British Prime Ministers go on holiday and complain about the weather.

RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER VLADIMIR PUTIN GOES ON HOLIDAY AND....

DECLARES FISHING VICTORY!

BRUSHES WATER!

ATTACKS WOOD!

LOOKS MANLY!

PLACES HAND ON TABLE!

BECOMES PIRATE!

THREATENS LOCAL!

ERECTS PENIS!

HORSES!

TREATS ANIMALS WITH PROPER RESPECT!

Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen

It’s like a silly fairy-tale, unreal, and containing characters without natural emotions. At least that seems to be how most people who are not Jane Austen geeks usually describe "Pride and Prejudice". Fair enough; we’re surrounded by the English countryside by the turn of the 18th century, soaked in polite conversations and tea-drinking. And at a distance, the plot is not all that exciting: A Mrs. Bennet wants all of her five daughters married to (preferably) wealthy and good-natured men. At a ball the family encounters a few specimens, one of which is Fitzwilliam Darcy, whose pride repels them all despite even his wealth and fine heritage. Darcy, in turn, is disgusted by the low status of the Bennets. They get off on the wrong foot, to say the least – and things get worse. Soon, however, Elizabeth Bennet, the smartest of the daughters, catches glimpses of the true nature of Darcy ...

Well, that sounds predictable enough, as the worn point of this novel – even from its title – is for us too look beyond what we see first-hand. From here Austen’s satire of social classes makes most critics revel in a rather tiresome anti-hierarchical interpretation – and pretty much stop at that. But this story is so much deeper and can easily be seen from a different point of view: It’s not opposing shallow prejudice in the "because-we-are-all-equal-inside" kind of way – Austen is brainier than that. Intelligent people, like Elizabeth and Darcy, may get dismayed by how most people are scheming actors of foul character or simply incompetent rabble, and so they become more suspicious of their fellow men. But Austen declares we shouldn’t give up: we may find the most excellent rare gems underneath that pile of drivel – if you’re brilliant enough yourself, that is.

It’s also very easy for us to hate successful people these days, when all we see is superficial morons on top. This is where Austen gives us some hope to hang on to: In order to overcome the mistake of despising anything that might make us jealous, Austen uses her sly sense of humour, imaginative dialogue and beautiful use of words in a way that makes us love these qualities in any person and shows that while it’s not "OK" to suck, truly great people can be victorious without any hard feelings. All you need is appreciation of beauty – and beautiful is what this love story is, quite contradicting the on-going revenge of the ugly and the dumb of today.

So fairy-tale or not, humanity needs this book. Not only because it’s what I would call first-class sophisticated entertainment. After turning the last page we are left with an immense heart-warming feeling. For once, this is not because the underdogs won. Austen teaches us to have loving hearts yet critical, discriminating eyes. With her help we can – without feeling cruel – easily justify our happiness when the unselfish and strong characters that deserve it the most win each other.

Libertarianism may be applied autism, but when a libertarian's father dies, it might nevertheless inspire him to write something really smart.

Society progresses only through the countless decencies, creative acts, honest exchanges, and faithfulness to responsibilities performed daily by millions of persons, nearly all of whom will be forgotten within a few decades of their deaths. Unfortunately, the monuments we humans build are chiefly to conquerors, tyrants, arrogant pretenders, and buffoons -- persons who, through the very acts that win them their 'honor,' help to undermine the progress promoted by the decent, unheralded many.

As we keep saying, you don't have to take over the world to make it a better place.