Feldman's Faves: June 21, 2021

Good morning BL5 – I hope those of you who are fathers had a wonderful Father’s Day. In fact I hope you all did. My family let me ride my bike (albeit with Jeff Shore, so…) and fed me well. I am a lucky guy.

There is no theme today – just a book that I’ve wanted to read for a while and a PODCAST that made me think of my property class in first year law school (yeah, yeah, Professor Phillips, property is rights, not things…I know).

AMERICAN DIRT – By: Jeanine Cummings – Well, if Oprah likes it I knew I had to check it out. American Dirt is on Oprah’s Book Club selections and is quite a good and fast read. In this novel, Cummins tells the story of a Mexican woman Lydia, who along with her son, Luca, flee their home in Acapulco, Mexico en route to the USA in an effort to escape a Mexican drug cartel. Lydia’s husband is a journalist who exposes a cartel and as a result, he brutally murdered. Lydia, who runs a book store, has a friendship with a highly cultured man, who only later (i.e. after her husband’s murder) she finds out is the head of the cartel that killed her husband. Once she learns the truth about her “friend” she knows she is not safe and realizes she and Luca need to leave Mexico ASAP (since the cartel has eyes and ears everywhere in the country). There is a great description of her journey north and process of using “coyotes” and other resources and tricks of the trade, to get across the border. Along the way, Lydia and Luca meet other migrants with equally horrifying stories explaining their back stories and their reasons for heading north. This novel touches on a very hot topic these days and explains the complexities associated with the “migration / immigration issues” we hear about in the news, but told on a very personal and individual level. You really get a sense of the humanity aspect of this issue. I really liked this book and learned a lot by researching issues as they came up in the story. It is worth noting, the author, who is not Mexican herself, has been criticized for, among other things, cultural appropriation and as a result, there has been some wide spread criticism against both the book and Cummings herself. To me, it was just a interesting story, but I understand the point. For those interested, here is a good review from Vulture that explains some of the controversy surrounding this book - https://www.vulture.com/article/american-dirt-book-controversy-explained.html

The Next Big Idea: Mine: How the Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives – One of the few things I remember from first year law school is that “property is rights not things”….. Today’s PODCAST recognizes that ownership is very much a social construct based on certain “stories” that we choose to believe (a very Sapiens view of the world). One example relates to attachment. I own a house, so the air above my house is MINE. So if my neighbour flies a drone over my backyard taking pictures of me, I can shoot it down with my shotgun (there is a case in Kentucky that agrees). Could I use that logic to buy a rocket launcher to shoot down a noisy plane that flies over my house – maybe in Kentucky, but I think NOT. This PODCAST explains various theories of ownership and brings in some very fun examples (e.g., why do airlines sell the same space twice – can a passenger recline or is that space reserved for the person’s knees who sits behind them?). The real issue when it comes to property in the modern age is who owns your data – you book a trip to New York and suddenly you get advertisements for hotels, restaurants and stores in New York. Are you ok with this? These are questions that need to be more deeply considered are being hotly debated in the political and business arena these days. Here is a summary from the PODCAST itself: “Ownership is simple, right? Something is either yours or it isn’t. Case closed. But who owns the space behind your airplane seat, the results of the DNA you took online, the Netflix password you got from your cousin’s roommate? The jury's still out, according to law professors Michael Heller and James Salzman. That’s because ownership isn’t binary or static: it’s a storytelling exercise, and we rely on just six stories to claim everything we own. In this revelatory conversation, Michael and James explain how those stories work, how you can use them to your advantage, and why they might be key to dismantling income inequality and arresting climate change”: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-next-big-idea/id1482067226?i=1000524056545

Thank you for your ongoing engagement and participation.

And remember to stay safe, stay healthy and to docket daily.

Jon