This is exactly what I was thinking. It was Machiavelli that made me put my faith in liberty, and it was Marx that made me a capitalist. I think everyone should read these books to know what they're up against in regards to the professional politician.
I agree. If you don't read the books written by the minds who influence society (for the good or bad), you don't really know what's going on. On my FR page there is a book by Jacques Maritain. The first essay explains that a philosopher of evil influence is like a lighthouse telling you to steer clear.
But a curious question arises. How is it that we can read Marx and recognize him for what he is, but others take him seriously? I don't think one can say that those who take dangerous crackpots seriously are simply stupid. For example, Ernst Mach was definitely not stupid, but he took Haeckel's monistic rants quite seriously and even joined Haeckel's Monist Church. Perhaps it has something to do with lack of faith, and the absence of sanity that inevitably follows.
That’s interesting because it was Ayn Rand’s ‘Atlas Shrugged’ that made me a Christian again.
Just goes to show that some things are toxic in general release but cathartic when absorbed in proper context from a firm set of prior principles based in fact rather than preference or whim.