1. The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884) by Friedrich Engels. It's one of the greatest scholarly books on World History. It was revolutionary for its time for many reasons. First it provides a through history of the Americas and the Asia Pacific region before European colonialism and is remarkable how it avoids the typical European racism and stereotypes of the time. Engels explains the history of how private property developed around the world and how that led to the formation of class societies. My favorite part is how Engels demolishes the European colonial notion of "primitive" versus "civilized". According to Engels "primitive" simply means pre-class or classless societies. "Civilization" is class society. Also interesting how as an upper class European straight male, Engels was the first to articulate the relationship between private property, patriarchy and women's oppression. Basically the modern nuclear family is not natural and certainly not Biblical. It is the foundation of capitalist society. The private nuclear family must be abolished if we are to ever have a truly free and egalitarian classless society. 2. The Black Man's Burden: Africa and the Curse of the Nation-state (1993) by Basil Davidson. This book remains the Gold Standard of African history. Davidson takes us to the Middle Ages of Africa to show how there were highly developed and advanced African civilizations and how their social and political structures were developed. Davidson shows how the Europeans colonized Africa. But the most mind blowing chapter is where he compares and contrasts Africa with Eastern Europe. Romania in 1900 was in much worse shape than the Congo Free State which included the genocide of 10 million native Congolese. Africans and Eastern Europeans have very much in common with each other as both were historically colonized and oppressed. It's a book that shows how the Western European imperialist powers deliberately kept Africans and Eastern Europeans ignorant of one another in order to prevent a true international movement against colonialism and war. Genocides in Africa and Yugoslavia are explained with crisp clarity in this book. I think it would be the best counterweight to the book that you recommended by Samantha Power. 3. The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933) by Wilhelm Reich. No other writer or intellectual has been vindicated by recent political developments as much as Wilhelm Reich. Reich has a bad reputation precisely because he had his finger on the pulse of reactionary mentality and sentiments. According to Reich the basis of fascism of sexual repression or what he calls "sexual negation" and "orgasm anxiety". We see this today with the far-right hysteria over "groomers", LGB rights, abortion and the phenomena of Incels. The appeal of Trump and the his fanatical cult following is the same as Hitler's. To be sure Reich's conclusions will startle and upset many Postmodernist leftists and progressives today. But it's precisely due to the fact that the contemporary Left today has orgasm anxiety and has embraced the most conservative sexual politics and mores. Nonetheless this book is an essential read to understand fascism then and today. 4.Morals and Criminality (1908) by Karl Kraus. Like Engels, Kraus is remarkable for his brilliant insight into the oppression of women. It is a Feminist tour-de-force written by an Austrian bourgeois Jewish man! Kraus exposes and brutally parodies and satirizes Victorian sexual morality and shows the hypocrisy and double standards of how morals and the law are applied differently to men and women. Kraus uses everyday examples of how women and girls were used as property to conduct business transactions between men. Karl Kraus was an early critic of Freud and early psychoanalysis. Kraus detested Freud's view of women but accurately saw how it was reflected in the laws and social mores of the times. Kraus is the greatest satirist of the German language. In fact, I rank him as the greatest satirist of all time. Swift and Twain were midgets compared to Kraus. Goethe is the only German writer greater than Kraus. The English translation is very difficult to find. Kraus' command of the German language with his use of word plays and double entendres makes him very difficult translate. However there are some old British editions of this book out there. 5. Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat (1983) by J Sakai. Forget Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States". Settlers is a history of the USA from the perspective of Native Americans, enslaved Africans and their descendants, Asians and the original Hispanic inhabitants of Texas, the Southwest and the West Coast. Sakai himself is of Japanese-American ancestry. While many progressives read Zinn's book and other books about Black American history, the perspectives of Hispanics, Native Americans and Asians are often overlooked and ignored. Sakai's scholarship is second to none. This is by far the most comprehensive and inclusive history of the United States. It's refreshing as it is rare to read the works of a radical progressive Asian-American. These are my top 5 must read books. 🍕
🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕 Just finished Untethered Soul! I don't see any links to your TikTok account anywhere.
It’s a great book! I think I put my TT in the description box but here it is! Come find me and we can party! www.tiktok.com/@heymollyb
🍕🍕🍕
1. The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884) by Friedrich Engels. It's one of the greatest scholarly books on World History. It was revolutionary for its time for many reasons. First it provides a through history of the Americas and the Asia Pacific region before European colonialism and is remarkable how it avoids the typical European racism and stereotypes of the time. Engels explains the history of how private property developed around the world and how that led to the formation of class societies. My favorite part is how Engels demolishes the European colonial notion of "primitive" versus "civilized". According to Engels "primitive" simply means pre-class or classless societies. "Civilization" is class society. Also interesting how as an upper class European straight male, Engels was the first to articulate the relationship between private property, patriarchy and women's oppression. Basically the modern nuclear family is not natural and certainly not Biblical. It is the foundation of capitalist society. The private nuclear family must be abolished if we are to ever have a truly free and egalitarian classless society.
2. The Black Man's Burden: Africa and the Curse of the Nation-state (1993) by Basil Davidson. This book remains the Gold Standard of African history. Davidson takes us to the Middle Ages of Africa to show how there were highly developed and advanced African civilizations and how their social and political structures were developed. Davidson shows how the Europeans colonized Africa. But the most mind blowing chapter is where he compares and contrasts Africa with Eastern Europe. Romania in 1900 was in much worse shape than the Congo Free State which included the genocide of 10 million native Congolese. Africans and Eastern Europeans have very much in common with each other as both were historically colonized and oppressed. It's a book that shows how the Western European imperialist powers deliberately kept Africans and Eastern Europeans ignorant of one another in order to prevent a true international movement against colonialism and war. Genocides in Africa and Yugoslavia are explained with crisp clarity in this book. I think it would be the best counterweight to the book that you recommended by Samantha Power.
3. The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933) by Wilhelm Reich. No other writer or intellectual has been vindicated by recent political developments as much as Wilhelm Reich. Reich has a bad reputation precisely because he had his finger on the pulse of reactionary mentality and sentiments. According to Reich the basis of fascism of sexual repression or what he calls "sexual negation" and "orgasm anxiety". We see this today with the far-right hysteria over "groomers", LGB rights, abortion and the phenomena of Incels. The appeal of Trump and the his fanatical cult following is the same as Hitler's. To be sure Reich's conclusions will startle and upset many Postmodernist leftists and progressives today. But it's precisely due to the fact that the contemporary Left today has orgasm anxiety and has embraced the most conservative sexual politics and mores. Nonetheless this book is an essential read to understand fascism then and today.
4.Morals and Criminality (1908) by Karl Kraus. Like Engels, Kraus is remarkable for his brilliant insight into the oppression of women. It is a Feminist tour-de-force written by an Austrian bourgeois Jewish man! Kraus exposes and brutally parodies and satirizes Victorian sexual morality and shows the hypocrisy and double standards of how morals and the law are applied differently to men and women. Kraus uses everyday examples of how women and girls were used as property to conduct business transactions between men. Karl Kraus was an early critic of Freud and early psychoanalysis. Kraus detested Freud's view of women but accurately saw how it was reflected in the laws and social mores of the times. Kraus is the greatest satirist of the German language. In fact, I rank him as the greatest satirist of all time. Swift and Twain were midgets compared to Kraus. Goethe is the only German writer greater than Kraus. The English translation is very difficult to find. Kraus' command of the German language with his use of word plays and double entendres makes him very difficult translate. However there are some old British editions of this book out there.
5. Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat (1983) by J Sakai. Forget Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States". Settlers is a history of the USA from the perspective of Native Americans, enslaved Africans and their descendants, Asians and the original Hispanic inhabitants of Texas, the Southwest and the West Coast. Sakai himself is of Japanese-American ancestry. While many progressives read Zinn's book and other books about Black American history, the perspectives of Hispanics, Native Americans and Asians are often overlooked and ignored. Sakai's scholarship is second to none. This is by far the most comprehensive and inclusive history of the United States. It's refreshing as it is rare to read the works of a radical progressive Asian-American.
These are my top 5 must read books.
🍕
I love it. You could do your own video or blog post about these! What great info!
@@MollyBeane Thanks! You have definitely inspired me!
🍕🍕🍕 I think I will read one or two of these books. Good video.
Let me know if you do!