281: Witness by Whittaker Chambers

(During the month of September I'm recommending conservative titles with which every well-read progressive should be familiar.)

Witness by Whittaker Chambers

A Soviet spy who renounced Communism and named names. Whittaker Chambers was an icon of the right throughout the mid-20th century. In Witness he writes his autobiography explaining how he became interested in Communism and why he gave it up. This book frequently lands near the top of lists about the most influential conservative books written in the US.

Why this is libertarian/conservative: Ronald Reagan was such a huge fan of Chambers' that in 1984 he awarded Chambers a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom. Reagan said that reading Witness inspired him to give up being a New Deal Democrat to become a conservative Republican.

Buy the Kindle version: Witness by Whittaker Chambers

332: Capital by Karl Marx

Capital: Volume 1: A Critique of Political Econom, Vol. 1
Capital : A Critique of Political Economy, Vol. 2
Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Vol. 3

They're going to call you a communist so you might as well know what they're accusing you of. This is a classic economic text and should be read by anybody with an interest in politics or economics. You might want to read your Adam Smith and David Ricardo before you start reading Karl Marx, but it's not an absolute necessity.

Don't be put off by the size of this work. Yes, it's huge, but you'll be surprised how much you can get out of even a casual reading.

Why this is progressive/liberal: Almost everything you know about Marx is wrong. Once you understand Marx's critique of the commodification of life you may find yourself more sympathetic to his arguments. Even if you ultimately don't agree with Marx, and decide life is better as an unrepentant capitalist, you should at least know the argument.

Buy the Kindle version: Capital: A Critique of Political Economy: 1
Capital: 2
Capital: 3

337: The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

The Gulag Archipelago Volume 1: An Experiment in Literary Investigation by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Perhaps the most annoying tic of today's political right is conflating modern American progressivism with the tyrannical "socialist" governments of the 20th century. (Almost as annoying is the widespread ignorance among progressives about where those arguments originate.)

The thing about socialism, liberalism, Christianity, Islam, atheism, etc. is that anyone can adopt the mantle. Just as no one seriously believes Ander Breivik represents Christianity, no serious person thinks Stalin represents Marxism. Mao is no more a metonym for atheism, than Hitler is for Catholicism.

If, however, you're not sure why almost every American socialist and communist rejected the Soviet Union as a model of collectivism, then read Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago.

Why this is progressive/liberal: While Americans pat themselves on the back for their commitment to the concepts of liberty, the truth is we imprison a higher percentage of our population than any nation on Earth. While our prison system isn't as devastating as Stalin's work camps, reading these books might hit closer to home than you'd like.

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