On The Borderline : A reading list
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Recently this question was asked of an OTBL contributor, “What books or indoctrination did you receive to inspire you to write this?” When the answer didn’t include a list of books, the request was repeated, “I"m still interested in knowing what books and periodicals influenced you to adopt this extremist view of the world I live in. It shouldn’t be too hard for you to type the titles of five books, a couple of magazines and a website or two down. Unless of course, you are ashamed to have people know what makes you tick.”
Well, I am not ashamed to share what makes me tick. I have compiled a list of books that have been influential in shaping my ideology. Maybe others would like to share their list. I am pretty comfortable being labeled “right-wing”. It takes a little forbearance to accept being called an “extremist”. Martin Luther King reacted to being called an extremist with this answer:
But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Was not Amos an extremist for justice: “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” Was not Martin Luther an extremist: “Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God.” And John Bunyan: “I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.” And Abraham Lincoln: “This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.” And Thomas Jefferson: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal …” So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be.
Letter from the Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King
This morning my spouse found me walking around our bookshelves writing down titles. Here are the top 50 titles that have influenced me:
1. The Road to Serfdom, Friedrich A. Hayek
2. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand
3. Federalist Papers, Hamilton, Madison, Jay
4. The Law, Bastiat
5. Free to Choose, Friedman and Friedman
6. Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith
7. A Conflict of Visions, Thomas Sowell
8. Democracy in America, DeToqueville
9. Second Treatise of Government, John Locke
10. Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman
11. The Conservative Mind, Russell Kirk
12. Economics in One Lesson, Henry Hazlitt
13. Up from Liberalism, William F. Buckley Jr.
14. Common Sense, Paine
15. The Constitution of Liberty, Friedrich A. Hayek
16. US Constitution & Bill of Rights
17. Declaration of Independence
18. Human Action, Ludwig von Mises
19. Our Enemy the State, Albert Jay Nock
20. Wealth and Poverty, George Gilder
21. Art of War, Sun Tzu
22. Letter from the Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King
23. History of the English Speaking People, Churchill
24. On War, Karl Von Clausewitz
25. The Prince, Nicholo Machiavelli
26. Reflections on the Revolution in France, Edmund Burke
27. How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie
28. John Adams, David McCullough
29. Slouching Towards Gomorrah, Robert Bork
30. 1984, Orwell
31. Reagan, In His Own Hand, Skinner
32. The Way Things Ought to Be, Rush Limbaugh
33. Civil Disobedience, Thoreau
34. The Republic, Cicero
35. The Art of Political War, David Horowitz
36. The Greedy Hand, Amity Shlaes
37. Reagan, A Life in Letters, Skinner
38. When Character Was King, Peggy Noonan
39. The Tempting of America, Robert Bork
40. In Defense of Elitism, William Henry
41. Selected Writings & Speeches, Edmund Burke
42. The Bell Curve, Herrnstein/Murray
43. Ideas Have Consequences, Richard Weaver
44. The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression, Courtois
45. The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire, Brian Crozier
46. The Art of Political Manipulation, William Riker
47. A Parliament of Whores, P.J. O’Rourke
48. The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx
49. Democracy and Education, John Dewey
50. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, Joseph Schumpeter
Don’t expect to find all of these in your local public library or school library. I have included links for anyone interested in reading these. $600 at amazon.com would buy the entire library.
Anyone care to add their list? Gavel?
No related posts.
some of my favorite political books are “In the Words of Ronald Reagan: The Wit, Wisdom, and Eternal Optimism of America’s 40th President”
and
“A Different Drummer LP: Thirty Years with Ronald Reagan”