The Nomad and the Olive Branch

I can't believe it has been ten years since I first started this website, and a lot has changed since then. My newfound apathy to everything economical and, these days, political can only go so far when I see something like "Daraprim prices soar to new heights" and "Volkswagen caught with its pants down modifying diesel fuel emission statistics from its automobiles". Dystopian literature has always conceived a future where every aspect of life, from body parts to the pollutants we breathe in, undergoes extensive commodification. Even Marx himself stated that capitalism in its current form would eventually be its own undoing, where the wealthy elite will consolidate power to the extent that the masses will have no viable alternative to living a life constantly in debt to their superiors other than to revolt against them. One can argue that what Martin Shkreli, the smug-faced CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, did was immoral albeit not illegal [ 1 ]: he was withi

  While most of modern science fiction is associated with the latest in Hollywood spectacles (*cough* Star Wars *cough*), it's easy to forget about the roots of science fiction as a whole, which goes back as far as the late 19th Century. One of the most prolific writers in this genre was a Frenchman named Jules Verne, and his books 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth are the epitome of his storytelling expertise. This review will focus on the latter book as I have yet to read the former (though it is on my backlog of books). The book is split into many chapters, so it makes for an easy read without dragging on and on until you reach a part you're sure you can place a bookmark on. While archaic, the style is simple and easy to follow without delving into big vocabulary and monologues. The characters, as few as they may be, are quirky and memorable, in particular Professor Otto Lidenbrock. The pace is just as intense and exciting from start