My favorite book is The Deep Red Truth of Anya the Liar, written by a former Russian interpreter. It is an award-winning nonfiction book. The main character is the interpreter, Mali, who attended a school for    children of exiled communists and diplomats. She left before the collapse of the Soviet Union and decades later, she tracked down how her friends were doing. This book explores the political shift , how communism fell apart, and how her friends adapted to the upheaval back then.

The most intriguing part was about the character, Anya, who came from Romania and had been to several places related to communism. She was so nationalist that she bragged about how good her motherland is and how great    communism is. However, when Mali visited her decades later, she was married to an English man and lived in England. Despite her enthusiasm for communism back then, she no longer had any interest in it or even in her motherland. I was shocked by how dramatically people's opinions can change.

I suppose her views have remained in a good way. She also loves her homeland, Japan, but she tries to connect with people beyond ethnic and political differences. I really relate to her perspective, and that's the reason why I love her books. She's still a communist, which may sound abnormal given the current situation and the history of the Soviet Union. She dreamed of a fair and peaceful society, not the draconian and disastrous conditions that existed in the most communist countries.

That's the hardest part of communism. Giving too much authority to the government tends to end up in corruption: bribery and dictatorship. On the other hand, capitalism has also brought a wide income gap and a poor welfare system in advanced countries. I like the concept of social democracy, which is practiced in Scandinavian countries. It's somewhere between communism and capitalism. On top of that, democracy plays a big role. Up to now, they're thriving with high standards of living. I believe anything should be done in moderation.

The most appealing part is about social welfare system, especially education. First, every school has an adequate number of skilled teachers, which leads to high grades in literacy and math. Second, those countries address an aging society by providing essential supplies for raising children. I wish Japan implemented such programs. My belief is that education comes first in everything. In the first place, prejudice and conflict come from a lack of understanding of others' backgrounds: religion, ethnicity, and disabilities. I think Mali got it right.