What are the best books out there on why socialism blows?

me | 11-1-08 | Houmatt

[Houmatt]

I have a friend who is talking about how socialism "works." She needs to be taken down a peg or two but I don't know where to start. Any suggestions?

[hellbender]

I recommend The Socialist Phenomenon by Igor Shafarevich (who would know socialism better than a Russian dissident?). Among other things, it demolishes the fantasy that socialism is modern or "progressive" by showing that the slave states of ancient Egypt and Babylon were essentially socialist.

[CrazyIvan]

Eat the Rich by P.J. O’Rourke. It’s very funny and accessible to the general reader.

Probably the best read to recommend for someone leftist leaning but still open minded. P. J. makes no excuses for the inherent faults in all systems and does it in a humorous way. He also never holds himself up as a god like authority as some writers do. As Twain said “Humorists, politicians, burglars, all of us in the trade”.

[ClearCase_guy]

There was an old Maine humorist who did some albums about "Bert and I" and one of his routines was about a Maine farmer who heard a traveling socialist give a speech and was converted. He had a conversation with his neighbor and explained the theory to him. His neighbor says:

"So, Virgil, you mean to say that if you had two farms, you'd give me one of them?"
"Ayuh."
"So, Virgil, you mean to say that if you had two tractors, you'd give me one of them?"
"Ayuh."
"So, Virgil, you mean to say that if you had two cows, you'd give me one of them?"
"G** D*** you, Enoch! You know I got two cows!!"

[Raquel]

http://www.therealcuba.com/

[ClearCase_guy]

I would say it’s tough but worth it. I’d say the same about Atlas Shrugged.

[Earthdweller]

A quick video from an ex KGB agent..

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k6KUDv1wzraWhwlBt1

The entire series is on youtube,,,very frighteningly shows how modern socialism is meant to lead to full blown communist slavery.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

If I could only recommend one book, it would be Hayek’s Road to Serfdom.

Good books on the weakness of Socialism:
Road to Serfdom (Hayek) is about the best.
Reflections on the Failure of Socialism (Max Eastman)
FDR's Folly (Powell)
Era of Tyrannies (Halevy)
The Forgotten Man (Shlaes)

Good books on the strength of free markets:
Capitalism and Freedom (Friedman)
Free to Choose (Friedman)
The Anti-Trust Paradox (Bork)
Anti-Capitalistic Mentality (von Mises)
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism (Murphy)

Books on economics in general:
The Servile State (Belloc) (some critique of socialism, but really a light criticism of socialism and heavy criticism of capitalism and an argument for Distributism, which is some fantasy socialism-lite conglomeration of the two that could never work)
Outline of Sanity (G.K. Chesterton) This is another argument for Distributism.
The Roosevelt Myth (Flynn) (touches on the economics of the era)
America's Great Depression (Rothbard)
Basic Economics(Sowell)
Theory and History (von Mises)
Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (Schumpeter)

[Infidel Puppy]

"Black Book of Communism"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Book_of_Communism

100,000,000 dead in the 20th century alone.
And Obama wants to bring it here.

[PapaBear3625]

"The Road to Serfdom" is very accessible. I had my 12 year old read it at one point as part of her homeschool curriculum.

Also take a look at "The Discovery of Freedom" by Rose Wilder Lane (daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder of "Little House on the Prairie", and the real author of the famous series of books). Rose started out as a Lefty and wound up as a strong conservative/libertarian.

So many people are enchanted with socialism and the idea of a planned economy, because they are arrogant enough to think that they would be among the planners.

[edzo4]

books are theory, ask her show you an example of where socialism works

[1rudeboy]

The Road to Serfdom in Cartoons. No excuse for your friend not to understand.

[muir_redwoods]

Any history of the 100 million people killed trying to make Socialism work in the 20th century ought to suffice. Remind her that Socialism whether the Fabian, National, Soviet or International version always ends in failure and death.

It was in all the papers

[listenhillary]

She doesn’t even need to read a whole book, just this story.

Twentieth Century Motor Company
Conservablogs Blue Collar Muse ^ | Ayn Rand

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2112179/posts

Copy the story and forward that to her
http://conservablogs.com/bluecollarmuse/2008/10/06/socialisms-lying-promise/

[mewzilla]

I just bought that one. Is it tough to get through or an easy read?

Well, it was tough for me, but I'll admit to not being the brightest bulb in the lamp. But it's well worth the slog. And I reread it periodically just for the refresher :)

[J40000]

It works ON PAPER, but NOT in real life. All you need is an OUNCE of common sense to figure it out.

[GOPJ]

We should not list these books - they’ll be the first ones Obama’s goons burn.

[wintertime]

Fredrich Hayek “Road To Serfdom”
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I absolutely agree, but a Liberal-Marxists that is just putting his toe in freedom's water needs milk before meat. The “Road to Serfdom” would be a little to hard to chew for a Liberal-Marxist.

[xmission]

I’ve got it posted here, if they want to read it online

http://iwilldefendtheconstitution.com/node/562

[wintertime]

The Road to Serfdom in Cartoons.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Absolutely excellent!

Also...We must remember that the overwhelming majority of our our citizens have been indoctrinated in government “schools”. Learning to read hasn't been a priority there since the late 1960s ( or even earlier).

[SteelTrap]

I watched that series last week and it was amazing. Giving the recent turmoil in the markets, this interview with Yuri Bezmenov made me take notice. He explains the KGB’s stategy for taking over our country from within. One of the stages of this strategy was a manufactured crisis which seems very close to the subprime mortgage mess. I highly recommend taking an hour and watching the whole thing.