Looking for new political book recommendations

[Kommodore]

I recently read Michael Lewis' The Fifth Risk and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Honestly, the right word is enraged not enjoyed. Crazy how many government workers and all their expertise were disregarded and replaced by idiots when Trump took over the White House. Also crazy how long it took for this admin to even contact them after taking over. Some truly frightening stuff given what some of the government departments handle and how you want those people that run them to be competent and capable. I learned quite about that I didn't know about what these departments do and what they handle. Basically, I want to be further informed and enraged. I want to read more long-form journalistic stuff about solutions we can make, or from engaging political thinkers. The biggest concerns I have are Healthcare, economic disparity, economics (Capitalism versus other forms out there like democratic socialism). I've barely touched on politically minded books and I follow politics avidly. I lean left because holy shit the Republican party is a dumpster fire right now, but I wish they weren't. I want two viable political parties so I'd be open to reading a book about wanting to bring conservatism back to viability. Anything else out there you guys would recommend?

 

[Fhtagn]

I recommend Robert Caro's books about LBJ. They go ridiculously deep, and along the way he covers a huge swath of American history that set up what's happened from Nixon to now. If you don't want to read all 4 volumes, Master of the Senate in particular is incredible and explains a lot of how the Senate is used to slow down progress for decades in the face of popular demand. It is more directly a history book than a political book, but it is directly about politics and the accumulation and use of political power in a way I found extremely useful for understanding the situation we are in now.

 

[SnakeXs]

While not strictly political, Sapiens by Yuvel Harari is a pretty fantastic read and will give context to a lot of human behavior and the systems we've created through time.

Rutger Bergman's Utopia for Realists is a great look at UBI, it's place in the past and necessity going forward.

The Federalist Papers are also worth checking out. Theories of the application of government are more important today with Executive Power pushing against the wet paper walls boxing it in than ever.

 

[Deleted member 58401]

I had the same reaction to The Fifth Risk, and it's wild that all of that info can be out in the open re: their disorganization and unprofessional approach of Trump's admin. Not surprising that's nothing done, just wild in a what the fuck would it take sort of way.

As for other books, I read The Road to Unfreedom by Timothy Snyder, which is about the rise of far-right authoritarian regimes and what the implications are for America and Europe and the world. It's not pretty, but I learned a decent amount about how we got here, and I think that's an important thing to understand.

 

[WedgeX]

I recommend Robert Caro's books about LBJ. They go ridiculously deep, and along the way he covers a huge swath of American history that set up what's happened from Nixon to now. If you don't want to read all 4 volumes, Master of the Senate in particular is incredible and explains a lot of how the Senate is used to slow down progress for decades in the face of popular demand. It is more directly a history book than a political book, but it is directly about politics and the accumulation and use of political power in a way I found extremely useful for understanding the situation we are in now.

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If someone wants even just a short intro to Caro, his "Working" is an excellent place to start.

 

[SugarNoodles]

Have you read The Color of Law?

 

[Kommodore]

While not strictly political, Sapiens by Yuvel Harari is a pretty fantastic read and will give context to a lot of human behavior and the systems we've created through time.

Rutger Bergman's Utopia for Realists is a great look at UBI, it's place in the past and necessity going forward.

The Federalist Papers are also worth checking out. Theories of the application of government are more important today with Executive Power pushing against the wet paper walls boxing it in than ever.

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Sapiens by Yuvel Harari has been on my radar. I'll have to check out Utopia for Realists. UBI is an interesting concept, there's a whole lot to consider how we handle our economic systems when our jobs will fundamentally change as we move from where we are now to automation.

 

[Kommodore]

Have you read The Color of Law?

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This looks good. Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 14735]

the Republican party is a dumpster fire right now, but I wish they weren't. I want two viable political parties so I'd be open to reading a book about wanting to bring conservatism back to viability.

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The fuck is this lol

The Shock Doctrine if you haven't read it yet is really important. Since you're American you may not have interest in this but if you're curious about Canadian politics, I'm reading The Trudeau Formula right now which is excellent and paints a great picture of who Trudeau really is and what he stands for.

 

[Kommodore]

The fuck is this lol

The Shock Doctrine if you haven't read it yet is really important. Since you're American you may not have interest in this but if you're curious about Canadian politics, I'm reading The Trudeau Formula right now which is excellent and paints a great picture of who Trudeau really is and what he stands for.

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I know even thinking of giving any relevance to US GOP sounds utterly stupid given how they've handled things for the past 30 years. But I can't help but think ahead that if we have any political party that becomes dominant, I want a check on that even on the party I agree with. I want a system of checks and balances to work. It didn't use to be a zero-sum game. They would find a compromise and bills would pass at a much higher clip than they do now. I hope that'll happen again, but it seems they damn near need to burn the party to the ground before something like that will happen.

Looked into Shock Doctrine. Added to my wish list. It looks like good stuff.

 

[Deleted member 48897]

Last one I read was The Billionaire Raj by James Crabtree about the turn to what is basically Randian economics in India under Modi as the shift from the postcolonial period's (admittedly rather corrupt) graft system. The basic summary: taking the regulations off public resources meant that the people who already had control of them through public licensing agreements got a stranglehold on the economy, causing them to become, well, billionaires who became political untouchables.

I'm currently starting on Assad or We Burn the Country by Sam Dagher.

 

[Parthenios]

Check out the Dictator's Handbook if you haven't read it already.

 

[Fhtagn]

I'm currently starting on Assad or We Burn the Country by Sam Dagher.

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Incredibly intense book. I don't read history/politics expecting a thriller but there's a chapter in this that had me on edge. Also, frustrating & depressing as hell. Worth the read, of course!

 

[Deleted member 48897]

Incredibly intense book. I don't read history/politics expecting a thriller but there's a chapter in this that had me on edge. Also, frustrating & depressing as hell. Worth the read, of course!

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It feels dense, but I think that's mainly because it's something like 200 pages worth of citations when I flipped through it at first.

 

[CrimzonSamurai]

"The Conquest of Bread" by Peter Kropotkin is short, thought-provoking, and available for free on The Anarchist's Library. It's also available for purchase as a bound book if you need that tactile feeling.

Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States" is also enlightening and entertaining.

 

[WedgeX]

If you're looking for an empathetic look into how public policy affects people in poverty, I've got two strong recommendations. The first is Evicted by Matthew Desmond. He gets into the structures that encourage evictions, as well as the cycle of poverty and evictions that just one eviction creates. He follows the lives of a few residents in Milwaukee to illustrate it. And if you ever get the chance to see him speak, do it.

The other is The Corner by David Simon. He captures how police, education, government programs, family, and people preying on others all conspire to knock down a neighborhood and keep people in Baltimore impoverished - much of the groundwork for the Wire was laid in this ethnography.

Each come closest to capturing the experiences of people I worked with in social work.

Have you read The Color of Law?

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This is my other housing policy recommendation.

If you want to understand the background of the Mueller investigation, I'd strongly suggest Red Notice by Bill Browder. It's an alarming read.

 

[finalflame]

On Revolution by Hannah Arendt
Man, the State, and War by Kenneth Waltz

 

[FnordChan]

Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 documents - in proper gonzo style, naturally - Nixon being re-elected in a landslide over McGovern. The book covers the whole ugly process of the campaign (illustrated in suitably grotesque fashion by Ralph Steadman), with a particularly deep look at the nomination process from the floor of the Democratic convention. That material is outdated in terms of the modern nominating process but still provides a suitably depressing view of inter-party wrangling. And, of course, there are regular excursions into weirdness. Highly recommended and hopefully not overly prophetic.