Such as it is, the press has become the greatest power within the Western World, more powerful than the legislature, the executive and judiciary. One would like to ask; by whom has it been elected and to whom is it responsible?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
At some point one finds him or herself outside of the picture of life you have had painted for your entire life. Only the painted rendition of the world you see now is not only different, but of colors you have not seen before, never knew existed. Those colors may be the yellowed semi-gloss white of the concrete blocks in your jail cell, the cool hues of fluorescent lights above your hospital bed, or the hard, grating gray asphalt you see as you lie destitute on the street. All scenarios that all of your supposedly proper education and experience was supposed to keep you from. The answer lies not in the media, not on the internet curated to you by algorithms, and certainly not from anyone who helped lead you there. The answers lie in the cumulative experience of those who have walked down this same path of toil and anguish, who have seen their universe collapse around them and spent the rest of their lives wondering: How did I miss this? How can we stop this the next time?
The answers to all of these questions lie within the words of the many who have walked down this same path. Whether through allegory in fiction or through (often consequential) journalistic reporting, these countless voices still speaking from the grave. Their collective lessons reserved only for those who seek it, and willing to put in the time to understand them. Many lessons hidden in plays and fiction, subtext buried through prose intended to bypass the watchful eyes of their contemporary masters. The consumption of literature is what separate the serfs from the lords. The privilege of an upper class upbringing is to have the time to learn. It is a cheat code, a head start in life–but only if you take it. Many of these books are available free of charge through the Internet Archive. Audio books as well can help educate you while you fast forward through life in mindless toil.
A note on the titles selected–it is not comprehensive and should serve as a starting point for those wishing to seek understanding of the issues. Some are polar opposites from one another, and what you will find is that by consuming these titles you will eventually be able to see the conversation that is being had between the authors. It is your job to run the debate and form your own opinions. While it is recommended that you start with Socrates, there is no shame in an easy to read abridged version. But do not ignore a title simply because of its age. Humanity has had the some conversation for thousands of years about the same exact issues. And while some titles are just that old (Aristotle), others are a modern take on these issues and build on these concepts in an easier to digest form. For example, Robert Greene’s “The Art of Seduction” is listed here as a pop-philosophy version of Carl Jung’s archetypes, not to help you with the opposite sex. But understanding those archetypes and their influence with human relationships is critical to understanding one of the most powerful motivators in the human species–reproduction and the chase of dopamine producing stimulation. Of note, many of these authors were persecuted, executed, ostracized, and certainly criticized in their own times. Keep that in mind as you watch today’s echo chamber do the same to many of our contemporary voices.
- End Times – Peter Turchin. This is one of the most important books to help understand the source of modern conflict. The “Elite Overproduction” theory is brilliant.
- The Hebrew Bible (not the edited King James Old Testament). Because 3,000 years ago we had the same problems.
- The Gulag Archipelago – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. You are not the first to do “hard labor” for the state.
- The Road to Serfdom – F. A. Hayek
- Brave New World – Aldous Huxley. Can it happen? Or did it happen already?
- Politics – Aristotle. Old is new and new is old.
- Nicomachean Ethics – Aristotle. New is old and old is new.
- 1984 – George Orwell. It has happened.
- Lord of the Flies – William Golding. No group behavior is immune.
- Ideas Have Consequences – Richard M. Weaver. But how do we empower the ideas?
- The Communist Manifesto – Karl Marx. You can sell anything to needy people.
- The Wealth of Nations – Adam Smith. You cannot escape the fundamental principles.
- On the Social Contract – Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Where do our principles come from?
- Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand. Ragnar will not save you.
- Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor E. Frankl. If he can survive, so can you.
- What I Believe – Bertrand Russell. Has changed his beliefs more than most.
- Propaganda and the Public Mind – Noam Chomsky.
- The Prince – Niccolo Machiavelli. The manual has been there for a long time.
- 48 Laws of Power – Robert Greene
- The Art of Seduction – Robert Greene. Archetypes galore.
- The Art of War – Sun Tzu
- Dopamine Nation – Dr. Anna Lembke. We are all masturbation machines?
- Destined for War – Graham Allison. Hopefully he is wrong.
- The Dictators Handbook – Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith. You never know when you may need this.
- A Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert A. Heinlein. We are all strangers here.
- East of Eden – John Steinbeck. Far from Eden, Cathy will chew you up and spit you out.
- Whistleblower in Paris – Leon Koziol. Leon was a prominent attorney and fathers’ rights advocate who recently passed away.
- A Promise to Ourselves – Alec Baldwin. What is old is new and what is new is old.
There are countless more, but the more you consume the more you will realize that these are the same theme repeated over and over in the context of the era they were written in. The important debates are surrounding:
- Power dynamics of human societies.
- Distribution of resources in the face of innate inequality.
- Unselfish acts versus pursuit of pleasure.
- Manipulation of the public mind in a democracy.
- Navigation of our imperfect systems, with imperfect results.
- Determinism versus free will.
- The cycle of civilizations/governments and eventual collapse (100% so far).
What is missing in all of this literature is an answer to human nature. Though in religious texts it is the inescapable judgement and afterlife, in our more modern societies, it is the laws that govern society. But what happens in a godless society where the unscrupulous have taken the reigns of the law and made state sanctioned maleficence legal? In this scenario we have had nothing but the failure of one society after another. Every civilization starts with human cooperation and ends with human corruption. It should not be an unsolvable problem, we have many past examples to learn from. But the question is, can humanity solve it? Or do we need help?