THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Fun Stuff => ENJOY => Topic started by: Luke C on 05 Oct 2006, 04:06
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Ok so having read some Michael Moore a few years back Im kinda wanting to read some more poltics related books. Some more 'pop-politcs' books like Moore's would be good but I am also looking for recommendations for books which are more 'serious'.
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This may not exactly be "political" but I think that everyone needs to read Kurt Vonnegut's last book, "Man Without A Country." It's not so much a left vs. right political thing as it is just Vonnegut's commentary on the state of the world today. It's quite a read...
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I'd recommend "as used on the famous Nelson Mandela" by Mark Thomas.
It's about the illeagal arms and torture trades. It's very much about the British situation as opposed to American politics, but it's bloody funny, and a damn sight better written than Michael Moores stuff.
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More serious
Richard Clark's Against All Enemies
Joseph Wilson's The Politics of Truth
Joe Trippi's The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Sen. Byron Dorgan's Take This Job and Ship It
Pop
Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars that Tell Them
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No Logo by Naomi Klein - pretty much the best of the popular political books I have read. Have you read Moore's older books, Downsize This and Adventures in a TV Nation? He's much better at labour issues than international politics.
Check out some Chomsky too - quite a different viewpoint to a lot of the lefties.
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serious: The World is Flat by *sorry forgot author*
it talks about outsourcing and so-called "slave labor" and "sweat shops" in other countries etc.
it sort of defends outsourcing and explains why it actually makes sense when you think of labor as a product.
example (possibly right from the books, i'm not sure): alaska needs bananas but they cant grow bananas (or its not cost effective for them to do so) so they ship bananas in from elsewhere for profit. they get something they need and provide work for the people who have that product. we can hire computer tech support phone opertators in india for much cheaper than we can in america. those companys save money, and the the phone operators in india make much more money than they would selling pots or something (whatever they do in india, idk). so the wages they are making seem criminally low to us, they are actually very good earnings for someone in india.
long story short: everyone wins. *
*note: this is not defending actual slave labor/forced labor/child labor or anything that evil. i'm speaking only about people who are working willingly.
anyway, to get back on topic: its a good book and it might change the way you look at the world.
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Cheers for the suggestions guys and gals I shall be looking some of these up. :)
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serious: The World is Flat by *sorry forgot author*
Please avoid this book, as Thomas Friedman is a neocon who adopts a rather ignorant "me first" attitude IMHO. The system of free trade he advocates does absolutely nothing to level the playing field, and studies have shown it will do nothing to lift developing nations out of poverty, instead, it will drive americans into poverty, and enrich a handful of corporations.. If you do read this book, please also read Sen Byron Dorgan's Take This Job and Ship It.
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More serious
Richard Clark's Against All Enemies
Joseph Wilson's The Politics of Truth
Joe Trippi's The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Sen. Byron Dorgan's Take This Job and Ship It
Pop
Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars that Tell Them
These are excellent suggestions. Especially Against All Enemies, I read this after reading the 9/11 Commission Report and was stunned. Very good book.
Here are some others that I liked quite a bit:
Politics: Observations and Arguements 1966-2004 - Hendrik Hertzberg
The Long Detour: The History and Future of the American Left - James Weinstein
Left Out: The Politics Of Exclusion / Essays / 1964-1999 - Martin Duberman
:)
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I really enjoyed "Globalization and It's Discontents" by Jospeh Stiglitz. It is a very insightful look into the problems with the IMF/WTO/World Bank written by a man who has been on the inside. While Stiglitz is one of the heavy hitters on econcomic matters the book is very readable without making you feel like an idiot.