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There are a good deal many nonfiction books talking about modern politics, most of them suck and have nothing of importance to say. This list composes of books that at the very least have some food for thought. I have read most of these, though not all fully. Most of these books have audiobook versions, which are useful for those of you who prefer that format. Many libraries have access to these books in both formats. !grillers you should ideally read/have read a few of these, !burgers you should do the same, as your civic duty. Also, a shoutout to @pizzashill for recommending some of these years ago on the subreddit.
Suspicious Minds by Rob Brotherton
A great book that explains the mindset for believing the unbelievable, a good book for anyone who interacts with conspiracy theorists with any regularity.
Vodka Politics by Mark Lawrence Schrad
This a good book that provides key insight into not only the Russian government, but the people who passively support the current regime. A good showcase on how the best way to deal with Russia geopolitically is to first understand the state, and it's history of oppression and control.
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
Many people have a misunderstanding of The Prince, believing it to be a personal manifesto of Machiavelli's ideas. This is false, the book is mostly an observation of the states he saw around him, and what made some function and others falter. Machiavelli is not supporting these ideas from a moral standpoint, but a pragmatic one.
The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America by Coleman Hughes
When I heard some Zoomer with a YouTube channel wrote a book, I rolled my eyes. However this is actually an impressive breakdown on why modern IdPol is cancer to society and how two wrongs don't make a right. It helps that he is good at narrating his own audiobook, highly recommend the audio version over the regular book. Probably my favorite book of the year, fiction included.
Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up by Abigail Shrier
If you have kids (or plan to), I consider this book essential. It provides some key tips for parenting (basically do the opposite of everything Millennial parents do). It's also useful for understanding why Zoomers and gen A are so dysfunctional, the parents did everything wrong. As Zoomers start to enter the political arena, understanding how they function (or rather mostly don't) is key.
Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
A guy he survived the holocaust explains how he was able to keep living after what happened to him. Is he the best writer? No. However he has a perspective that the vast majority of westerners don't, an event in life that involved true suffering.
China's Great Wall Of Debt: Shadow Banks, Ghost Cities, Massive Loans, and the End of the Chinese Miracle by Dinny McMahon
China is screwed, but often it can be hard to understand why when for all appearances they appear to be a functioning almost developed country. People may see all the stats that spell doom and gloom, but without examples it can be hard to internalize. This book is masterful at providing those examples and tying them in to various stats about China's economy and population. The audiobook is also high quality, and 100% free if you have an Audible membership (doesn't cost a credit).
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt
If you only read one book here, make it this one. This book perfectly explains the mind of the wingcuck, and explains what one can do to avoid becoming one. It also provides some really uncomfortable ideas that challenged my beliefs and actually made me more moderate.
The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt
This book is not as well written as The Righteous Mind, however it does have some additional ideas that are worth pondering. Worth a read, but not as essential of a read as The Righteous Mind.
Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson
Jordan B Peterson is no genius, but his ideas have obviously resonated with a lot of people. This book, above all his other books really helps shed light on why. This is probably his most personal book, and shows what kind of person naturally gravitates towards this type of thinking. It helps that it also has more meaningful advice than his first self-help book, less empty platitudes.
Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
A lot of modern historians dismiss this book as pseudohistory, I'd argue that whether that's true or not doesn't matter. This book is more useful to explain the mindset of historians and politicians from the decade this book was published. The fact remains that many believe this book to be true regardless of it's actually factuality, and as such it is worth knowing what started this mindset and what the mindset actually is. I will personally add that this book has more truth to it than many modern historians are willing to admit. Most people who dispute this book attack the data, as the conclusion is hard to challenge.
The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money by Bryan Caplan
Public school is trash in the USA, this book articulates why in a very matter of fact way. This book doesn't offer much substantial solutions imo. However understanding *why* our education system is broken is a key step to working on creating solutions.
The Bible (LSB)
The Bible is the most important book ever written, this is undeniable. This book has had such an insane amount of influence not only on religion, science, and culture, but also the fabric of what makes The West a concept to begin with. Many modern readers have trouble getting through the KJV Bible, understandable. Thus I recommend the LSB version, is it as good from a religious or historical aspect? No. However if you have found yourself unable to really get through The Bible due to it's complex prose, the LSB version is a solid option for understanding The Bible. Unfortunately it doesn't have any non-AI complete audio readings, so no audiobook for those who want it.
You may wonder why other religious texts aren't included, and that's because The Bible has value from a culture and historical angle for any Westerner. Other religious texts are less valuable from that angle, and don't have the same amount of influence over the core Western identity as compared to The Bible.
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-- Jonathan Haidt
My only quibble with him is that he doesn't want to let people be anonymous on the internet. He's smart but this is a guy who grew up long before the internet and he's out of his depth when he thinks about it. The ideal coauthor for him would be our very own Snallygaster who runs circles around these geezers in terms of understanding the psychology of people on the internet and how they interact.
-- Guns, Germs and Steel
When I first came to reddit I went on one of the big history subreddits. Looked around for a little while. Found that if anyone ever mentions this book a bot will come and scold them and tell you it's racist. I see r-sluration here all day every day but this might be the most r-slurred thing I've ever seen. The whole point of his book is that he's not racist so he's trying to explain why some cultures conquered others even though all people are pretty much the same. I think the hate comes from people who are trying to change the definition of racism into "saying that PoC ever did something wrong or make a mistake". I guarantee Diamond is less racist than a woke redditor who moved to Portland and got into craft brewing because he has social anxiety whenever he has to actually meet a black person.
As for its accuracy, I read it last century shortly after it came out
and even as a kid there were a few things I doubted. Like I don't think that steel weapons would give such a big advantage to the conquistadors. But the answers he gives to the big questions are undeniably true. Maybe another reason for the hate is that he's saying geography shapes our cultures. There are branches of social science that will go apeshit over this because they want whatever they're studying to be what shapes our culture. And to be blunt, they're not very good at geography so if they admitted it was important it would undercut their own jobs.
-- Redactor's picks
My recommendation is Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs. Regarded as a masterpiece by intellectuals and selling more than any other book besides the bible, it's like a movie that has a 100% rating from both reviewers and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. It's very relevant to today, at least if you're an American. This guy lived a whole life in this country experiencing a heck of a lot. Being a junior officer, a failed shop owner, general and savior of the republic, president. He did all that and he was also good at writing. Through his eyes you can see the building of the foundation that modern America rests on. You can see our country before 20th century ideologies and Che Guevara T-shirts and Twitter. And this all being told from one of the most American goddarn people who have ever lived.
I don't read as many books as I used to, but I have a couple blog/podcasts to recommend.
Yascha Mounk - Persuasion. His entire project is centrism and giving everyone a voice. It is 100% unironically basically rDrama except with politeness and distinguished intellectuals instead of calling each other r-slurs and cute twinks and hiding behind a cloak of anonymity in our mom's basement. He's trying to get back to the old days that I remember from my childhood, where if you disagreed someone you would talk about it with them, not tell HR that they did a microagression and get them fired. He's got lots of classy guests from all different fields, like Jonathan Haidt who has been on it a few times.
Ruy Teixeira - The Liberal Patriot. This is the guy who wrote The Emerging Democratic Majority in 2002, a book about the opportunities for the Democratic party from demographic changes in America that will come soon. A generation of r-slurs (I know a few) interpreted this as "you will magically win every election if you alienate white males". Since then he's watched the Democrats frick up everything and desperately tried to undo the damage he accidentally caused. As the party has drifted farther and farther to the left, he's stayed where he is and ended up in the center. He has the spirit that I remember the Democrats had back in my boomer times.
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