reading material to go

Berlin is good for streetcycling with boxes of stuff regularly turning up along the pavement. A pile of books in the UBahn is new to me. I finished book #11, Chokepoint Capitalism by Cory Doctorow and Rebecca Giblin. The book was very interesting albeit somewhat depressing. It's about big business/big tech screwing both produces and consumers. The book is mostly about creative workers, ie authors, musicians, actors, etc. It is clear how other sectors face similar issues. What I was not clear about is to what extend the  problems apply to other parts of the world outside the anglosphere. I suspect it might not be quite as bad but given those businesses are world-spanning it probably doesn't matter. The book not only talks about the problems but also suggests some solutions: we need to club together, unionise and fight the oligarchs together. Also the issues of exploitation of the workforce, leeching profits, degrading the environment are all related and interlinked. We can all pick some of the issues we are particularly concerned about, tackling them will also tackle the other issues. Otherwise I am still slowly working on the 30 year war book. It is very interesting and very readable but there is just so much of it.