Leftist Reading Recommendations
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- Опубликовано: 1 июл 2024
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Books:
Naomi Klein - The Shock Doctrine
John Perkins - The New Confessions of an Economic Hitman
David Harvey - A Brief History of Neoliberalism
David Harvey - Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism
Joseph Stiglitz - Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Steve Keen - Can We Avoid Another Financial Crisis?
Sylvia Federici - Caliban and the Witch
John Bellamy Foster and Robert McChesney - The Endless Crisis: How Monopoly-Finance Capital Produces Stagnation and Upheaval from the USA to China
Marx - Capital v1-3
Anwar Shaikh - Capitalism: Competition, Conflict, Crises
Karl Polanyi - The Great Transformation
Michel Foucault - The Birth of Biopolitics
Frantz Fanon - The Wretched of the Earth
Glen Coulthard - Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition
Bram Buscher, Wolfram Dressler, and Robert Fletcher - Nature Inc.: Environmental Conservation in the Neoliberal Age
Jessica Dempsey - Enterprising Nature: Economics, Markets, and Finance in Global Biodiversity Politics
Tania Li - The Will to Improve
I think when it comes to critisism of neoclassical economics Steven Keens book "Debunking Economics" is much better. I also recommend Philip Pilkingtons "The Reformation in Economics", "The Rhetoric of Economics" by McCloskey and.. here comes the greatest suggestion of all of them..Hans Christoph Binswanger. This is an insider. "The Frenchman is not only the chief economist of the IMF, the most important of all the international institutions dedicated to macroeconomics. Blanchard is also the author of the standard textbook on economics worldwide. When Blanchard attacks the ruling paradigm, it wobbles." and "He claims that neoclassics was invented as a radical departure from classical economics in order to suppress Marx's analyzes, which were largely based on classical economics." (This view incidentaly is held by many other heterodox and especially classical economists like Krishna Bharadwaj (In her R C Dutt Lecture, which was later published as a book in 1986, she makes it clear that the emergence of demand and supply theories were primarily a reaction against Ricardo and Marx.) Pierro Sraffa and so on. Binswanger calls for a comprehensive modernization of the "neo-classical equilibrium model", which is still based on a traditional farming economy of the 19th century as the basis of modern economics. He himself made a counter model to neoclassics and to me it looks similar to neo marxian economists.
Ugh.. I have so much to say on this topic but no one is going to read anyways.. I remember when I was in an organisation having lectures critising neoclassics. I also recommend Marcel Hänggi.. I woud mention many many more but I do not think the effort is worth it. If anyone here wants to discuss the with me just comment something I can send you a message to.
I obviously also recommend more mainstream economists like Ha-joon-Chang, Michael Hudson, Amartya Sen etc. (Amartya is much more radical then he is presented in mainstream media)..
What do people think about Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)?
I’m reading “Reclaiming the State - A Progressive Vision of Sovereignty for a Post-Neoliberal World” by William Mitchell and Thomas Fazi. It is an evidence based understanding of economics and shows Neoliberalism is based on a pernicious mythology.
Also “Where Does Money Come From?” By Josh Ryan Collins, Andrew Jackson, Tony Greenham and Richard Werner. Most Neoliberals don’t understand where money comes from, this book undermines a lot of their moral and economic arguments. Plus until we have communism then understanding what money is and where it comes from is essential for any arguments you make.
I think Warren Mosler, one of the founders of MMT, wrote a good book on the subject but I haven’t read it yet.
Learn Socialist Justice Bill Mitchell is the same as me on political compass ie bottom left hand corner, so I doubt that he’s fundamentally supporting capitalism, rather giving us tools to challenge it and move beyond it. However I don’t know much about anything yet, I’ve only studied MMT on RUclips and haven’t finished the book yet so I’ll re read your comments when I understood things better. I’m very foggy headed today.
From the intro: “ It needn’t be this way, however. As we argue in the second part of the book, a progressive, emancipatory vision of national sovereignty that offers a radical alternative to both the right and the neoliberals -one based on popular sovereignty, democratic control over the economy, full employment, social justice, redistribution from the rich to the poor, inclusivity and the socio-ecological transformation of production and society -is possible. Indeed, it is necessary.......
...... Fully embracing a progressive vision of sovereignty also means abandoning the many false macroeconomic myths that plague left-wing and progressive thinkers. One of the most pervasive and persistent myths is the assumption that governments are revenue-constrained, that is, that they need to ‘fund’ their expenses through taxes or debt. This leads to the corollary that governments have to ‘live within their means’, since ongoing deficits will inevitably result in an ‘excessive’ accumulation of debt, which in turn is assumed to be ‘unsustainable’ in the long run. In reality, as we show in Chapter 8, monetarily sovereign (or currency-issuing) governments -which nowadays include most governments -are never revenue-constrained because they issue their own currency by legislative fiat and always have the means to achieve and sustain full employment and social justice. In this sense, a progressive vision of national sovereignty should aim to reconstruct and redefine the national state as a place where citizens can seek refuge ‘in democratic protection, popular rule, local autonomy, collective goods and egalitarian traditions’, as Streeck argues, rather than a culturally and ethnically homogenised society. 17 This is also the necessary prerequisite for the construction of a new international( ist) world order, based on interdependent but independent sovereign states. It is such a vision that we present in this book.”
Tbh I’m sooo tired I shouldn’t be commenting today, so I’ll stop. I’ll re read things when I’ve got my head on again.
Learn Socialist Justice Nobody claims MMT is new. They hate the name because it’s not something new and it’s not a theory, it’s just the evidence based understanding of the economy and monetary system as opposed to the purely made up version that the Neoliberals keep spouting. Some blogger made up the name and it stuck. The problem is that the left acquiesced to the Neoliberal version of how to manage the economy and never challenged it. How many people on the Left (never mind the general population) think that the Government needs taxes or bonds to fund spending? It’s all over the place and it’s fundamentally wrong. In the U.K. one of the most frequently sighted reasons for voting for David Cameron was the letter he held up, which was left by a labour staff member for the new Tory administration joking that there was no more money left (obviously referring to the 2008 crash) That letter crucified labour, again and again people brought it up. Not once did I hear Labour inform the public that it’s obviously a joke because the country can’t go bankrupt because it can create as much money as it needs as long as there are enough goods and services for it to be spent on. Not once did they mention argue that the very fact Cameron thinks there could be no money left is evidence that he’s not fit to run the economy. Not standing up to the Neoliberals and challenging them and instead agreeing with aiming for budget surpluses and austerity has been catastrophic for for the population and the environment. Government debt adds money to the economy and a surplus removes money and forces people and businesses into debt.
I
Dude. Modern Neoclassical Economics is constructed from Keynes and Paul Samuelson. It is way better and more predictive than anything else and it's even impacting neuroscience (see Neuroeconomics - Glimcher (2012)). Heterodox economists, on the other hand, are still figuring out how to tie their shoes. Most economists know the limitations of Neoclassical theory, limitations which are being surpassed more and more everyday. Pushing fringe opinions without pushing the sources those opinions are criticizing is reckless.
Here are the books all of you should really read:
1) David Kreps - Microceconomic Theory I OR MWG's Microeconomic Theory
2) Acemoglu- Introduction to Modern Economic Growth
None of you have any right to discuss any of that or 60% of what's on this channel without understanding those books.
It's a little rude to economists when all you do is parrot salty Marxists, salty heterodox economists, and McCloskey, whose advice on methodology would've been incredibly destructive to the scientific credibility of economics.
My Amazon search history is thinking “He must’ve just watched that video from Mexie.”
Id like to recommend the book 'How to Read a Book' Is great for any that are intimidated by academic reading, and teaches how to digest books on an academic level. it is definitely key for any non-college educated readers, and most likely can help sharpen the reading skills of some college level readers. It teaches how to understand your authors terms, premises, and conclusions, to filter facts, misinformation, and opinions. It gives an orderly analytical way to read or skim books intuitively, or briskly depending on the genre, or importance of your book you're reading,.
I'm only half through and its been a great help in feeling enabled to read books. also remember to get the second edition, as it is heavily revised.
great suggestion - thanks
Is there a book to help me read that book? And so on?
Read it as well! And ye defiantely worth reading!
I'll be getting that book thanks for recommending it
The book even recommends Marx and Lenin.
I also really liked Howard Zinns "A Peoples History of the United States"!
Excellent list!
The Shock Doctrine was one of the first political books i ever read. It talks about Chile, Thatcher's Britian, China under Deng Xioping, Iraq, Venezuela etc.....It introduced you to a lot interesting topics.
How did i come to have this book in possession...well, my uncle left it at my grandmother's house and i took it home.(he said i could borrow it). A few months later, there was a family feud(which meant my father and my uncle stopped talking to each other) and i got to keep the book. :D
woah a bigot got a like :thinking:
Bigot?
yes you are a Jason Unruhe snitch and he is a fascist
Rational Revenant That's hilarious. Throwing accusations of "bigotry" around with no basis totally isn't counterproductive. And claiming Marxists are "fascists" because you don't like those particular ones definitely isn't either.
Yep, you totally don't come off as petty and stupid with comments like that.
Btw, DemSoc, you're awesome. Keep up your great videos.
lol I never said anything against Marxist
THANK YOU I want to read ALL THESE BOOKS. First things first: Caliban and the Witch!!
YES. Get it gurl!
it's so refreshing seeing modern books on recommendation lists... most leftist lists go like: Marx, Engels, Marx, Lenin, Mao, Lenin, Stalin, Marx, Engels, Lenin, Marx, Lenin, Marx, Marx, Marx, Luxemburg. I mean, I get it, those are very important too, but we need to read about modern world as well
Thanks for the recommendation. I share a lot your content in vegan circles, because vegan need to be more radical frfr
Thanks for all you dope shit Mexie
Yay welcome back! Also THANK YOU for answering my twitter question and including some tips. You're the best!
s/o to you for the question!
I remember some books who would be cool see you talking about. Some stuff from authors outside the mainstream of North America an Europe.
Frantz Fanon - The Wretched of the Earth
Kwame Nkrumah - Neo-Colonialism: Highest Stage of Imperialism
Kwame Nkrumah - Africa Must Unite
Walter Rodney - How Europe Underdeveloped Africa
Ngugi wa Thiong'o - Decolonising the Mind
Amilcar Cabral - Unity and Struggle
Spivak - Can the Subaltern Speak?
Just some stuff that came to my mind cause I make my research on African intellectual History. Keep up the good work!
David Graeber's debt the first 5000 years is a good one.
Mexie, you are an intelligent, gorgeous, and kind person who always makes me smile 💚💚💚
Thank you for sharing your expertise!!!
When you decide to read Marx's Capital, follow along with David Harvey's lectures on all three volumes on RUclips.
I just got done reading "The Shock Doctrine". I'm so happy to see it on your recommended reading list!
Subbed to you after you convinced me to be vegan in your debate with Contra. I've been vegan for a few months now. Love your vids!!!!!
I'm just starting to dive into the deeper world of politics/economics, and I picked up Caliban and the Witch on a complete whim at a local book drive yesterday! And now today I'm on your channel for the first time, and here you are recommending it :) Good feels
Thank you, Mexie, a great review !
This was so helpful as someone just trying to get into leftist literature! I was recommended and read the shock doctrine just before this video so good to see I started in a good place. Just got The New Confessions of an Economic Hitman and am more motivated that have ever been to read, thank you!
thank you so much for all of your work and for this video. this is super helpful for me as a new leftist, trying to get a good understanding of everything and strengthen my knowledge. much love!
Love David Harvey! Brief History of Neoliberalism opened my eyes
This video is precious! And i love your channel!
Fantastic List. I loved Harvey's book on Neoliberalism.
Excelent! Greetings from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Thank you for the video, Mexie! I hope you make more recommendations in the future, because I think it's very useful to people who aren't academics or are freshmen in college in the pursuit of accurate & in depth information
In highschool, a friend of mine, did his US History final on economic hitmen, so I had to pick up a copy of "The New Confessions of an Economic Hitman", so I'm pretty hyped to read that especially at such a low price.
Environmental Sciences person here, just wanted to thank you for your videos! It's got me interested in political economy, and supplemented whatever I've been learning in university. Thanks a lot for the reading list, didn't know where to start. Have been struggling through the Communist Manifesto and The Conquest of Bread so far, they tend to be a bit slow lol.
p.s. interestingly our programme doesn't focus all that much on the problems of neo-liberalism, which after reading your videos, I find is a bit strange. They mentioned stuff like eco-modernism, but looking back that seems to be approaching the problem from a capitalist perspective, which I realise now sorta defeats the purpose...
Ojas Sarup I work in urban planning and have degrees in geography and economics, and that is the education you are going to get in any college, unfortunately. I have to accept people are more concerned with their mortgage than the fate of their species. You can't convince people that are betting on their 401k for retirement that neoliberalism/neoconservatism is problematic. You can't be the problem and the solution.
There is a scene in Cowspiracy that explains the contradiction a little too well, the meeting where everyone is an environmentalist and nobody is vegan. I'm sure nobody took public transit to get there either, they all have luxury xl suvs with leather interiors.
A good illustration of the insanity is Brazil, in the 90s when they started to cut down rain forest there were bans put on importing exotic woods like rosewood for furniture. This led to fun stuff like Disney suing Knoll, because Knoll had promised them they could replace any furniture they bought with the exact same thing. After this ban the rosewood was coming to the US in a different form, pulp in boxes. Turns out that they were cutting down those trees for the cow on everyone's plate, not for pricey designer furniture. So really it was a lose/lose, you couldn't get a rosewood desk and the Amazon was still being destroyed. When the Amazon is discussed now soy comes up a lot, of course the soy is for feeding the cattle, not for making tempeh.
Yayy so glad to see you back! So many good recommendations, I actually just started reading a bit of Foucault’s Birth of Biopolitics and it’s really interesting.
I really loved the tips you gave at the end, you have no idea how often I get stuck on one paragraph in a book trying to figure out what they’re taking about! Great vid girl ❤️
Thanks girl!
Fantastic video Mexie! Huge fan of Harvey also
A warning for everyone who wants to read that Anwar Shaikh book: it's definitely *not* entry level stuff and assumes some knowledge of not only neoclassical and keynesian economics but also of classical value theory and marxian economics. Plus it's quite technical and includes quite a bit of equations.
Thanks for these recommendations though! I really have to add that Federici book on my list now 🤓
Yes, true! Should have given that disclaimer.
I had such a hard time reading through it ㅠ_ㅠ I had some difficulties understanding some of the lectures too.
Really glad that you're so knowledgeable of all this stuff though! We need more leftist academics like you who are able to popularize this stuff on platforms like RUclips. It would be a shame to leave all this knowledge circulate in journals.
Academia is such a silo, so making it accessible is crucial, another useful video! Klein is a useful bridge for beginners, Caliban & The Witch is indeed exceptional for connecting Marxist critiques of accumulation with feminism. I'd add Vijay Prashad's "Darker Nations", Michael Hudson on unearned income (rent, usury), and David Graeber on social imagination (debt, democracy, violence)!
For Kapital I do think Smith, Ricardo and Malthus are important to read imo as they helped form Marx's views
Yes - they're important reads anyway to get a cross-section of opinions.
The Wordly Philosophers by Robert Heilbroner gives a good intro to the classical economists as well as Schumpter, Veblen, and others.
There are much better ways to spend your time. If one wants to understand Marx's whole project you will need to read thirty thousand pages of Hegel as well and then also Proudhon and other bastards. Just read Marx and skip all that shit and then read something more useful like Gramsci or Mao or Althusser or something.
Wut 0_o Wasn't Althusser that whackjob who killed his wife and then whined about how oppressive his gvt was for incarcerating him? 'Supreme Gentleman' much?
Yes, since when does one read philosophy because one thinks this bulk of disgusting old men are ''supreme gentlemen''? They were all scum and if you want to base your theory off of how honorable the authors were then it makes no sense to be a Marxist in the first place. Lire le capital is a monumental work in Marxist theory and is widely admitted to be so, this has nothing to do with Althusser's persona.
I did Brief History of Neoliberalism for comps. It's a good one.
The Dictators handbook is the most influential book I have ever read. I would greatly suggest it to all who want too understand power.
After I finished Hölderlin's "Hyperion" I will start reading Paul Cockshott's "Arguments for Socialism"
mm, yes I would like to read Cockshott too
I did a review of The Shock Doctrine on my channel 🦊
Happy May Day.
Workers of the world, unite!
Thanks for the recommendations it's amazing that I own some of them looks like I have a lot more books to read.
thanks! great list.
For anyone interested I highly recommend Paul Sweezy's "The Theory of Capitalist Development" as an alternative to reading Marx's Capital. Sweezy's book is only around 400 pages so it's much more manageable than Capital.
Also, in addition to explaining Marxs theories in great, yet understandable detail, he also discusses criticisms of Marx and refutations of these critiques. Even today I would say it's the single best book on marxian economics. It's a shame this book is so underrated.
bm3253 you know marx has written more palatable works about economics than kapital that beginners can start with? A great start is wage-Labour and capital, as well as value, price, profit
@@ethanpearson897 I'm aware and have read most of them. However Marxian theory has grown quite a bit since Marx's writings and I like Sweezy's book for this incorporation. Personally I do not think reading Marx's Capital is that useful unless someone is an economist and is writing publishable papers on the subject. As for the other books, I dont think they will be convincing anyone who has taken a neoclassical economics course. Different times require different works.
bm3253 marx was more than just an economist, and his writings span from economics, to philosophy, to political theory, so on and so forth, and the ideas he espoused during his time are still just as relevant today as they were then. I understand that different times require different works but I sometimes take issue with how some authors decide to interpret marxs works and it’s best to learn from the source. Kapital wasn’t the only thing he wrote
@@ethanpearson897 I do agree and think works like The German Ideology, 18th Brumaire, and Jewish Question certainly stand on their own. However I would be careful divorcing Marx from his economics. His economic writings were the culmination of his thought and are central to his works. Personally I think his other theories, political and otherwise, can be derived from his economics but not the other way around.
bm3253 I wholeheartedly agree. Thanks for the input.
I just now got five of these books thanks to your recommendations. Thanks for the list. I need to go back to Ollie's recommendations and pick up some of those, like What Terrorists Want.
the great transformation is a solid rec! really helped me see that economic disenfranchisement is just one side of the coin of capitalism's flaws - you have to also acknowledge the consequences for communal structures even in areas where capitalism appears to improve economic situations
Caliban and the Witch is absolutely fantastic. I used it several times during my Master's Degree. So great. Thank you so much for all your suggestions Dr. Mexie! My wishlist/booklist has now increased ^_^
The shock doctrine is such a great book. I need a print copy so I can go back through and mark good information. I remember when I was listening to it at work, I was pausing it and trying to type out notes from it in my phone. It's horrible but I have to do it all the time.
I'll see you on the 19th!
I would also recommend "The New Human Rights Movement: Reinventing the Economy to End Oppression" by Peter Joseph, "Behave: The Biology of Humans at our Best and Worst" by Robert Sapolsky (also his Behavioral Biology Course on the Stanford youtube page, ruclips.net/video/NNnIGh9g6fA/видео.html ), and "The Grand Chessboard: American Pimacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives" by Zbigniew Brzezinski.
Mexie systematic all the way. Puts different colors on pages, i guess she has a tone of notes inside :D
Shaikh’s book is a must. Professor Shaikh has all of his work since his graduate thesis available online for free as well, including important debates with Paul Samuelson and the neoclassical - Keynesian synthesis of the mid 20th century.
♪ Windmill, windmill for the land
Turn forever hand in hand ... ♫
I actually took your advice and picked up Caliban and the Witch and I have to say so far it's incredible and has made me realize a lot of things. I'm wondering if there's more out there on Federici's viewpoint. She seems to be a marxist, feminist, AND postmodernist. I really love some of Foucault's work so I really like how she can put all 3 viewpoints together into one historical analysis.
gotta get me that anwar sheikh tome. thx so much for informing me of its existence
Great list! You've given me lots of ideas. I really enjoyed "23 Things They Don't Tell You about Capitalism," by Ha-Joon Chang. It's witty and quirky.
In all seriousness, I actually did just order 17 Contradictions because one of the areas of theory that I really need to strengthen is the concept of contradictions among capitalism. Regardless of how overwhelmed I feel right now, thanks for the video!
I recently purchased Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine" and "This Changes Everything" and I hope to get started reading them when I can make time. Any thoughts on Gramsci's "Prison Notebooks" trilogy?
I would recommend 'Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism' and the 'Enigma of Capital'.
Bad Samaritans by Ho-Joon Chnag also does a great job at debunking neo-liberalism and it being good for developing countries.
Nice. I have more books to read. But it's gonna hurt my wallet. rip me
Get an eReader, download your books for free on the internet. That's how I got my 600+ books without spending a single dime on any of them.
(ebooks I can only deal with fiction, gotta get real books for theory. Dyslexia and all)
I hear you. I wish I could do e-books but for theory I just can't swing it...
what's wrong with ebooks for theory? especially on long trainrides it's really nice.
personally, it's a dyslexia thing
If you find something difficult to read opening up the dictionary whenever you need to is a huge investment in your reading future. Most authors don't introduce new language every chapter so you will realistically only have to do this at the start of any book. This will be helpful when you pick up your next book.
In my experience the best way to make it easier to understand and learn anything is to read Plato's dialogues and take your time with them. The first time I read the Phaedo I genuinely felt like my reading comprehension expanded.
Last point, people know that reading speed is a skill but they assume attention isn't. If you read something extremely difficult to stomach and continue to do so for an extended period of time your brain will get better at concentrating, which is largely a function of your physiological ability to produce energy in the brain. When yo go back to your regular reading you'll find that you're much more adept. Henry James and Hegel are very useful for this.
thank you so much
Aye, she playin the flavor in ya ear beat.
(Edit) and the feel good inc instrumental, I returned as I finished some of these lol.
"Blackshirts & Reds" and "The Assassination of Julius Caesar" by Michael Parenti are really good
I was just pointed to your channel the other day, really loving it! I've only been getting more into Leftist/Socialist theory the last few years, so it's great to come across someone who has studied it more in depth and can make it more understandable for a beginner like myself.
Nature Inc., I'll definitely have to read that one.
Could I also suggest Engels- Socialism: Utopian and Scientific. I like how he goes into the history of explaining socialism before it was known by it's name.
Before leftism, I picked up Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics. Is that worth a read or should I just shelf it?
I would also recommend Capitalist Realism published by Zero Books.
why?
Thanks for these recommendations. Let me also add that I wish left wing publishers published more left novels. I write them myself, and it's devilishly hard to get a publisher even to look at one.
Mexie, Are you familiar with the Venus Project, The Zeitgeist Movement, their books The Best that Money Can't Buy (Jacque Fresco), The Zeitgeist Movement Defined, and The New Human Rights Movement (Peter Joseph)?
I recommend Timothy Weiner's "a legacy of ashes" and Oliver stones "untold history of the USA".
Would recommend “Changing Toronto: Governing Urban Neoliberalism”.
Love David Harvey.
Have you got one of those Amazon referral tags? If someone buys something with your link it gives you commission or something I think.
Hey, isn't that "Warm It Up, Kane", by Big Daddy Kane, in the background? :D
RUclips and their algorithm took me to this video. I am glad they did. I find your list fascinating.
I laughed when you showed that picture of Peterson and then said: " I don't want to go full PoMo on you" next to a picture of Foucault's book.
Like you said Das Kapital put "everything together" for me too. It's a formative book and I think everyone should read it. I am more interested though in a Marxist Critical Theory. Do you have any books that you can recommend?
Your advice at the end is golden. A baby doesn’t learn language by interrupting their parents so they can break down their speech word by word and line by line.
Our brains are organized so that language if allowed to wash over us will create impressions which reveal patterns and then context makes fine semantic minutiae boldly inherent, and intuitive.
I think Noam Chomsky's books "who rules the world?" "profit over people" etc etc
Argh, even more stuff to read. Currently reading Capital and Theory Of Communicative Action, but Caliban and the Witch seems like it would be incredibly insightful for me. PhilosophyTube also mentioned Fanon in his latest vid, so I'm inclined to check that one out too.
"Problem" is, I already promised some friends I'd read into Camus, Marcuse and Butler, so I don't know where I'm gonna fit all that in. There's just too much to read.
Also, I definitely agree with just keeping to read if you don't understand something. My first dive into philosophy was Dialectic Of Enlightenment and the authors don't even really bother to explain what dialectic means.
Still was a great read that I got a lot out of.
If you are interested in history, "A nation without borders" is an excellent book on America's imperialistic history.
just a liitle question who did the birds on wire artwork...ive seen similar before but not found out who or where I can get one lol please pray tell....thx lol
Since we're still living in a capitalist world for now, you should totally be getting an advertising fee for each book sale :D My local book store has made some sales just now thanks to you.
I'd love to see you and Destiny talk about the issues/benefits of globalization.
Great list! I've enjoyed the parts I've read so far of Monopoly Capital by Baran and Sweezy
You mentioned Karl polanyi the great transformation. I would recommend that as a beginner book because it's not very heavy on the jargon, I read it at the same time Hayek's flaming dog turd and I'd say it was a perfect rebuttal of that nonsense
This is off topic but if you are interested in plant based nutrition Dr Joel Fuhrman has some good literature out. "Eat to live" or "Eat for health" would be a good starting point.
Hi Mexie! I know this is more of a classic book, however I have been reading The Iron Heel by Jack London. I would say it is more high level narrative to the leftist mindset and reasoning. I also found itinteresting that thisbook inspired Orwell's 1984
Someone might have already mentioned this but you are the second person to Sylvia Federici - Caliban and the Witch. Olly from Philosophy Tube highly recommends the book as well.
what is the best version of Capital to buy? it seems like there are a ton out there
Any recommendations for a right winger trying to understand leftist philosophy?
Big up to Anwar Sheikh, revolutionary work in Marxist economics. Honestly on par with Capital.
"the creature from Jekyll Island" about the formation of the federal reserve.
I wonder if a discord server for people who follow your videos and other left youtubers would be productive ?
Fantastic list. As an addendum to people who have read the first three books on your list and are now prepared to understand deeper-but-not-inaccessible theory, I'll link former RUclipsr Rebel Absurdity's absolutely brilliant leftist reading recommendation video and also list the books they suggested below: watch?v=KFp6xNzGKw4
The books:
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
Discourse on the Origin of Human Inequality by Rousseau
The Social Contract by Rousseau
The Elgar Companion to Post Keynesian Economics
The Elgar Companion to Marxist Economics
The Soul of Man Under Socialism by Oscar Wilde
I'm very new to this but all I know is that I am a democratic socialist. I'm honestly afraid of reading literature that ends up diving too deep into communism or way out of my league of thinking. Is there any way to be careful of this (not necessarily avoid) and be aware of what I'm reading?
Review people like Mexie talk about any book that garners your interest. If you believe that their description of the book sounds a little on the deep end, then don't read it
Have you read Ignatiev's How the Irish became white or Roediger's The Wages of whiteness? Its good to understand the role of race politics in any discussion of economics.
I haven't but I will
I was in a conversation with someone on Reg's channel about the definition of economics, and my definition that its the social science of allocating scarce resources sounded radical. it would be interesting to press people on how they define economics.
May I recommend (just out of the press) John Holloway "Hope in hopeless times" (pluto press). Holloway is a left-wing, anti-authoritarian socialist and marxist, the book is jargon free yet an impressive exposition of anti-capitalist ideas and practices (he is a friend of the Zapatistas).
Thanks for the recs! Any thoughts on "Marx's Capital Illustrated
"? I'm a visual learner and I struggle to read lengthy reads
Hi Jon, if you type on you tube 'Reading Marx's Capital with David Harvey', then you should see a series of videos on Marx and Marx' capital done by David Harvey. There are many and it's quite comprehensive.
The Shock Doctrine is the most approachable Leftist book in all of mankind! Being dramatic, but wow, she totally deconstructs neoliberalism and how it became the dominant force of ideology till today! It should be the first book! Caliban and the witch is the next book that is just required reading. If there was only one book a person can read from these recommendations then it would be Caliban and the witch. A book I would add after reading these two would be Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent. Manufacturing consent is a must if you're a US Citizen!
So, I'm curious. Which leftist ideology do you lean towards? I'm an Anarcho-communist, myself.
there is some recommendation. A. imperialism from Lenin written in 1916. B that little red book from Mao
How does this list not have Black Shirts and Reds by Michael Parenti. Also I would put all of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Mao on here as well. Another would be How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney.
what is it that you study?
Pst if you'd like we should totally collab on a review of the David Harvey neoliberalism book.
One I also recommend is if you are into your anti fascist is fascism from 1900-1945 rob kedward the one I have does have a Swastika on it but you can get versions without It if you wish