I was watching some video and there was mention of someone getting 1984. Upon which, a guy said that this one (one who got 1984) will end up being radicalized. I was already born into a very radical environment so no needs of books to radicalize me (although I am trying to be moderate and chill now)
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Just reading about history has done that to me. I don’t really read fiction, but I read a ton of history, usually about one book per month or so. But seeing how the human history is just basically despair and misery, makes you a bit annoyed that we still haven’t gotten any better.
I agree with this but its kinda also that we seem to be going backward big time. If you look at ww1 to ww2 and how shorta time span that was with the depression and then look back on the last quarter decade. its like. this is some bull trump.
Yeah it puts things in perspective. Sadly, lately the perspective has been “this is awful and things will become even more awful for the next decade or two at least. Probably more.”
History books got names too!
Yeah I know. But I don’t like to recommend just random topics, because when I do, I’ve noticed that people just go “oh wasn’t interested in that” so I’d rather ask a bit about what topics and time periods people might be interested in, before recommending.
And to be clear, I don’t really have a specific book or books in mind that radicalized me. It happened by reading tens, or a hundred, books in the period of 10-15 years. So in that I can’t give a recommendation, other than, just start reading about stuff. Start with something you wanted to know, wanted to know more about or were interested in, then during reading that thing, note down anything else that comes to mind that might interest you. Either something the book mentioned or something that popped in your mind randomly. Then get a book about that thing. Repeat.
That’s how I got sunk into this hole of reading about history. I just go “huh, what’s that about?!” and proceed to find out. /r/askhistorians subreddit has a excellent reading list in their wiki, its sorted into periods and topics, easy to search. That’s a good place to start.
You want something strictly relevant to all the messes we’re in today?
The Hundred Years' War on PalestineandThe Ethnic Cleansing of Palestineare must reads. Round them off withBeyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of HistoryThen read
Inventing Reality: The Politics of News MediaandManufacturing Consent(obligatory fuck pedo-associated and possibly pedo Chompsky).Take a break from reality and read a quick fiction:
The Trial.If you’re not radicalized by anger at this point, you’re one of the baddies.
Gonna put something completely different out there: The Kingsbridge novels and Century Trilogy by Ken Follett. Kingsbridge is about a fictional town in England through the ages (books are 10th, 12, 14th, 16th and 18th century respectively), and the Century trilogy about several families from different parts of the world as they go through the 20th century.
Just a lot of daily life scenarios with a lot of rich vs poor themes. A lot of it goes too far to the social-democratic side and I don’t like how a lot of the characters tend to end up in a better place than where they started but I think it’s exactly those day-to-day issues that are what radicalise.
Unironically “Industrial Society and Its Future” by Ted Kaczynski.
I don’t agree with it at all. I think disabled people are people too, radical stance I know. But some points, especially about modern left and new technology becoming mandatory are well argued and true.
I always thought he was just a random looney and he’s definitely not. I think the book didn’t radicalize me but showed me what I believed to be true (that the guy was just a looney or evil) was wrong.
I don’t believe that the rise of technofascism can be stopped by hiding in the woods tho and I don’t think rejecting all tech will make everyone’s mental health immediately better, he does not at all take things like community and purpose into account.
Didn’t really radicalise me but it’s interesting that people had those ideas a long time ago too.
“The right to be lazy” (translation by me so it’s worth what it’s worth)
Quel banger
When things fall apart - Pema Chodron.
I don’t know about radicalized, but if you want to better understand race in America, “The Fire Next Time” by Baldwin is an excellent place to start.
Pick a judeo-christian bible. Can’t miss apparently.
1984
Animal Farm
The Jungle
Slaughterhouse Five
Brave New World
A Farewell to Arms
Blood Meridian
Guns, Germs, and Steel
To Kill A Mockingbird
Bullshit Jobs
I know I at least read Animal Farm and To Kill a Mockingbird when I was younger. I wonder how much those ended up influencing me. At the time I wouldn’t have totally agreed with them, and I don’t remember them having a particularly large influence, but they probably did affect me without me knowing. However, I also watched a lot of sci-fi and Star Trek, which probably had an even greater influence.
I wish there was a way to analyze our past and pick apart what effect different things had. It’d be really fun to know. I think when you consume something that you think really changes you, you were already primed for that change before. A lot of things lead up to that moment that you don’t even recognize.
Is last one really the title of book?
If you really want some solid Graeber, who tag-teamed with archaeologist David Wengrow, read The Dawn of Everything.
The cake is a lie and hierarchy is horseshit. Humans have left exploitative social structures (read: empires, Capitalism) and reorganized society before and we can do it again. There is physical evidence for thousands of years.
The terms of service for the warranty on my first car after the first time I tried to use it.
- The Shock Doctrine: The Rise Of Disaster Capitalism
- The Divide: Global Inequality From Conquest To Free Markets
- Anarchism And Its Aspirations / Anarchy Works
- The ABCs Of Socialism / Socialism … Seriously: A Brief Guide To Surviving The 21st Century
- Trust Us, We’re Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science And Gambles With Your Future
- The Search For A Nonviolent Future (Michael N. Nagler)
- Feminism For The 99%
- Currently reading “Secret Affairs: Britain’s Collusion With Radical Islam” And “Devil’s Game: How The United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam”
Stranger In A Strange Land
That was the first Heinlein I ever read, and it blew my mind. I wished I could go back in time to meet him and shake his hand.
Then I read more Heinlein and got to the Lazarus Long stuff, and wished I could go back in time to meet him and ask him if he was okay.
Hahahaha this is hilarious
Learning Perl, 2nd edition
Perl doesn’t radicalise anyone, but it might turn them into a funny character.
Why are we calling being an empathetic individual and being against fascism “being radicalised”?
Because it is the correct use of the word. It is the american conservative propaganda machine which gave it the negative connotations.
Being antifascist matches at least two definitions of radical: “Favoring fundamental change, or change at the root cause of a matter” and “(slang) Excellent; awesome”
My question exactly
well it is just you. Radicalized can entail many things. When I was in early to mid teens, I have read and listened to extremists and that made me a hardcore extremist in my religion.
No Logo by Naomi Klein.
Unfortunately, it made me really against sweatshops and child labour. But most people want to hate stuff that come with very marginal costs, rether than things that force you to rethink how you live.
“I hate structural racism!”
“Like our clothes?”
“No, no…”Nickle and Dimed by Ehrenreich
