Important books to read?

[Xil]

So DubStyle's peer reviewed journal thread reminded me randomly of a question i wanted to ask: does anyone have a book they feel the politically aware should read? please share!

Personally i think 1984 is a must, not for the reminder fo the dangers of big government (we already know) but for the principles of what Orwell definied as doublespeak, something taht people tend to overlook in debates/speaches.

So any books you think every politically concious person should read? why?

[Mercury]

The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community by David C. Korten
This guy is very thorough in his description of the problems of modern society, why they happen and how to change.
Amazon.com: The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community (Bk Currents): Books: David C Korten

[Xil]

Nice, i've never read that, maybe i'll get it from the library.

although i wouldn't classify it as a necessary read i just finished Cry, The Beloved Country. I consider myself extremely conservative in my beliefs in small government, however this book awoke in me some feelings for the necessity of government to watch after the people.

[DubStyle311]

I'm reading Freakonomics right now. Its written by a brilliant economist who takes lots of economic principles and applys them to lots of random, everyday situation and topics.

The first chapter is about how the Chicago School System is like Sumo Wrestling. The second one is about how the KKK is like insurance agencies.

Its a great read and worth looking into.

As far as 1984 goes. I think its the most over rated, over referenced, and over the top book ever. I cant stand Orwells writing style and find it an absolutely horrid read. lol

[Xil]

1984 is over cited and over glorfied. i think his concept of double speak is fantastic though. and i've been meaning to look into Freakonomics since a dive into wikipedia told be about it (start with a random article and link off of it till you find something totally fun and unrelated).

I haven't finished this book yet, though i have the intention of doing so (had to return to libarary before year ended) but an interesting book to read is: Cannibals and Kings: The Origin of Cultures (or something like that). Its actually a book on anthropology but i think it could provide some interesting insight on some issues.

[Mercury]

I've heard great things about this one...
Amazon.com: Tragedy & Hope: A History of the World in Our Time: Books: Carroll Quigley
I'll admit i haven't read it... it's almost 1350 pages ... But I'm going to see if I can't find it at the library and maybe thumb through the first 500 pages or so.

[Maturin]

I'm reading Freakonomics right now. Its written by a brilliant economist who takes lots of economic principles and applys them to lots of random, everyday situation and topics.

The first chapter is about how the Chicago School System is like Sumo Wrestling. The second one is about how the KKK is like insurance agencies.

Its a great read and worth looking into.

As far as 1984 goes. I think its the most over rated, over referenced, and over the top book ever. I cant stand Orwells writing style and find it an absolutely horrid read. lol

Hate to bump old threads, but I'm most of the way through Freakonomics as well and couldn't help but wonder if my ole' buddy Dub had read it yet. Glad to see you have! I agree it's a great book and a quick read. Since my wife and I are planning for our first child the chapter on names and economic situations was fascinating. So was the real estate chapter, but maybe most pertinent to Yahooka was the chapter on crack gangs and how their managerial structure is almost exactly like that of McDonalds.

People should also read Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. You may not agree with most of it (I don't) but you should at least be aware of it.

samuel huntington - the clash of civilizations and the remaking of the world order.


.... also , "brave new world" or if your younger and cant digest that, "the giver".
both books have a similar plot line.


another sweet book i just got done reading is .....AHH Chemical rush cant type naymore

[Hostile]

I don't do a lot of reading, right now I'm picking through the story of Tim Leary's life, it's called 'I Have America Surrounded'. It's fucking wonderful.

[SmokeSomeDoja]

As far as 1984 goes. I think its the most over rated, over referenced, and over the top book ever. I cant stand Orwells writing style and find it an absolutely horrid read. lol

hater. -- dudes awesome. he lived and experienced some crazy shit, and was a very talented writer.


what have you read besides '1984?'

[psikeyhackr]

Fiction:

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein

Previously I’ve talked about strategy in 9-11 conspiracy theories, human behavior in the information war and strategy of cooperation versus competition. For this Sunday’s strategic discussion, I wanted to present a scenario from one of my favorite science fiction books: The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein. The book is a great study of a small colony in a unique situation working to establish independence from their rulers. They have no military weapons and little in the way of resources, but they have an artificial intelligence that is sympathetic to their cause.

Guerilla Strategy in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress » The Decision Strategist

Non-Fiction.

POWER by Adolf Berle (advisor to Lyndon Johnson)

The Screwing of the Average Man by David Hapgood

Warning: This book is not for the weak of heart! If you were ever wondering where to invest your old age, how to sue your landlord, which bank, health insurance, or pension fund to bless with your blood and sweat, this book will shatter all illusions (that is, if you still managed to retain innocence with regard to organised crime and society). Even if it was written in the 1970s, the book is as relevant today as it was when it first appeared. Hapgood presents a brilliant analysis of how bankers, stock- and insurance brokers, lawyers, other professionals, and government screw up your average Homo Sapiens.

This quote speaks for itself: “The average man has of course always been a loser, at least since the invention of agriculture made it profitable for one person to exploit another… Sometime in the late sixties, the average man’s domestic economy stalled… In 1974 a group of congressmen led by John McFallof California estimated that wealth was being transferred to the richest one fifth of the population from those below them at the rate of $10 billion a year… This divine right of hustlers flourished from the earliest days in America… “.

Reading list | Layla.Miltsov.org

psik

[Geeno]

Anything by Dr. Seuss.

[Jimmy Coonan]

Anything by Dr. Seuss.

Keep your communist propaganda out of this thread.

Although, I think everyone should read the Communist Manifesto, just to know what it's all about.

Why do you dislike Orwell's writing style Dub? I've always liked it, very to-the-point, he tells you what's happening without wasting your time with his reflections on it. I'd think you'd admire the guy, he was one of the few people on the left who condemned Stalin for what he was in the 30s, back when a lot of liberals were caught up by soviet propaganda. You should read Down and Out in Paris and London, or Homage to Catalonia. He has a lot of good essays too, A Hanging is one of my favorites. Politics and the English Language is a good one for aspiring writers.

[Jimmy Coonan]

And, for J-Wonder in particular, I recommend "The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World" by Avi Shalim.

[Maturin]

The Power Game by Hendrick Smith is one that I recently pulled off my shelf and started looking at again. This is a really in-depth look at the way things get done in Washington, especially during the Reagan era. Anyone who thinks they know how government works, or at least how it should work, should read this and see how it really works.

Caveats: the book was written in 1988, so it has dated a bit. The information on PAC's is pretty much history. K-Street lobbyists don't feature as prominently as they should, and of course the days of the 24-hour news reporting and the internet were still in their infancy. Rereading it today, it's amusing to see people like Dan Rostenkowski as major players again, and Newt Gingrich is still a young up-and-coming firebrand. But much of the writing on the Presidential entourage, media damage control, congressional staffers, and the Pentagon is still very much in play. It's really a must read.

[Maturin]

I've also read a couple of good ones recently about/by moderate Republicans (admittedly a minority group here at Yahooka):



It's My Party Too by Christine Todd Whitman. Originally written in 2005, this is a call for the moderate factions of the GOP to reestablish themselves in a position of power. The best chapter is Whitman's focus on her days as head of the EPA under Bush, discussing her realization that both sides of the environmental issues had become so bitterly entrenched that almost no progress was possible. (My favorite example: a member of an environmental group telling Whitman they would rather have Clean Skies fail than give Bush any sort of environmental victory).


Write It When I'm Gone is a nice little set of interviews with Gerry Ford by Tom DeFrank. While it's not the most in depth of books (it reads like a long magazine article) it is a good look into the days when people on opposite sides of the aisle still talked to each other, even in a difficult political crisis. Ford comments on Watergate, the Reagans, and his newspapers editorials during the Clinton years calling for the GOP to back off a bit. He could see where the bitter partisanship of the whitewater scandal was leading the GOP, and didn't like it. That said, he had no personal respect for Clinton either, and thought he should have come more clean, far earlier than he did.