4 Nonfiction Books I Want to Read

Have you read any of these? Which ones should I start with?
#nonfictionbooks #bookrecommendations #bookstoread

[@jcivantos]

Love your videos. You’ve inspired me to read philosophy this summer.

[@shrutibhandari6731]

Communist Manifesto is really more a call to action rather than a well fleshed out idea. Worth a read, but Das Capital and some of his earlier essays like Alienated Labour are better examples of Marx's work (I'm not a fan of communism in practice, but Alienated Labour is one of my favorite economic essays).

[@davidtaylor142]

Speaking of communism in practice, reading about the history of the USSR from a non-American perspective is fascinating. Turns out it was a normal country with some very successful ideas and not an Orwellian hellscape for most of its history.

[@shrutibhandari6731]

@@davidtaylor142 I mean, read the Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn... Even if it did have good ideas, even if it did thrive, it turned into a hellish landscape that excise every landowner, business owner, and intellectual from the population and strangled it's economy for state power. Communism (in theory) requires a moral and just state where power is decentralized... But the act of getting a communist regime requires heavily centralizing the government. It's a strange loop.

[@davidtaylor142]

@@shrutibhandari6731 again, highly recommend looking into actual economic histories. The USSR's policies in the first couple of decades were some of the most successful in the history of the world. Market control under Stalin was a failure. Both are communism. Pretending communism is one specific thing that failed is intellectually dishonest

[@shrutibhandari6731]

@@davidtaylor142 if you look at the 1920s in the United States you see a lot of amazing growth as well. I have read a lot of the economic history of the USSR but you have to take it into the context of the entire world economy at the time. Just because something works for 10 years, doesn't mean that it's something that works. 10 years is a blip in the scale of civilizations, that doesn't negate that maybe some of their ideas were good ideas and executed poorly. I just think that the incredible loss of life, the purging of a population's most productive citizens, and the sheer devastation of the gulags is a far more important takeaway than some good economic policies that were derailed by a violent regime.

[@davidtaylor142]

@@shrutibhandari6731 my brother in Christ the US was A) about to enter the biggest depression in the history of the modern world and B) already had massive resources and the exploited labor and resources from massive swaths of the third world. The USSR had literally just come into existence, and managed to modernize itself out of a serfdom with no money that recently had two major wars that drained the resources it had. AND it was not supported by colonial leeches and was generally disliked and sanctioned by all major countries. They are not the same. Get real.

[@faisalyaseen5664]

I've read the Manifesto before. It most certainly was a small pamphlet.

[@sarafishersmith2547]

I am have a copy of the Tibetan Book of the Dead…. since the 1990’s. I hope to someday read it. Seriously.

[@movingforwardLDTH]

Reading Sogyal Rinpoche’s book can help you with that, as it was written with the Western audience in mind (assuming you live in the Western world, of course, lol.)

[@user-ip1bw9fd2x]

“The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying” is wonderful. This book “found” me a few days before my mother died. It was tremendously helpful, especially the chapter on impermanence, a central Buddhist theme. “This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds. To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance. A lifetime is like a flash of lightning in the sky, Rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain.” (P25)

[@timedison6687]

Great recommendations! My reading list is very long now. 😊

[@Larry065]

ADD TWO: "The Richest Man in Babylon" and "Mere Christianity" by C. S. Lewis.

[@artangel4172]

They all sound to b good books!!! I recommend you read them all!

[@nateliason]

Hahha working on it!

[@IvalDeLo]

Conquest is SUCH an amazing book.

[@shawnenglish9815]

I’ve read Karl Marx quite a bit. I study policy, politics, and government as a hobby because I have no life. I mean go for it, but growing up in the west you’ll have sooooo many opinions and it makes you feel stupid and sorry for people simultaneously.

[@nateliason]

I read it, it was an interesting read!

[@lilmoe4364]

Did you agree with it?

[@Damitche024]

@@nateliason​​⁠​⁠so insightful & succinct. Many other people carry on and on about what makes it a good book. Not you. For you, the title tells you all you need to know and doesn’t provoke any questions about their surroundings. Interesting indeed!

[@diogenes6050]

Process and Reality is great! You should definitely check out some of Gilles Deleuze’s work too

[@nateliason]

Thanks! Process and Reality is moving up the short list, planning to get to it soon

[@hdorodev]

The Communist Manifesto is a great and short read! Would love your take on it - perhaps a chance to try out a stronger point of view in your reviews :D

[@nateliason]

I'll probably do a Nat's Notes on it at some point too

[@michaelgarrow3239]

Relativity: by Albert Einstein Little Red Book: by Mao Zedong

[@raeelbakry5757]

I read the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying twice; first time I was in my late 20s and a second time a decade later. It had a very contemplative effect on me both times. For me it gave me ideas to reflect on. So read it when you’re in that kind of mood. I read the Communist Manifesto when I was 16 as part of my university reading list. It was within the context of understanding the entire leftist ideology - a part in a series of books based on leftist thought. In that context, it was interesting but I’m not sure I would’ve enjoyed it just as a stand alone book.

[@zohaabashraf]

I read conquest of happiness when I was in school may be 15 or 16 years back. It is quite interesting and compelling work of russell.i was a lot into left political ideology back then. Great essays by BR and definitely recommend to go through it. I loved his ideas on how he described skepticism and how to rationalize it.

[@jeffandkarenhay8966]

Seems like very good choices

[@grassfrens]

how to torn lazyness into good content: "damn I always say I want to read these books and I always forgot" --> "4 Nonfinction Books I want to Read" smart

[@nateliason]

Haha, thanks! It was honestly hard picking just 4

[@timl.b.2095]

"Probably don't agree with a lot of what's in here" = "I'm no Commie" disclaimer obligatory for all Americans. (You sound American.)

[@actualturtle2421]

The communist manifesto is ok. Das Kapital is a better layout of actual communist philosophy. I also highly recommend The Doctrine of Fascism by Mussolini. It's important to know why you believe the things you believe, and as such it's important to know why you don't believe the things you don't believe. Both paint clear and unambiguous pictures of their respective ideologies and both are really good at it.

[@Agro50]

Communist manifesto is an interesting read although (like someone else pointed out) its not the central doctrine of communism it doesn’t have all of its ideas explained. Also the book looks wayy to big for the communist manifesto

[@davidtaylor142]

Probably read Capital if you want to get an idea of Marx's theories.

[@MarioKL]

I've read the Manifesto in three languages. It's horrid and it's well worth the read. As for anything from B. Russell, avoid at all costs.

[@KaiWatson]

You're doing God's work promoting literacy. God bless you pal.

[@nateliason]

Thanks Kai!

[@SpitefulAZ]

I love western philosophies; they're so uptight and controlling! 😂

[@tyrehester5550]

Surprise! A communist loves philosophy and eastern religions. 😅

[@ZombieDavidBowie]

Reading one book doesn't make him a Communist 😅

[@audreelebdjiri727]

Once you read the Communist Manifesto, you will never be a communist.Had to read it in college and after I inished the course, I became a capitalist.

[@jcivantos]

Karl Marx is interesting from a historical standpoint but really tedious and feels really dated. My two cents

[@user-db6pt7vr3l]

Why would you read something you are totally opposed too? Well? I'm waiting.

[@jeffreyshort4531]

Why not read something of another perspective? While you are "opposed" to it, that is based on what you've heard from other people. Instead of that, just read it and figured it out yourself.

[@aimeedouglas1584]

To learn. How do we know what we are truly “opposed” to if we never expose ourselves to what it actually means? A well rounded intelligence is far superior to a narrow minded one.

[@tseaman100]

This comment is very reflective of the polarizing atmosphere of American society today. Mind you, if you are living quite comfortably in society among people who have the same viewpoints as you, it’s probably needless effort for one to expand their knowledge.

[@SpitefulAZ]

I don't agree with it, but it's interesting read none the less: Mein Kopf