Books We Should Be Reading

[mrjarrell]

In another thread here folks got to mentioning books that folks needed to be reading. Heavily mentioned was, (as you'd expect), Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged", (I prefer "The Fountainhead", but that's just me). Also mentioned was the works of Ludwig von Mises (most available free from Mises.org).
There are lots of books out there, but some aren't immediately obvious to, or known by, people.
For instance, Harry Browne's classics "How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World", "Why Government Doesn't Work" and "The Great Libertarian Offer". Harry was a great guy and an astoundingly insightful author who led a lot of folks to a libertarian viewpoint. Any library would be incomplete without these works (still available, even though Harry has left us).
Also, I'd recommend Peter McWilliam's "Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do". A great book to nudge folks to a freedom oriented mindset.

Any others? And why?

 

[42769vette]

"the anarchist cookbook" because you never know when you will need somthing out of there

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Off the top of my head:

Anything by Von Mises, I recommend starting with Human Action or maybe On Socialism.

Road to Serfdom by Hayek.

Free to Choose by Milton and Rose Friedman

Anything by Sowell, start with Basic Economics.

The goofy Undercover Economist by Tim Hartford.

Anything by Hazlitt, start with Time Will Run Back. (understanding how and why economies develop. In fact when people ask me for a primer on economics, O.K., that would be twice, I recommend Time Will Run Back)

Envy by Helmut Schoeck

The Noblest Triumph by Tom Bethell

Anything by Orwell, start with Animal Farm. To understand the Left you have to read its authors.

Destructive Generation by Horowitz and Collier. I liked Radical Son by Horowitz.

Leftism Revisited by Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn

Separating School and State by Sheldon Richman (understanding the role that government schools play in defending the state)

Hitler's Beneficiaries by Gotz Aly (but, Kirk, why a book on WWII? Because it shows how tyranny operates, it cuts certain groups in on the spoils)

Winning the Race by John McWhorter (demonstrates the destruction that the welfare state causes)

There are many more. But is this list focused on philosophy, economics, history, agitprop, what exactly?

 

[bigcraig]

Unintended Consequences by John Ross.

 

[combat45acp]

Read unintended consequences a while back, can't remember the author, book was the size of a buick but was a good read. Think it is outta print, buddy got his copy from paladen press I believe.

 

[Lex Concord]

I've mentioned it in other threads, but it bears repeating:

Rothbard: "What Has Government Done to Our Money?"

Others follow:

As Kirk mentioned, Hazlitt; specifically "Economics in One Lesson"

Agreed: Anything von Mises.

Also, the Declaration of Independence, specifically the listing of grievances; it is good to remind ourselves the abuses that our forebears considered exemplary of a destructive government and sufficient cause for exercising their right "to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government".

To add to the socialist author list (like Orwell), Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World"...sadly, this, "1984", and "Animal Farm" appear less each day to be cautionary tales, but instead playbooks from which the statists like to draw both ideas and inspiration.

 

[MTC]

Nation of Cowards
Essays on the Ethics of Gun Control by Jeff Snyder

Dealing primarily with the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, a very thought-provoking series of chapters and essays exploring the concept of a Right, with implications as well as practical applications affecting our own political philosophy.
Toward the end, he nudges the reader toward - among others -John Locke.

Less than 175 pages. A must-read.
Click here for a more accurate review.

 

[ol' trucker]

Unintended Consequences by John Ross.

+1

 

[Armed & Christian]

Right off the top of my head...


anything by Claire Wolfe.

MOLON LABE by Boston T. Party

Enemies Foreign & Domestic by Matt Bracken

Brave New War by John Robb

 

[ThrottleJockey]

The foxfire series. The COTUS and writings of its authors (it's amazing how many haven't read the COTUS, even in here).

 

[Arthur Dent]

I highly recommend The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Inject a little bit of humour into some otherwise dry and stuffy lives.

 

[JDonhardt]

A dictionary

 

[MattYagPD01]

EWWWWW .... that was Donhardt's 666th post.....

anyone superstitious?



Bible, read the Apocryphal's. Most people don't even know they exist or were originally part of the Bible. (depending on what you believe, but read about the history of the Bible and it's changes before assuming.)

Constitution, over and over again...

FM 7-8

The Patriots

One Second After

 

[John Galt]

Here's my humble collection so far. I have a few more on other shelves, but these are the heart of it -

... and I am always on the lookout for more. Great thread

 

[jbombelli]

There are a lot of good recommendations above. Here is another couple of recommendations, that most people don't know:

The Writings and Speeches of Edmund Burke (there are 12 volumes in this work)

A View of the Constitution of the United States of America by William Rawle

 

[Liberty Sanders]

"The South Was Right" by James & Walter Kennedy

 

[LotsofGlocks]

Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History by Andrew P. Napolitano

 

[Duncan]

Here is my Library

 

[Duncan]

I know it did not get much traction in my thread but to piggy back it here ( I don't think mrjarrell will care )

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo..._would_offer_this_to_the_thinking_public.html

The Law

The Law .. What is it ? THought I would offer this to the thinking public..
I get into different discussions here ... some people like what I have to say many do not ... nothing new for me ... you should hear want the wife's family says about me ... in-front and behind my back .. oh well such is the price of fame ...

I offer this link not so people will pat me on the back ... hell would good would that do ... no some of what I say here is to make myself and others think .

I read this book years ago . I found it rock solid ... if you believe in the Rights of Man ... if you don't then you will find fault with it .

But it's truth is self evident .
Now I know that some or many of you have been exposed to it .. but for those that have not .
I urge you to read it ... it won't take long and I really think it could give you a deeper understand as to what THE LAW is really suppose to be .

The Law By Frederic Bastiat – Free Download | Foundation for Economic Education

http://bastiat.org/en/the_law.html

If you're to busy or to lazy to read ... down load the FREE audio book version and listen to it on the way to work .

FreeAudio.org -- Free Audio Books on Liberty and Freedom

The book is out of copyright since Bastiat has been dead so long .

=============================================

When a reviewer wishes to give special recognition to a book, he predicts that it will still be read "a hundred years from now." The Law, first published as a pamphlet in June, 1850, is already more than a hundred years old. And because its truths are eternal, it will still be read when another century has passed. Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) was a French economist, statesman, and author. He did most of his writing during the years just before — and immediately following — the Revolution of February 1848. This was the period when France was rapidly turning to complete socialism. As a Deputy to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Bastiat was studying and explaining each socialist fallacy as it appeared. And he explained how socialism must inevitably degenerate into communism. But most of his countrymen chose to ignore his logic. The Law is here presented again because the same situation exists in America today as in the France of 1848. The same socialist-communist ideas and plans that were then adopted in France are now sweeping America. The explanations and arguments then advanced against socialism by Mr. Bastiat are — word for word — equally valid today. His ideas deserve a serious hearing.

Frédéric Bastiat

The Law

Thanks
Duncan

 

[Beau]

Holy Bible KJV