| recommended reading | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 18 2008, 08:33 AM (572 Views) | |
| Yhitzak | Nov 18 2008, 08:33 AM Post #1 |
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There's a lot of talk about socialism and Marxism, of capitalism and social contracts, and not a lot of accuracies or facts in these talks. There's a lot more to communism AND capitalism as socio-politico-economic philosophies than what any one given political leader has done. Here's my list of works that all people should read in an effort to understand politics and the human factor: The Communist Manifesto (Notice the idea about evolution, that any society must evolve to the point where it accepts its need for a community. It's a process.) Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes (the foundation of all American politics) The Social Contract, Discourse on Inequality, and others by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (basest ideas of all politics; should be required reading in all high-school government classes) Second Treatise of Government by John Locke (explains a lot about how America was born; his philosophy, however, is almost rendered irrelevant by the notion that if one simply doesn't like society, one can move outside of its jurisdiction.) The Prince and Other Writings by Niccolo Machiavelli (not just about how to rule with an iron fist) anything by George Orwell, but especially his essays and other works of non-fiction. His language is superb! And Orwell had a decided distrust of all systems that were too far left or too far right. Truly a voice for the ages. Heh. And a great explanation for why policy doesn't work: "Out of sheer ingratitude man will play you a dirty trick, just to prove that men are still men and not the keys of a piano...And even if you could prove that a man is only a piano key, he would still do something out of sheer perversity - he would create destruction and chaos - just to gain his point...And if all this could in turn be analyzed and prevented by predicting that it would occur, then man would deliberately go mad to prove his point." - Fyodor Dostoevsky |
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| Manna Pro | Nov 18 2008, 09:30 AM Post #2 |
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Manna Pro
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Id like to be able to read and retain all that... I looked at book reviews and saw this in a term paper written on Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes "The catch lies in the fact that each individual has his own judgment regarding self-preservation. A man, for his own reasons, may decide that the death of another man is a matter of self-preservation. In practical terms, the right to survive can easily become an unrestricted right to an anti-social behavior. (Hobbes calls it the right "to all things.") He not only assumes that man has the impulse to survive, but that man should, as a matter of "practical rationality," adopt behaviors that are necessary for self-preservation. Hence, if man judges another man to be a threat, and judges that killing that man is the only way to eliminate the threat, then by the logic self-preservation, he has a right to commit murder. The problem here is as Williams points out, that "in the state of nature no one is in a position to successfully define what is good judgment." Not to change the subject, but this is the problem with cops, and why most of them shouldnt carry guns: |
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| dumblonde | Nov 18 2008, 09:32 AM Post #3 |
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All excellent books Yhitzak. I would add "Democracy in America" by Alexis de Tocqueville to the list as well. |
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| Mtnman | Nov 18 2008, 02:14 PM Post #4 |
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If it ain't on dvd you ain't gonna get the younger generation to read.. Most of em can't... |
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| dumblonde | Nov 18 2008, 02:19 PM Post #5 |
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Bullshit. My kids go through books like ducks through water. |
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| Mtnman | Nov 18 2008, 02:21 PM Post #6 |
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yeah well good for them.. most don't.. |
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| archer | Nov 18 2008, 03:50 PM Post #7 |
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Mine do too DB....both read voraciously, and I don't think they are unusual. You have anything to back up your assertion that most of the younger generation doesn't read mtnman??
Edited by archer, Nov 18 2008, 04:19 PM.
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| Gringa | Nov 18 2008, 03:54 PM Post #8 |
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None of my kids read books...... |
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| towermonkey | Nov 18 2008, 05:20 PM Post #9 |
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All of my kids have read everything in the house. If they liked it, they read it again. |
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| dumblonde | Nov 18 2008, 05:23 PM Post #10 |
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I'd hazard a guess that about as many kids read today as did 20 years ago. |
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8:30 AM Jul 11