Looking for reading material for a beginner to politics.

Wasn't sure exactly where to place this thread, so figure I'd just try my luck posting here.


I'm just now getting into politics and would love any suggestions anyone has towards good reading material for someone new to the field.



I thank you in advance.

 

"Brave Little Toaster" was the creepiest kid's animated film ever made

 

Politics is a huge field. I haven't seen anything that covers more than a very tiny part of it. I'm afraid you will end up having to read a lot of books to get a good foundation.

Possibly a better way to start is to wander through Wikipedia reading some of the connected political ideas you see.

A few potential topics could be:
Socialism
Democracy
Capitalism
Communism
Republic
Demarchy

Austrian vs. Keynesian economic theory

There are plenty of others. If you really want your head to explode, study about fascism. Defining fascism is one of the most confusing concepts in politics.

After you have a good working knowledge of the various political theories and concepts, the targets of future and more detailed study should be clear.

 

Welcome.

Here is a link to Prager University online. It's a free (donations gladly accepted) website which boasts a semester of learning in five minutes.

They have five minute (+/-) vids on a number of different topics. All of the ones I've watched have been very easy to absorb, not too short or long in duration and very even handed with a Conservative attitude.

I would give one or all of them a viewing.

Just choose the one that most appeals to your curiosity.

The first video is an intro to Prager University.
[video=youtube;lq8jlJlyEDg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq8jlJlyEDg[/video]


This one is on American Exceptionalism.
[video=youtube;8OPWOKWZsMo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OPWOKWZsMo[/video]


The third one I've included deals with dropping the A bombs on Japan.
[video=youtube;U2AhV-QU1_M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2AhV-QU1_M[/video]

 

Jonathan Wolff - An Introduction to Political Philosophy
Niccolo Machiaveilli - The Prince
Jean-Jacques Rousseau - The Social Contract
Mikhail Bakunin - God and the State
Plato - The Republic
Karl Marx - The Communist Manifesto
David Boaz - Libertarianism: A Primer
Friedrich Hayek - A Road to Serfdom
Emilio Gentile - The Sacralization of Politics in Fascist Italy
Adolf Hitler - My Struggle
Hugo Chavez - The Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela
Unfortunately i can not find anything about Baathism

 

1984
Starship Troopers
Lord of the Flies

A younger reader will find technical books on politics dry and boring, read the books I suggest....
books with political messages hidden in compelling story telling.

 

Thank you for the suggestions, but I'm looking for more information-based reading than I am stories, if that makes sense. I'd definitely like to read two of the books you suggested, however; at this point, I'm just looking for the basics. An introduction into certain aspects of politics. Thanks again, mate.

 

The easiest thing to do is to just grab one of the college level politics books you can find on Amazon. Just look for one that has writings from various authors. Some of them are easier to read than others. Just look for names like Marx, Mills, Locke, Berlin etc. Hayek was very easy to read as was Berlin, Locke and other "older" writers write in old timy style so they can be a bit difficult to understand. I had to reread those twice. So fare my favorites are Hayek and Mills but that is mostly because I agree with them. I just started into Marx and so far he is easy to understand like Hayek but obviously of course I disagree with just about everything he says.

 

You have the entire internet at your disposal. I don't think it's necessary to invest any money to get the basics in politics.

Search with phrases like "Politics 101"

For example, this website comes up and seems to very informative.
http://uspolitics.about.com/od/usgovernment/u/politics_101_guide.htm

The assumption of course, is that you're an American. If not use search phraseology more in tune with the nation's political system you'd like to learn more about.

 

This should get you started.

http://www.rcarterpittman.org/

http://sovereignstates.org/books/The_Sovereign_States/SovereignStates.html

http://sovereignstates.org/books/NMAA/NineMen_Cover.html

 

If you believe that you are entitled to the fruits of the labor of another person then I suggest this. Our POTUS subscribes to this theory. Or, any of the works of Karl Marx

http://www.amazon.com/Rules-Radical...r=8-1&keywords=saul+alinsky#reader_0679721134

if you believe that competition is healthy and makes people improve, and that there should be winners and losers then perhaps this

http://www.amazon.com/Capitalism-Fr...id=1381521481&sr=8-1&keywords=milton+friedman

 

Just so you are aware, as you are a young person. There is no evidence that Obama has ever Read Saul Alinsky's work. He is an irrelevant write, ignored by the left. His only relevance, is that the right imagines that everyone on the left loves and reads him. Glen Beck thinks he is important, and right wingers on the internet, no one else.

Also, you should definitely get some sort of Marx reader. That is a better option that the communist manifesto which is very light and doesn't give a real sense of what Marxism is actually about, and Das Kapital, which is thick and unapproachable.

After that, it all depends... How sophisticated are you? Some of the old liberal texts will seem very outdated to a modern reader. Many will seem naive by modern standards, but their beliefs were more justifiable for the time (things like believing that universal education could lead to a sort of utopia and equality). If you do want to read stuff like that, read Thomas Paine. He is very good. So is John Stuart Mill.

If you want something a little more modern, which will give you a vague sense of both sides. You can read Robert Nozick and John Rawls' interactions. Also, Noam Chomsky has his detractors on the right (who don't seem to know anything about him, other than that they are supposed to hate him), but he is brilliant and writes in a very accessible style. I really like Mikhail Bakunin and Michel Foucault (who is more a social critic and philosopher than strict political theorist, but still really good). Read Discipline and Punish, which is IMO the best explanation for how modern state power works.

Anyways, the most important thing you can do, is take EVERYTHING you read at this forum with not just a grain of salt, but one of those blocks of salt (salt licks or whatever they are called). Most people here don't know what they are talking about, and the forum is mostly populated by unthinking partisan hacks. So keep that in mind, and make sure you do your own research, and take nothing at face value!!

 

Lol, they still have libraries you know.

 

How could he teach Alinsky methods to others without ever reading it first, himself?

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/Articles/bobamasunlikelypoliticaledu.html

Just one more example of how liberals, generally speaking, settle for the first bit of info that supports their predetermined point of view, which is based on a cursory search for information.

Liberals go off half-cocked, generally speaking, then try to peddle their faulty grasp of the facts as the real thing to people (Conservatives) who KNOW these liberals are full of crap.

Then we spend hours and hours trying to disabuse these numbskulls of their false notions.

But their emotional immaturity prevents them from just accepting the factual corrections we freely offer and instead they tend to defend their errors just because it's THEIR OPINION...nevermind that it is an opinion based on their own faulty processing of information.

Liberals.

*SIGH*

They make things look nice.

That is all that comes to mind right now to commend them.

Radicals, leftists and Progressives are worse.

 

Here's a fantastic resource.

https://online.hillsdale.edu/

 

You're source is laughable. Do you have a reputable source? Because the history of right wing blogs and conspiracy sites making things up, is very long. Present evidence. Like Obama talking about Alinsky. A source which confirms that work shop. Anything. I am not saying Obama has never read Alinsky. I don't know. However, he is an irrelevant bogeyman that stupid right winger like to throw around, to scare people about the mysterious radical figure. And even if he has, it is irrelevant. Read this, and educate yourself a bit.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/the-right-wing-resurrects_b_1663154.html


Obama is a corporatist and a capitalist. This is obvious to anyone with any intelligence. He is to the right of pretty much every major right wing party in any other developed country. He is a radical in the same way Bush is. Obamacare was a Republican plan for the 90s and Mitt Romney's plan in MA. It is wholly capitalist. Every other thing he has done has been entirely moderate. All the angst from both sides is silly political theater to distract people from the real problems this country faces, because elite political and economic interests (from both parties) benefit greatly from the status quo.

 

I would begin with the US Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, the Anti-federalist papers, the Federalist papers and the Debates on the US Constitution. Read the footnotes.

You can understand the Constitution in an afternoon. If you continue to be interested you fill find yourself reading more and more widely for the rest of your life. If you are young stay away from Marx and Engels. They are seductive and will lead you astray. Wait for a few years until you are thoroughly grounded in basic political ideas like liberty, freedom and rights.

If you jump into Marxist literature too soon you may begin to mumble about social justice (a theory of recognized rights based on one's group identity) and steeply progressive income taxes. Tackle those once you have been exposed more broadly to the long struggle for rights based on each of us as individuals.

Once you have made it through the US side of things evaluate Roman government, and Greek government before it. The review British government. Where liberty has blossomed you will find things in common.

 

Free to Choose - Milton Friedman

 

Hey! I'm also a beginner in politics and the book I am starting to read is called "Winner-Take-All Politics" by Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson. Hope that helps!

 

The New Republic is a laughable source now?

 

I actually didn't see that. It was hosted on another website, and I didn't see that it was originally from the new Republic. The site that was hosting it is a joke, obviously. The original source isn't.

 

So you care to revise and extend your remarks about Obama and the book and what it teaches? Are you denying he doesn't use it's core strategy in every issue in which he engages. This was a prime example,

 

Since you have read Saul Alinksy's book, please share with us his basic ideas, and then outline in detail how Obama has acted in accord with them. I haven't read it, so I have no idea.

 

Better to brush up on the basics of American politics. Understand the many, many facets of it all before you start entertaining any subjective views written by authors & ideologues.