Political books

[AnomalyLady]

What political books have you been reading lately? Or what political books have structured or changed your views?

 

[Bn2f]

Separation of Church and Hate, John Fugelsang.

 

[Chernosoth]

I have Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, Dave Barry's History of the Millennium, The Limits to Growth, and probably some others somewhere.
And I remember a blog by some guy who was born in a southern state, became a socialist, and lived in Mexico for a while before dying in his 50s or 60s. I'm fairly certain his name started with Joe. The part I particularly remember now is his description of buying a mobile home in the south: The buyer has A Plan he thinks will be enough to afford the home, but he doesn't know the salesman's plan to add many fees, so the final sale price is around $200,000, for cheap construction worth around $40,000 that won't last anywhere close to long enough to pay the loan. And now the home construction situation is much worse everywhere. Homes on foundations and costing much more are made worse than those old mobile homes and will probably fall down in 10 years.

 

[rgraham666]

Voltaire's Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason in The West This book made me realize how important balance is to a society.

The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam This book demonstrated how powerful entities become delusional and unable to perceive the world to their detriment.

The Art of War In my opinion this book is pretty much anti-war. Sun Tzu makes it clear it is a last resort and if not done swiftly and with precision war does more harm than good.

As an aside I have several translations and it's interesting to see the differences. One interesting translation was done by a US Marine general who fought at Guadalcanal and got a doctorate from Oxford after the war.

 

[MajorRewrite]

Democracy Awakening by Heather Cox Richardson is excellent.

 

[Wat_Tyler]

150 Questions for a Guerrilla by General Alberto Bayo.

 

[SissyBrandi19]

I just read and MOST HIGHLY RECOMMEND the book "Chaos" - this is a political book but NOT of the "right/left is bad" - this is a history of the CIA, focusing on the era of the 1960's and beyond. This is not my first delving into the CIA and I would say that it is very difficult to hold a belief in the idea of the USA as a country that is based on the Constitution (which I have the highest admiration for) and also realize the CIA exists. The CIA is antithetical to every principle in the Constitution. But...the CIA is also endlessly fascinating. Both can be true!!!

 

[Wilson23]

I would recommend "The Next American Nation" by Michael Lind -- written in the '90s, but still highly relevant.
https://www.amazon.com/NEXT-AMERICAN-NATION-Nationalism-Revolution/dp/0684825031

By the same author, also recommended:

"Land of Promise: An Economic History of the United States" -- https://www.amazon.com/Land-Promise...&pd_rd_r=56d398b9-2397-4994-a961-c68c3e1cb7a0

"Hell to Pay: How the Suppression of Wages Is Destroying America" -- https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Pay-Con...&pd_rd_r=56d398b9-2397-4994-a961-c68c3e1cb7a0

"The New Class War: Saving Democracy from the Managerial Elite" -- https://www.amazon.com/New-Class-Wa...&pd_rd_r=56d398b9-2397-4994-a961-c68c3e1cb7a0

"Hamilton's Republic: Readings in the American Democratic Nationalist Tradition" -- https://www.amazon.com/Hamiltons-Re...&pd_rd_r=56d398b9-2397-4994-a961-c68c3e1cb7a0

"Big Is Beautiful: Debunking the Myth of Small Business" -- https://www.amazon.com/Big-Beautifu...XyWqwgln3dkTfU8PGbPUzyM195-A94&dib_tag=AUTHOR

 

[Wilson23]

I just read and MOST HIGHLY RECOMMEND the book "Chaos" - this is a political book but NOT of the "right/left is bad" - this is a history of the CIA, focusing on the era of the 1960's and beyond. This is not my first delving into the CIA and I would say that it is very difficult to hold a belief in the idea of the USA as a country that is based on the Constitution (which I have the highest admiration for) and also realize the CIA exists. The CIA is antithetical to every principle in the Constitution. But...the CIA is also endlessly fascinating. Both can be true!!!

 

[JohnEngelman]

Reflections on the Revolution in France, by Edmund Burke, published in 1790, Sciobiology, the New Synthesis, by E.O. Wilson, published in 1975, and The Bell Curve, by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray, published in 1994 have influenced me.

From Reflections on the Revolution in France I learn that there is often wisdom in tradition, from Sociobiology, the New Synthesis I learn to be pessimistic about human nature, from The Bell Curve I learn to be pessimistic about human potential.

So, there are conservative aspects to my political thinking. However, to the extent that I am a conservative, mine is a conservatism that is without concern for the economic wellbeing of the rich.

 

[Wilson23]

"Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America," by Kurt Andersen.
https://www.amazon.com/Evil-Geniuse...4323f7e9997fe0579937381&qid=1770229825&sr=8-1

"Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire," by Kurt Andersen.
https://www.amazon.com/Fantasyland-...Kurt+Andersen&qid=1770229867&s=audible&sr=1-2