance by selling old military equipment instead of by raising new funds from the US Congress)
I have to say this book is a little jewel for me, it is among the best thigs I have ever read. So good that I have finished reading the book, something that happens with less than 10% of the books I begin reading.
Written in 1966 I find it great the revission Senator Fulbright does of Latin America and specially of China (It has opened my eyes about Chinese history and why they behave as they do now). Also I like it very much Fulbright's visionary ideas such as the International Tax System and the advocacy of mulitaleralism instead of biletarism (Senator Fulbright would be really happy about the European Union in its current stage should he be alive).
After reading Fulbright's book now I understand why I get on so well with most of the Fulbright scholars I know here in Spain (both Spaniards and Americans studying here). I really like to attend their monthly gathering and I wish I had a Fulbright Scholarship so that I could belong to their community. I did not apply to the Fulbright program because I was going to the UK, and I am extremely happy with the foundations that financed my studies abroad (and their Alumni communities), but Fulbright is definitely the pioneer and the best scholarship program in the world.
Note: In some reviews about Fulbright's life it is said that he was for racial segregation. Something it is diffecult to believe for me after reading his thoughts. If you have any more information about it please let me know. I am still "schocked" but this negative point in his trajectoty.
I have to say this book is a little jewel for me, it is among the best thigs I have ever read. So good that I have finished reading the book, something that happens with less than 10% of the books I begin reading.
Written in 1966 I find it great the revission Senator Fulbright does of Latin America and specially of China (It has opened my eyes about Chinese history and why they behave as they do now). Also I like it very much Fulbright's visionary ideas such as the International Tax System and the advocacy of mulitaleralism instead of biletarism (Senator Fulbright would be really happy about the European Union in its current stage should he be alive).
After reading Fulbright's book now I understand why I get on so well with most of the Fulbright scholars I know here in Spain (both Spaniards and Americans studying here). I really like to attend their monthly gathering and I wish I had a Fulbright Scholarship so that I could belong to their community. I did not apply to the Fulbright program because I was going to the UK, and I am extremely happy with the foundations that financed my studies abroad (and their Alumni communities), but Fulbright is definitely the pioneer and the best scholarship program in the world.
Note: In some reviews about Fulbright's life it is said that he was for racial segregation. Something it is diffecult to believe for me after reading his thoughts. If you have any more information about it please let me know. I am still "schocked" but this negative point in his trajectoty.
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