Best Books on Politics

A few more general selectiosn from my library that deal with philosophy, nature of man, government and military issues . . .

Living Buddha, Living Christ - Thich Nhat Hanh
Four Noble Truths - Dalai Lama
Basic Writings - Chuang Tzu
Wisdom of the Zen Masters - Imgard Schloegl
Zen and Zen Classics - Frederick Franck
Political Thought of Plato and Aristotle - Barker
Basic Problems of Philosophy - Bronstein, Kirkorian and Wiener
Book of the Five Rings-Miyamoto Mushashi
Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu
Constructing a Life Philosophy, Opposing Viewpoints - Greenhaven Press
Jesus among other Gods - Ravi Zacharias
The Art of War - Sun Tzu
Philosophy and Contemporary Problems - Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Philosophies Men Live By - Davidson
Leviathan - Hobbes
The Portable Karl Marx - Eugene Kamenka
Discourse on Method and the Meditations - Decartes
The Confessions - Rousseau
Reflections on the Revolution in France and The Rights of Man - Thomas Paine
The Histories- Herodotus
Mencius - Translated by D.C Lau

sheesh- I got bored - enough for now . . . BTW, I tend to prefer original source material/books whenever possible

[quote]IrishSteel wrote:
GDollars37 wrote:

Hanson is the worst kind of historian, someone who goes digging into the past looking for evidence to fit a narrative he has already created. Read John Lynn’s “Battle” when you have a chance, he thoroughly rebuts Hanson’s thesis.

Worst kind of historian? - I’ve read Lynn (he had some interesting ideas) - Have you read Hanson? Have you read Thucydides? Have you read Clausewitz?
[/quote]

Not sure what it has to do with anything, but I read Clausewitz in college, have not read Thucydides yet, maybe this fall when I have some time.

You’re kidding, right? A guy who makes his bones flakking for one of the most militarily disastrous presidents in our history, and contributes to the retard chorus over at National Review Online, is “one of the most evenhanded historical writers today”? Not even close.

Are we judging historians solely on volume of output now? That makes sense. I should never have read Geoffrey Parker, that guy obviously isn’t in Stephen Ambrose’s class.

What on earth are you talking about? All historians are not created equal, just like members of any profession. Some write popular crap with an overstated thesis that gets gobbled up in the marketplace, largely for ideological reasons. Some do real scholarship.

[quote]GDollars37 wrote:

What on earth are you talking about? All historians are not created equal, just like members of any profession. Some write popular crap with an overstated thesis that gets gobbled up in the marketplace, largely for ideological reasons. Some do real scholarship.[/quote]

you’re going to be the judge of that for me now? sure . . . . good luck with that . . .

Carnage and Culture helped me embrace my hidden imperialist.

mike

[quote]Mikeyali wrote:
Carnage and Culture helped me embrace my hidden imperialist.

mike[/quote]

HL Mencken helped me embrace my inner elitist.

[quote]valiance. wrote:
Surprised not to see Freedom and Capitalism or even Free to Choose on here. No Friedman fans among all the Libertarians here?

@ Schwarzfahrer, I think it’s a lot harder to create a respectable liberal literary political canon than a conservative one for some reason. At least I’ve found it so.[/quote]

Gee, I wonder why that is.

[quote]Mikeyali wrote:
Carnage and Culture helped me embrace my hidden imperialist.

mike[/quote]

That’s a good thing?

[quote]Varqanir wrote:
IrishSteel wrote:
Here is a few suggestions from my library:

Excellent selections, Irish.

Socrates Meet Jesus- Peter Kreeft

Hmmm. I’ve read something along those lines. The conversation is probably a different one from in your book, though.[/quote]

Here, I have one:

Socrates: So, you are the son of God?

Jesus: I am the way, the light the truth, etc.

Socrates: I have to admit to being a little skeptical.

Jesus: About what?

Socrates: Well anyone can claim to be the son of God; but it’s prudent to assume that the person is deluded, not divine.

Jesus: I can demonstrate.

Socrates: Really? Wonderful.

Jesus: Look at this bottle.

Socrates: The one that says “Wine?”

Jesus: It’s filled with water.

Socrates: Why does it say “Wine” then?

Jesus: It had wine, but I drank it and filled it with water.

Socrates: Okay…

Jesus: Let me concentrate… here, now taste it.

Socrates: It’s wine.

Jesus: QED.

Socrates: But it already said wine.

Jesus: Well it wasn’t wine. I told you I drank the wine and filled it up with water. Now it’s wine again. A miracle.

Socrates: Turn it back to water.

Jesus: What!? Why?

Socrates: Well then I can taste it to make sure it’s water and then you turn it to wine again.

Jesus: And waste this perfectly good wine? No way.

Socrates: I’m still unconvinced.

Jesus: How’bout I multiply this loaf of bread?

Socrates: That might be more convincing.

Jesus: Ok, watch.

Socrates: You tore the loaf in two.

Jesus: How many pieces do you see?

Socrates: Two halves of one loaf.

Jesus: Are we going to split hairs over trivial details? How many PIECES do you see.

Socrates: Two.

Jesus: Ok, wait. And now? How many pieces?

Socrates: Four… sigh.

Jesus: You’re a tough one.

Socrates: You’re showing me bottles of wine and tearing up bread.

Jesus: I’ll walk on water.

Socrates: Ok, that’d be good.

Jesus: Here I go.

Socrates: You spilled water on the ground and you’re splashing around in the puddle.

Jesus: Is the ground wet?

Socrates: Well of course it is.

Jesus: Are my sandals over the wet ground?

Socrates: Well, yes.

Jesus: Since there is water between the ground and my sandals, am I not walking on water?

Socrates: Well, technically, yes, but…

Jesus: Ah! Behold the power of the Lord!

Socrates: THose aren’t even good parlor tricks.

Jesus: And still you persist? What if I curse a fig tree so that it never produces figs again?

Socrates: Figs aren’t in season.

Jesus: No problem, the curse will last for all seasons.

Socrates: It will take a while to confirm.

Jesus: We’ll ask the narrator to fast forward time a bit.

Socrates: To what?

Jesus: To make the seasons fly by.

Socrates: Ok. I’ve already wasted half an hour. Might as well see this through the end.

Jesus: Ok, let me concentrate. . There.

Socrates: There? Where there?

Jesus: There in the corner.

Socrates: That’s a broom.

Jesus: The handle is made from the wood of a fig tree.

Socrates: Ok, but it’s not producing figs.

Jesus: Told you.

Socrates: I mean, it’s been dead for a while, it wasn’t producing figs before you cursed it.

Jesus: Of course not, it’s not fig season.

Socrates: IT’S A BROOM!

Jesus: And it’ll never produce figs again. Now do you believe?

Socrates: I believe I could use a drink.

Jesus: Be careful what you drink.

Socrates: Why?

Jesus: Never mind. You’ll get it later.

No pookie - bad pookie - this is a book listing thread not an opinion thread . . . BAD POOKIE!

[quote]IrishSteel wrote:
No pookie - bad pookie - this is a book listing thread not an opinion thread . . . BAD POOKIE![/quote]

It’s a short online book.

Hegemony or Survival - Noam Chomsky

For me it was an eyeopener.

[quote]GDollars37 wrote:

I do have a fundamental problem with libertarians who worship at the altar of capitalism, however.[/quote]

Why?

Nudge by Thaler & Sunstein, on what they call Paternal Libertarianism.

The Revolution - Ron Paul

[quote]eigieinhamr wrote:

The Revolution - Ron Paul[/quote]

Really didn’t impress me. It was played up like a statement of conservative idealogy but instead was a very boring book about current issues.

mike

[quote]Mikeyali wrote:
eigieinhamr wrote:

The Revolution - Ron Paul

Really didn’t impress me. It was played up like a statement of conservative idealogy but instead was a very boring book about current issues.

mike[/quote]

I am not sure I agree that it was played up like a “statement of conservative ideology”. As a person who was reading it from the standpoint of a political agnostic it was mostly revealing about the idea of liberty. That is not a conservative issue – in fact, quite the opposite. Needless to say, I did not find it boring but then again the point of view of the issues covered in the book were really new to me at the time.

Legacy of Ashes - The History of the CIA
What it Means to be a Libertarian - Charles Murray
Free to Chose - Friedman
Economics in One Lesson - Hazlitt
Philosophy, Who needs it - Ayn Rand
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution
The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalizm
The Nine - Toobin
Environmental Overkill - Dixie Lee Ray

These may not be the best or most rewarding books I have read, but they are all important to me in different ways. Some provided great referense material that led to further reading (Politically Incorrect Guides). Some were a springboard to reading more about a particular subject. These books are probably responsible, in some way, to the purchase of most of the books I have read with regard to politics.