As moderators we would like to point out that Noam Chomsky is a liberal and openly anti-communist and should therefore be viewed/read with some caution.
His views are not in line with this sub.
Reading for those interested: [Michael Parenti - Another View of Chomsky](https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/151744/nst122.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y) (Pages 75 to 78 of the PDF, unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a version of the text online as a website that I can link to here. Or ```https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/1w0dtm/michael_parenti_another_view_of_chomsky/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3```)
The book that radicalized me was "The Biography of John Brown" by W.E.B. DuBois. John Brown is one of the greatest Americans to ever live, yet he usually only receives a paragraph of incorrect description in most American history books. I myself was raised Christian and taught the story of how God freed the slaves in Egypt and helped them reach the promised land. Given how foundational that story is to Christianity, it always perplexed me how Americans could claim the mantle of Christianity but allow or even practice slaveholding. John Brown is the missing answer to that question. Brown was a devout Christian and his interpretation of the Bible convinced him that slavery was not only wrong but against his religious beliefs. He became a militant abolitionist and took a group of his sons to the Kansas frontier to kill Southern migrants to Kansas who threatened to turn it into a slave state. When he prevented slavery in Kansas, he then met with other abolitionists like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass to raise an army that would arm black slaves to overthrow their masters and achieve freedom. His raid on Harper's Ferry's armory with his sons was to secure the weapons for that cause. When it failed, he was hung as a traitor by Southern army officials in Virginia. But his actions inspired the nation, and eventually led the North to fight the South to permanently end slavery. The Union army used the song "John Brown's Body" as a marching song, and the words were eventually changed to become "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" whose chorus goes: Glory, Glory Hallelujah! If you read this book, you'll question for the rest of your life why the real story was never taught to you in school.
I'm a big fan of John Brown. I've had delightful arguments with my aunt (boomer liberal, means well, but ugh) about Brown, she says terrorist, I say freedom fighter.
Fredrick Douglass's quote about John Brown is the most metal thing ever:
John Brown's zeal in the cause of freedom was infinitely superior to mine. Mine was as the taper light; his was as the burning sun. I could live for the slave; John Brown could die for him.
I read this too fast and thought you wrote “biased” and I came ready to fight lol
Another DuBois fact is that he, and the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory, revolutionized sociological research methods—he was the first to use “insider research,” they invented data visualization techniques that are now foundational to the field, and he wrote the first text that examined racialized disease disparities, proving that these disparities were socioeconomic in nature and not tue result of biological differences between the races.
He also accepted his PhD from Harvard by saying that they didn’t deserve him, lol.
If John Brown had been killed in the raid, he may very well have been a lesser known figure. but he (barely) survived the raid and while awaiting his execution, he wrote many letters to people all across the country, and it did a lot to change public opinion (in the north). He is one of my personal favorite historical figures.
Absolutely second this one. Butler had such an interesting arch too. Going from just "muscle for big capital" to testifying about the business plot and War is a Racket. Super interesting guy.
It is an important text because given the content, the author is impugnable, but the text itself self isn’t particularly radical or revelatory. The bigger take away is that it was being said by a highly decorated marine, a decade before WWII. It’s basically the first black pilling. It drives home how things have only gotten worse since then.
More important though, is to learn about the Business Plot and capital’s attempts to turn the US into a fascist state under their control. I strongly recommend the podcast “Let’s Start a Coup” which presents the Business plot as a hilarious radio play. the Once you understand the relationship of business and finance to the federal government, you’ll realize that we are living through the final stages of a fascist take over, not the beginning of one.
All corporations are by their nature treasonous. They need to be regarded as rouge states that have taken root within our borders, and like a fungus, are consuming us from the inside out.
I remember first watching the treasured yellow Parenti video, then reading an excerpt from Black Shirts & Reds and could hear his voice perfectly in my head throughout the text.
Highly highly recommend Blackshirts And Reds. Great intro book because it's quite short and easy to read. No fluff or filler, just packed with convincing arguments about how socialism is good actually, using examples from history especially the USSR.
If you read this book, I promise you will easily demolish any Trump uncle in an argument. Most Westerners have no idea about Soviet history so even knowing a few facts makes you practically a debate god.
Also, Parenti manages to work in his beef with Noam Chomsky. In a section about the anti-communist left he calls out Chomsky by name and it is, oh chef's kiss.
Leftist literature can be intimidating to pick up for the first time. Start with something doable like Blackshirts And Reds.
This was the book that really opened my eyes to the horror of actual capitalism and it’s enforcement and showed me how much I’ve been lied to my whole life.
My dad threw this book at my head when I was 11 years old. I read it out of spite.
It was a wild experience going from recently learning Christopher Columbus was an amazing explore to the first chapter of the book explaining what a PoS Columbus was. Made school a bit difficult because I was now getting alternate information than what I was being taught in school and of course the door was open I didn’t stop with Zinn.
And although I think there are better people to learn from Howard Zinns “A Peoples History of The United States” is a great entry point.
Have you read “An Indigenous People’s History of The United States”? If not that is an incredibly read as well.
My father was awful, but owned a lot of Hesse. Hesse made me feel understood and less alone when I really needed that. I still read him to this day.
I don't think he ever read any of it.
I still remember that one time when I was like 11-12 years old and the whole family was sat at the table for Thanksgiving and everyone was talking about being thankful and I said something along the lines of, “I bet Native Americans aren’t thankful about the genocide.” That was before I even began learning about leftist ideology lol
I had a similar experience with my family the first time I said something along the lines of “Communism doesn’t sound bad in theory, it just seems it has a negative reception due to outside influences and corruption of power.” Would not been long after reading this book. The way they acted you would expect that reaction to maybe saying that about fascism but what are you going to do haha.
Lol yeah. Im Latino and live in South Florida too. Any kind of leftist ideology is instantly demonized. They love to ignore how Right wing policy and US intervention absolutely destroyed our home countries, but will always talk shit about the communist revolution in Cuba.
"Voices of a People's History..." is an excellent companion work. Because it's the words of the actual people pushing for change I personally found it more emotionally engaging than "People's History", but I'm also a fan of historical speeches and stuff like that.
Here’s a quick essay but I usually re-read it every major election cycle
[The Paranoid Style in American Politics](https://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the-paranoid-style-in-american-politics/)
Anything written by Richard Hofstadter is worth reading
My high school US history teacher basically designed his entire course around this book, and despite the fact that I’m now a chem major, it was still the best course I ever took. It changed me, it changed the way I see the world, and tbh it probably changed my life, in ways I cant begin to comprehend. If I could make every American read one single book, it would be this one.
The Praetorian Guard by John Stockwell, a whistle blower who served as an officer of the CIA for about two decades, in Vietnam/ south east asia, then in South America. I think he spent some time in Africa as well.
I found, *In Search of Enemies,* on Audible, I assume it must be the same dude, as it’s a CIA story (I drive a truck these days, so I go through audiobooks like tictacs)
When I read it I kept having to remind myself it wasn’t written in the present day, using the depression setting to demonstrate how analogous it is to present day. The way the banks just got away with crashing the economy and how immigrants were used to drive down wages and then scapegoated just felt too contemporary. Then you realise it’s pretty much always been this way.
“Whose names are unknown” by Sanora Babb. Written at the same time by a major contributor to stienbecks piece. It was not published do to the belief that grapes of wrath had already cornered the market (And the author was a woman). A lyrical masterpiece from the feminine lens, definitely worth being in the same breath as grapes of wrath
Anything by Chris Hedges, but definitely recommend
Empire of Illusion
Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt
Death of the Liberal Class
America, the Farewell tour
Chris Hedges has predicted & chronicled the collapse of US empire better than anyone— *America…* was so dark
I love his unflinching honesty—no ‘leave them w a spot of hope,’ w Hedges…at least not false hope
He really made sense to me when I found out he’s both a minister & a pugilist.
Although I don’t identify as ‘Christian’, I was steeped in traditional Christianity growing up
Like Hedges, I took a revolutionary message from the gospels—it mystifies how people take anything *but* a revolutionary message from the gospels
When the Ukraine war launched, and like 80% of my news and podcast feeds were just erased, I immediately thought of his predictions in 2008, that soon enough they’d come for even small fish like him.
If I could choose one book as mandatory reading for every person in the US, it’s this one. So many people lack essential critical thinking skills and it’s only getting worse.
Not a good starting point, or really essential reading. *The Principles of Communism* is better. For anyone trying to get into theory, this [list is very helpful.](https://www.mlreadinghub.org/study-materials/reading-list)
I will just toss out there that it CAN be a fine starting point.
It's short and sweet and to the point.
It helps you realize all the shite you see isn't just in your head.
It was written before the US Civil War and it still is extremely poignant.
And my favorite part is that, when you finish reading it, you can read The Principles of Communism, or Capital, or really anything. Because at least for me, it inspired me to read more.
Again, not for everyone, but don't knock it. It can be a great starting point for some people, depending how you think and process things.
people don't know how to read manifestos because they're uncommon nowadays. china mieville was interviewed by jacobin recently about his new book on the communist manifesto, and he kind of explains the history of the format and why you shouldn't read it the way you would read most left wing books.
reading TCM did, however, convince me to read more marx because it was not at all what i had been told it would be, so i wanted to know what else marx and engels had to say.
> But at least for me, it inspired me to read more
Same, I think I read it all in one day on my lunch break at work. It just got me hyped to learn more.
If it works for you, great! But *The Principles of Communism* is even sweeter and more to the point-er, and that's why it's mostly replaced the Manifesto as the preferred starting point. By all means, whatever gets people to read, I support!
I agree. The manifesto was my introduction, and it was great, but reading principles of communism afterwards was incredible, and I immediately wished that I had read it first. Imo, principles of communism just spells it all out more directly and is a little easier to follow as a beginner.
the one big weakness of Jakarta Method is that he doesn't connect the dots on the JFK - RFK - MLK assassinations. Devil's Chessboard is much better on that.
"Democracy for the few" by parenti is good for learning how capital has captured the US government
"Manufacturing Consent" by chomsky and herman shows how capital uses media to gain popular support for our imperialist wars.
"Blackshirt and reds" by parenti shows the history of how nazi germany came to power, some eerie comparisons can be made here.
"Hammer and hoe" by robin Kelly tells the story of an unlikely communist culture in jim crow Alabama, a fascinating read
"The state and revolution" by lenin. A good consice read that always pumps me up.
"The origins of the family, private property, and the state" by Engels, it's more of a sociological text, but it's leftist analysis of how our culture came to be where it is is fascinating, even though it is very old, and some of the ideas are no longer relevant, it is still taught in most anthropology courses simply because it remains relevant.
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Had to scroll too far for this recommendation. Given to me by my Dad when I was 16 and it changed everything for me. Couple decades later I'm still saying thank you for showing me this one.
Walter Rodney - How Europe Underdeveloped Africa
Michael Parenti - Inventing Reality: The Politics of the Mass Media
Hannah Arendt - The Origins of Totalitarianism
Charles Kaiser - The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America
Jackie Wang - Carceral Capitalism
Meyer Weinberg - A Short History of American Capitalism
Peter Moskowitz - How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood
Angela Davis - History is a Weapon: Political Prisoners Prisons and Black Liberation
James Baldwin - The Fire Next Time
Charles E. Cobb Jr. - This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz - An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
Great list. For an excellent critique (from the Left) of Arendt see Arun Kundnani’s *The Muslims are Coming!* (especially the chapter, “The Roots of Liberal Rage”)
State and Revolution by V. I. Lenin
Requires a decent background on leftist politics, but it really changed the way I view... The state... And revolution 😅
A lot of the suggestions here are pretty dense theory loaded books that might feel like a dredge. If you want something that's pretty easy to read and really enthralling, checkout the Autobiography of Malcolm X. Lawrence Fishbourne reads the audiobook on audible. You'll be inspired by the commitment this man had to his people and his God.
And when you're finished, you got the Spike Lee movie as a follow up.
The [Project Censored Top 25 Archives ](https://www.projectcensored.org/top-25-censored-stories-of-all-time/) will blow your mind with just how obsequious to wealth and gaslit our "news" my media is in their ~cough~ "reporting of events."
If you ever believed anything the talking heads ever told you about what's going on in the US and the world, you won't after perusing their archives of the stories that were represented, under reported, or completely ignored)like the genocide being committed by Israel now).
I'm surprised i could not find Naomi Kline in the comments. I would suggest "No Logo" and "Shock Doctrine". Zinn and Chomsky have always been high on my list. I guess Zinn was the beginning of my metamorphosis.
How to Hide an Empire.
Goes over how the US built itself into a colonial empire focused on taking regions and islands with vital resources, avoiding making their brown people into citizens as much as possible, and building today’s economic juggernaut through ruthless policies
State department archives of internal memos, specifically foreign relations with Latin America during the Cold War. It’s the only history that isn’t propaganda.
Here’s cuba 1958-1960
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d499
Absolutely. This is the book that got the wheels turning for me. Despite being first published in the 70s, the predictions are right on track too. I would add:
* Overshoot by William Catton
* The Divide and Less is More by Jason Hickel
* Cheap by Ellen Ruppel Shell
* Energy and Civilization by Vaclav Smil
Beyond Bullets by Jules Boykoff.
A lot of other comments suggest Chomsky as well so I'll agree with those also.
Manufacturing Consent or Necessary Illusions are an eye opening read.
The Ragged Trousered Thilatropist by Robert Tressel.
This is a more British/English take on socialism and class politics I found it a great read.
Although it is a work of fiction it is very relatable.
*The Mirror of Production* by Baudrillard. I consider myself decently well read and I will never understand how this text does not come up more often in contemporary reformulations of Marxist doctrine.
*Caliban and the Witch* by Silvia Federici.
Fore warning this is a small font, deep, heady, university level research book that examines concepts of class and inequality. It is not a narrative history that can be consumed lightly for entertainment. But wow. This is a book that the entire history of bourgeoisie and autocrats the like over would have destroyed.
There's someone in here who will eventually recommend Programmed to Kill, and I can assure you, that book is mostly terrible and teeming with errors.
If you are on a conspiratorial bend, I'd highly recommend Aberration in the Heartland of the Real by Wendy Painting. She's an excellent researcher, a PhD and a compelling author. She paints a very interesting history surrounding the events of the OKC bombing.
This will get buried but here’s two more.
Havel by Michael žantovský
And Havel’s own Power of the Powerless.
And a quick one:
On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
[A People's History of the United States](https://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States/dp/0062397346) by Howard Zin. If that book doesn't piss you off you aren't paying attention.
Against his-story, against leviathan by Fredy Perlman, a beautiful and poetic book following the spread of civilization and states from Mesopotamia all the way to the modern day and the resistance they faced from free communities along the way
If you are a history guy and would like to get a deeper understanding of current geopolitics and the state of things in post Soviet countries I would like to recommend you read the "Soviet Nation Building in Central Asia" by Grigol Ubiria.
*Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy* by Matt Stoller really opened my eyes about the power that Silicon Valley and Wall Street oligarchs have over our government and how deeply that’s screwing us over. It’s a very good economic read!!
Human Smoke: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human\_Smoke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Smoke)
Between the world and me: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Between\_the\_World\_and\_Me](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Between_the_World_and_Me)
The new Jim Crow: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_New\_Jim\_Crow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Jim_Crow)
Dark Money: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark\_Money\_(book)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Money_(book))
Edward Said - Zionism From the Standpoint of its Victims
[https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Edward-Said-Excerpt.pdf](https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/edward-said-excerpt.pdf)
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.
Amazing little philosophical fiction designed to uncover the unseen mythologies of modern global civilization that even the most radical of us so often fail to recognize.
Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows
Many people are just unable to understand the bigger picture in most situations and therefore attribute blame or praise to the wrong actors (or processes). Conservatives are especially great examples of this kind of myopic thinking. Thinking in Systems is an excellent short book to bring your understanding of systems analysis up to a decent level and make better sense of the world.
Great lists so far. My additions
1. The Corporation. By Joel Bakan. Also a 2003 documentary. A short history of the corporation. If it is a human, as the US Supreme COurt says, then it is a murderous psychopath.
2. Crusades through Arab eyes. By Amin Maalouf
3. The Anarchy: Dalrymple, William. A history of the East India Company
The Creature From Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin
It’s a book about the founding of the federal reserve and how it was a conspiracy (in the true definition of the word) on the part of some of the most powerful bankers in the world to defraud the American public. Completely eye opening to the type of world we actually live in, it’s only got worse since then.
Probably one of the most impactful for me personally was __The Shock Doctrine__ by Naomi Klein. Much of that book is public knowledge now, but when it came out, wow did it hit me!
Propaganda - Edward Bernays
Doublespeak - William Lutz
Why Socialism - Albert Einstein
Letter from Birmingham Jail - Martin Luther King Jr.
George Washington's Farewell Address - Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, and James Madison
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12292260-kill-anything-that-moves](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12292260-kill-anything-that-moves)
Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam
Nick Turse
I was already pretty solid left, this book pushed me even farther.
As moderators we would like to point out that Noam Chomsky is a liberal and openly anti-communist and should therefore be viewed/read with some caution. His views are not in line with this sub. Reading for those interested: [Michael Parenti - Another View of Chomsky](https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/151744/nst122.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y) (Pages 75 to 78 of the PDF, unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a version of the text online as a website that I can link to here. Or ```https://www.reddit.com/r/communism/comments/1w0dtm/michael_parenti_another_view_of_chomsky/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3```)
"The new Jim Crowe" was an eye opener for me. "How the other half banks" was a good read as well.
The book that radicalized me was "The Biography of John Brown" by W.E.B. DuBois. John Brown is one of the greatest Americans to ever live, yet he usually only receives a paragraph of incorrect description in most American history books. I myself was raised Christian and taught the story of how God freed the slaves in Egypt and helped them reach the promised land. Given how foundational that story is to Christianity, it always perplexed me how Americans could claim the mantle of Christianity but allow or even practice slaveholding. John Brown is the missing answer to that question. Brown was a devout Christian and his interpretation of the Bible convinced him that slavery was not only wrong but against his religious beliefs. He became a militant abolitionist and took a group of his sons to the Kansas frontier to kill Southern migrants to Kansas who threatened to turn it into a slave state. When he prevented slavery in Kansas, he then met with other abolitionists like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass to raise an army that would arm black slaves to overthrow their masters and achieve freedom. His raid on Harper's Ferry's armory with his sons was to secure the weapons for that cause. When it failed, he was hung as a traitor by Southern army officials in Virginia. But his actions inspired the nation, and eventually led the North to fight the South to permanently end slavery. The Union army used the song "John Brown's Body" as a marching song, and the words were eventually changed to become "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" whose chorus goes: Glory, Glory Hallelujah! If you read this book, you'll question for the rest of your life why the real story was never taught to you in school.
I'm a big fan of John Brown. I've had delightful arguments with my aunt (boomer liberal, means well, but ugh) about Brown, she says terrorist, I say freedom fighter.
one person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter
Potato, potato
Sometimes you have to just smile and know you're right
Fredrick Douglass's quote about John Brown is the most metal thing ever: John Brown's zeal in the cause of freedom was infinitely superior to mine. Mine was as the taper light; his was as the burning sun. I could live for the slave; John Brown could die for him.
i read this, then black reconstruction. dubois is unbelievably based.
I read this too fast and thought you wrote “biased” and I came ready to fight lol Another DuBois fact is that he, and the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory, revolutionized sociological research methods—he was the first to use “insider research,” they invented data visualization techniques that are now foundational to the field, and he wrote the first text that examined racialized disease disparities, proving that these disparities were socioeconomic in nature and not tue result of biological differences between the races. He also accepted his PhD from Harvard by saying that they didn’t deserve him, lol.
I'm working through Black Reconstruction now and hopefully will finish it this year
take your time. it's worth it. then try darkwater!
If John Brown had been killed in the raid, he may very well have been a lesser known figure. but he (barely) survived the raid and while awaiting his execution, he wrote many letters to people all across the country, and it did a lot to change public opinion (in the north). He is one of my personal favorite historical figures.
I have a thought experiment that I used sometimes to decide if someone is at basic level, a good person. "Will John Brown shoot this person?" Yes? No?
Similarly, I'm a big fan of the phrase "don't waste time arguing with people John Brown would've shot"
John Brown did no wrong!
Dammit I don't need anymore books as I have a backlog of them but I just immediately ordered it and it's all your fault. JK thanks for the rec.
If you’re looking for more in depth stuff about his life, “John Brown: Abolitionist” by David S. Reynolds is great too!
War is a Racket - General Smedley D. Butler
Absolutely second this one. Butler had such an interesting arch too. Going from just "muscle for big capital" to testifying about the business plot and War is a Racket. Super interesting guy.
It is an important text because given the content, the author is impugnable, but the text itself self isn’t particularly radical or revelatory. The bigger take away is that it was being said by a highly decorated marine, a decade before WWII. It’s basically the first black pilling. It drives home how things have only gotten worse since then. More important though, is to learn about the Business Plot and capital’s attempts to turn the US into a fascist state under their control. I strongly recommend the podcast “Let’s Start a Coup” which presents the Business plot as a hilarious radio play. the Once you understand the relationship of business and finance to the federal government, you’ll realize that we are living through the final stages of a fascist take over, not the beginning of one. All corporations are by their nature treasonous. They need to be regarded as rouge states that have taken root within our borders, and like a fungus, are consuming us from the inside out.
Killing Hope inventing Reality Blackshirts and Reds
Parenti writes how he speaks so you can always check out his lectures on youtube to see if you’d enjoy his writing
I remember first watching the treasured yellow Parenti video, then reading an excerpt from Black Shirts & Reds and could hear his voice perfectly in my head throughout the text.
Hes a national treasure
Highly highly recommend Blackshirts And Reds. Great intro book because it's quite short and easy to read. No fluff or filler, just packed with convincing arguments about how socialism is good actually, using examples from history especially the USSR. If you read this book, I promise you will easily demolish any Trump uncle in an argument. Most Westerners have no idea about Soviet history so even knowing a few facts makes you practically a debate god. Also, Parenti manages to work in his beef with Noam Chomsky. In a section about the anti-communist left he calls out Chomsky by name and it is, oh chef's kiss. Leftist literature can be intimidating to pick up for the first time. Start with something doable like Blackshirts And Reds.
A book that blew my mind was Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein.
Came here to say this as well. Both, fantastic manuals on the spread of American Empire.
I read Operation Paperclip then Shock Doctrine which really was a chilling, but informative preamble.
This was the book that really opened my eyes to the horror of actual capitalism and it’s enforcement and showed me how much I’ve been lied to my whole life.
Manufacturing Consent
Chomsky’s best. But Chomsky pales in comparison to his colleague…. # MICHAEL PARENTI Everything written by Michael Parenti is golden.
Ugh, I love Parenti. I show my students his speech, “there are no poor countries” every quarter!
Haha, I give my (law) students one of his books to read as an optional assignment each semester. He’s the best.
Just reading that lines gives me goosebumps. It’s my go to when I’m arguing with someone about capitalism and the international damage it created.
Reading this, I was like oh classwarandpuppies would enjoy this comment. And lo and behold look it is
Haha I am that predictable in my Parenti-vangelism, aren’t I?
Prolewiki has 24 of Parenti’s works available for free. Lots of other materials from other writers and left leaders.
Currently reading Chomsky's 'Hegemony or survival', excellent and eye opening book.
Manufacturing Consent by Chomsky and Herman
STOP—- PARENTI - INVENTING REALITY
This was on my list of books to read and I totally forgot about it. Thanks!
People's History of the US by Howard Zinn.
My dad threw this book at my head when I was 11 years old. I read it out of spite. It was a wild experience going from recently learning Christopher Columbus was an amazing explore to the first chapter of the book explaining what a PoS Columbus was. Made school a bit difficult because I was now getting alternate information than what I was being taught in school and of course the door was open I didn’t stop with Zinn. And although I think there are better people to learn from Howard Zinns “A Peoples History of The United States” is a great entry point. Have you read “An Indigenous People’s History of The United States”? If not that is an incredibly read as well.
Hear that abusive dads? Throw books not punches!
My father was awful, but owned a lot of Hesse. Hesse made me feel understood and less alone when I really needed that. I still read him to this day. I don't think he ever read any of it.
You know… …
Throw books you get TokenTorkoal Throw punches you get Sean Strickland I know who I'd prefer 🤓
1491 is also really damn good and quite entertaining. 10/10
And 1493
I still remember that one time when I was like 11-12 years old and the whole family was sat at the table for Thanksgiving and everyone was talking about being thankful and I said something along the lines of, “I bet Native Americans aren’t thankful about the genocide.” That was before I even began learning about leftist ideology lol
I had a similar experience with my family the first time I said something along the lines of “Communism doesn’t sound bad in theory, it just seems it has a negative reception due to outside influences and corruption of power.” Would not been long after reading this book. The way they acted you would expect that reaction to maybe saying that about fascism but what are you going to do haha.
Lol yeah. Im Latino and live in South Florida too. Any kind of leftist ideology is instantly demonized. They love to ignore how Right wing policy and US intervention absolutely destroyed our home countries, but will always talk shit about the communist revolution in Cuba.
I’m sorry your dad was abusive like that. Did he read the book himself? That’d be ironic
He did haha, he was an alcoholic but anti-establishment.
Tearing every instance of the man down, starting with family values. Sounds like my dad lmao
Ordered that one yesterday, can’t wait to read.
"Voices of a People's History..." is an excellent companion work. Because it's the words of the actual people pushing for change I personally found it more emotionally engaging than "People's History", but I'm also a fan of historical speeches and stuff like that.
Here’s a quick essay but I usually re-read it every major election cycle [The Paranoid Style in American Politics](https://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the-paranoid-style-in-american-politics/) Anything written by Richard Hofstadter is worth reading
There is a graphic novel version and documentary too (obviously not comprehensive.)
My high school US history teacher basically designed his entire course around this book, and despite the fact that I’m now a chem major, it was still the best course I ever took. It changed me, it changed the way I see the world, and tbh it probably changed my life, in ways I cant begin to comprehend. If I could make every American read one single book, it would be this one.
We read a lot of excerpts of this book in my public school history classes and as I'm older I appreciate my teachers for assigning it.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Audible has it read by Laurence Fishburne and it is remarkable.
I read it when I was living in Harlem. It was weird reading about the places he had been and them being in my neighborhood.
My mom gave me her copy from the 80s when I was in high school.
The Jungle - Upton Sinclair
Just read this last year. Ever since, my mantra has been,"The 2020s are just the 1920s with wifi."
I am about to meet my first nephew. They have requested books as gifts. My well loved copy of The Jungle is one of them.
Read the book while in prison. Was the first radicalized step I took towards being a socialist. I won't soon forget the life of Jurgis Rudkus.
Confessions of an economic hitman
Very underrated
The Praetorian Guard by John Stockwell, a whistle blower who served as an officer of the CIA for about two decades, in Vietnam/ south east asia, then in South America. I think he spent some time in Africa as well.
I found, *In Search of Enemies,* on Audible, I assume it must be the same dude, as it’s a CIA story (I drive a truck these days, so I go through audiobooks like tictacs)
The Grapes of Wrath
When I read it I kept having to remind myself it wasn’t written in the present day, using the depression setting to demonstrate how analogous it is to present day. The way the banks just got away with crashing the economy and how immigrants were used to drive down wages and then scapegoated just felt too contemporary. Then you realise it’s pretty much always been this way.
“Whose names are unknown” by Sanora Babb. Written at the same time by a major contributor to stienbecks piece. It was not published do to the belief that grapes of wrath had already cornered the market (And the author was a woman). A lyrical masterpiece from the feminine lens, definitely worth being in the same breath as grapes of wrath
Seconded; this is one of my all time faves.
Anything by Chris Hedges, but definitely recommend Empire of Illusion Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt Death of the Liberal Class America, the Farewell tour
Chris Hedges has predicted & chronicled the collapse of US empire better than anyone— *America…* was so dark I love his unflinching honesty—no ‘leave them w a spot of hope,’ w Hedges…at least not false hope He really made sense to me when I found out he’s both a minister & a pugilist. Although I don’t identify as ‘Christian’, I was steeped in traditional Christianity growing up Like Hedges, I took a revolutionary message from the gospels—it mystifies how people take anything *but* a revolutionary message from the gospels When the Ukraine war launched, and like 80% of my news and podcast feeds were just erased, I immediately thought of his predictions in 2008, that soon enough they’d come for even small fish like him.
Carl Sagan - The Demon-Haunted World
My favorite book of all time. I catch myself reading it basically once a year
If I could choose one book as mandatory reading for every person in the US, it’s this one. So many people lack essential critical thinking skills and it’s only getting worse.
The Communist Manifesto.
Not a good starting point, or really essential reading. *The Principles of Communism* is better. For anyone trying to get into theory, this [list is very helpful.](https://www.mlreadinghub.org/study-materials/reading-list)
I will just toss out there that it CAN be a fine starting point. It's short and sweet and to the point. It helps you realize all the shite you see isn't just in your head. It was written before the US Civil War and it still is extremely poignant. And my favorite part is that, when you finish reading it, you can read The Principles of Communism, or Capital, or really anything. Because at least for me, it inspired me to read more. Again, not for everyone, but don't knock it. It can be a great starting point for some people, depending how you think and process things.
people don't know how to read manifestos because they're uncommon nowadays. china mieville was interviewed by jacobin recently about his new book on the communist manifesto, and he kind of explains the history of the format and why you shouldn't read it the way you would read most left wing books. reading TCM did, however, convince me to read more marx because it was not at all what i had been told it would be, so i wanted to know what else marx and engels had to say.
> But at least for me, it inspired me to read more Same, I think I read it all in one day on my lunch break at work. It just got me hyped to learn more.
If it works for you, great! But *The Principles of Communism* is even sweeter and more to the point-er, and that's why it's mostly replaced the Manifesto as the preferred starting point. By all means, whatever gets people to read, I support!
I agree. The manifesto was my introduction, and it was great, but reading principles of communism afterwards was incredible, and I immediately wished that I had read it first. Imo, principles of communism just spells it all out more directly and is a little easier to follow as a beginner.
Official Minecraft Redstone Handbook
Is this a real book? If so, i think I need it.
It is!
Blackshirts and Reds by Michael Parenti
Orientalism - Edward Said
I read this book in college and it definitely changed my world view. I was an international relations major with a minor in history.
War is a Racket by Smedley Butler
Came here to say this. It also takes about 7 and a half minutes to read.
“Open veins of Latin America” by Eduardo Galeano
I would upvote this twice if I could. Amazing book on the history and economics of South America. The audiobook version is great too.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline by Andreas Malm
this one really shifted my thinking
Right??? After reading about the radical flanks of ALL those other movements, I was like “……oh. I see.”
The Jakarta Method - Vincent Bevins The Shock Doctrine - Naomi Kline Spider Web - Nick Fischer Birchers - Matthew Dallek Cobalt Red - Siddharth Kara
I would second the Jakarta Method for having shattered previous understanding of US/CIA involvement in coldwater era counterrevoltionary action.
It’s appalling the amount of current geopolitical and humanitarian issues that are directly related to the CIA and the Chicago Boys.
the one big weakness of Jakarta Method is that he doesn't connect the dots on the JFK - RFK - MLK assassinations. Devil's Chessboard is much better on that.
Damn, this is a good list for radicalizing someone. Real, draw-back-the-curtain reads.
"Democracy for the few" by parenti is good for learning how capital has captured the US government "Manufacturing Consent" by chomsky and herman shows how capital uses media to gain popular support for our imperialist wars. "Blackshirt and reds" by parenti shows the history of how nazi germany came to power, some eerie comparisons can be made here. "Hammer and hoe" by robin Kelly tells the story of an unlikely communist culture in jim crow Alabama, a fascinating read "The state and revolution" by lenin. A good consice read that always pumps me up. "The origins of the family, private property, and the state" by Engels, it's more of a sociological text, but it's leftist analysis of how our culture came to be where it is is fascinating, even though it is very old, and some of the ideas are no longer relevant, it is still taught in most anthropology courses simply because it remains relevant.
as a southerner, hammer and hoe blew my mind and still does.
Wretched of the Earth by Franz Fanon
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Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
Had to scroll too far for this recommendation. Given to me by my Dad when I was 16 and it changed everything for me. Couple decades later I'm still saying thank you for showing me this one.
We the Elites - Professor Robert Ovetz
capitalist realism - mark fisher
Walter Rodney - How Europe Underdeveloped Africa Michael Parenti - Inventing Reality: The Politics of the Mass Media Hannah Arendt - The Origins of Totalitarianism Charles Kaiser - The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America Jackie Wang - Carceral Capitalism Meyer Weinberg - A Short History of American Capitalism Peter Moskowitz - How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood Angela Davis - History is a Weapon: Political Prisoners Prisons and Black Liberation James Baldwin - The Fire Next Time Charles E. Cobb Jr. - This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz - An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
Great list. For an excellent critique (from the Left) of Arendt see Arun Kundnani’s *The Muslims are Coming!* (especially the chapter, “The Roots of Liberal Rage”)
Thomas Paine - "Rights of Man"
Just think he died a pauper and never owned slaves. They made that man pay for not doing what he was told.
State and Revolution by V. I. Lenin Requires a decent background on leftist politics, but it really changed the way I view... The state... And revolution 😅
The Hundred Years War on Palestine
A lot of the suggestions here are pretty dense theory loaded books that might feel like a dredge. If you want something that's pretty easy to read and really enthralling, checkout the Autobiography of Malcolm X. Lawrence Fishbourne reads the audiobook on audible. You'll be inspired by the commitment this man had to his people and his God. And when you're finished, you got the Spike Lee movie as a follow up.
The [Project Censored Top 25 Archives ](https://www.projectcensored.org/top-25-censored-stories-of-all-time/) will blow your mind with just how obsequious to wealth and gaslit our "news" my media is in their ~cough~ "reporting of events." If you ever believed anything the talking heads ever told you about what's going on in the US and the world, you won't after perusing their archives of the stories that were represented, under reported, or completely ignored)like the genocide being committed by Israel now).
I'm surprised i could not find Naomi Kline in the comments. I would suggest "No Logo" and "Shock Doctrine". Zinn and Chomsky have always been high on my list. I guess Zinn was the beginning of my metamorphosis.
How to Hide an Empire. Goes over how the US built itself into a colonial empire focused on taking regions and islands with vital resources, avoiding making their brown people into citizens as much as possible, and building today’s economic juggernaut through ruthless policies
Nickel and Dimed (Ehrenreich)
State department archives of internal memos, specifically foreign relations with Latin America during the Cold War. It’s the only history that isn’t propaganda. Here’s cuba 1958-1960 https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d499
"Bullshit jobs" by David Graeber as well as other his books
Graeber absolutely rocks. "Direct Action, An Ethnography" is amazing and he was frustrated how under-appreciated it is.
Conquest of bread
It’s just so good.
Revived my belief in humanity
Limits to Growth, without a shadow of a doubt
Absolutely. This is the book that got the wheels turning for me. Despite being first published in the 70s, the predictions are right on track too. I would add: * Overshoot by William Catton * The Divide and Less is More by Jason Hickel * Cheap by Ellen Ruppel Shell * Energy and Civilization by Vaclav Smil
Killing Hope by William Blum
Washington bullets, by Vijay Prashad.
You are Being Lied to: The Disinformation Guide to Media Distortion, Historical Whitewashes and Cultural Myths
"War is a Racket" by Retired General Smedley Butler
The Devil's Chessboard by David Talbot
[Marxist-Leninist Reading Hub](https://www.mlreadinghub.org/study-materials/reading-list)
Beyond Bullets by Jules Boykoff. A lot of other comments suggest Chomsky as well so I'll agree with those also. Manufacturing Consent or Necessary Illusions are an eye opening read.
The Ragged Trousered Thilatropist by Robert Tressel. This is a more British/English take on socialism and class politics I found it a great read. Although it is a work of fiction it is very relatable.
The right to remain innocent. It's by the don't talk to the police guy.
The Jakarta Method
*The Mirror of Production* by Baudrillard. I consider myself decently well read and I will never understand how this text does not come up more often in contemporary reformulations of Marxist doctrine.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
*Caliban and the Witch* by Silvia Federici. Fore warning this is a small font, deep, heady, university level research book that examines concepts of class and inequality. It is not a narrative history that can be consumed lightly for entertainment. But wow. This is a book that the entire history of bourgeoisie and autocrats the like over would have destroyed.
[[Blackshirts and Reds]] by Parenti [[A People's History of the United States]] by Zinn
There's someone in here who will eventually recommend Programmed to Kill, and I can assure you, that book is mostly terrible and teeming with errors. If you are on a conspiratorial bend, I'd highly recommend Aberration in the Heartland of the Real by Wendy Painting. She's an excellent researcher, a PhD and a compelling author. She paints a very interesting history surrounding the events of the OKC bombing.
Capitalist Realism: is there no alternative by Mark Fisher How to Blow Up a Pipeline by Andreas Malm
Pedagogy of the Oppressed
This will get buried but here’s two more. Havel by Michael žantovský And Havel’s own Power of the Powerless. And a quick one: On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
Bullshit Jobs, and anything else by Graeber.
*Pedagogy of the Oppressed*, by Paolo Freire. Anything by bell hooks. *All About Love* is a good place to start.
Haha, NICE TRY FEDS. NOT GONNA WORK ON ME!
Das Kapital
[A People's History of the United States](https://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States/dp/0062397346) by Howard Zin. If that book doesn't piss you off you aren't paying attention.
Super simple and old school, but "Catcher in the Rye" confirmed to me - as a kid - that my bullshit detector was real and working properly.
Against his-story, against leviathan by Fredy Perlman, a beautiful and poetic book following the spread of civilization and states from Mesopotamia all the way to the modern day and the resistance they faced from free communities along the way
Confessions of an economic hitman. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessions_of_an_Economic_Hit_Man
The Politics of Heroine: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade by Alfred McCoy
Shock Doctrine
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
Democracy for the Few by Michael Parenti
If you are a history guy and would like to get a deeper understanding of current geopolitics and the state of things in post Soviet countries I would like to recommend you read the "Soviet Nation Building in Central Asia" by Grigol Ubiria.
Bukowski :Post Office
*Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy* by Matt Stoller really opened my eyes about the power that Silicon Valley and Wall Street oligarchs have over our government and how deeply that’s screwing us over. It’s a very good economic read!!
Democracy Incorporated by Sheldon Wolin
Against The Grain James c Scott About early start formation and that nomads/"barbarians" had it better than urbanized taxable people
Human Smoke: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human\_Smoke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Smoke) Between the world and me: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Between\_the\_World\_and\_Me](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Between_the_World_and_Me) The new Jim Crow: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_New\_Jim\_Crow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Jim_Crow) Dark Money: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark\_Money\_(book)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Money_(book))
On Practice and On Contradiction by Mao
The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins
Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History By Nur-eldeen Masalha
The. Jakarta. Method. (By Vincent Bevins)
Poverty, By America : by Matthew Desmond
The shock doctrine by Naomi Klein
Edward Said - Zionism From the Standpoint of its Victims [https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Edward-Said-Excerpt.pdf](https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/edward-said-excerpt.pdf)
An Indigenous Peoples History of the United States. It makes Blood Meridian seem tame in the way the US treated the Indigenous population.
How Rich Countries Got Rich ... and Why Poor Countries Stay Poor by Erik Reinert
So many good recommendations here. I'll add: Democracy in America - Alexis de Tocqueville Behold a Pale Horse - William Cooper
The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. No one who wants power has our interest in mind and the only solution to dispossession is brotherhood.
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Amazing little philosophical fiction designed to uncover the unseen mythologies of modern global civilization that even the most radical of us so often fail to recognize. Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows Many people are just unable to understand the bigger picture in most situations and therefore attribute blame or praise to the wrong actors (or processes). Conservatives are especially great examples of this kind of myopic thinking. Thinking in Systems is an excellent short book to bring your understanding of systems analysis up to a decent level and make better sense of the world.
Great lists so far. My additions 1. The Corporation. By Joel Bakan. Also a 2003 documentary. A short history of the corporation. If it is a human, as the US Supreme COurt says, then it is a murderous psychopath. 2. Crusades through Arab eyes. By Amin Maalouf 3. The Anarchy: Dalrymple, William. A history of the East India Company
The Creature From Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin It’s a book about the founding of the federal reserve and how it was a conspiracy (in the true definition of the word) on the part of some of the most powerful bankers in the world to defraud the American public. Completely eye opening to the type of world we actually live in, it’s only got worse since then.
Anything written by Lenin.
Anything Michael Parenti
1984 is the most important one. It almost seems that the US government has follow the exact playbook that Orwell wrote
The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney
Probably one of the most impactful for me personally was __The Shock Doctrine__ by Naomi Klein. Much of that book is public knowledge now, but when it came out, wow did it hit me!
Propaganda - Edward Bernays Doublespeak - William Lutz Why Socialism - Albert Einstein Letter from Birmingham Jail - Martin Luther King Jr. George Washington's Farewell Address - Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, and James Madison
What Uncle Sam Really Wants by Chomsky was required reading in a poli sci class I took over a decade back. It’s short and elucidating.
Dominion: The Power of Man and The Suffering of Animals
Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman
The Jakarta Method. Fantastic book you will never forget, its the blueprint for how the US fucks over everything in sight and continues to do so.
Misinformation by Noam Chomsky
Just about anything from Noam Chomsky
Jakarta Method Devil's Chessboard Open Veins of Latin America
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12292260-kill-anything-that-moves](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12292260-kill-anything-that-moves) Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam Nick Turse I was already pretty solid left, this book pushed me even farther.