Troubled: A Review

I'll start off by saying that the writing for this book is sometimes less-than-literary. But the fact that the author clearly didn't spend a lot of time in writing seminars is a good thing in all other respects

It's a memoir of an orphaned half-latinx/half-Korean kid with a junkie mom who ends up in the foster system at a real young age. His recollections of his childhood made me give my kids an extra hug, and he was one of the lucky ones since he didn't get r*ped (which is super common for foster kids).

He talks about growing up in the system, then finally getting adopted by a good family which eventually falls apart (twice). He joins the Chair Force (affectionate) and kicks butt but is still just a fricked up kid inside, and nearly drinks himself to death. He then goes to Yale on the GI bill and eventually Cambridge for his PHD on scholarship.

All his memoirs lead up to the final two chapters which deliver the crux of the book:

• First that elite virtue signalling is (luxury beliefs) the new Venblen Good and that the trickle-down effects of this really hurt normal people

• Second that a stable, loving, family is the most important thing you can provide a kid. More than money.

The most important thing for the chuds on this site is that it puts elite virtue signalling in terms that elites themselves cannot brush aside. He calls out that the things rich college kids support socially are not the way they actually live their lives. It's a great read, and definitely a very centrist take IMO. He reads the audiobook himself too, which is always a plus. !grillers !bookworms