Recommended Reading!

I HAVE, in many of my articles, referenced a number of different books that have influenced my thoughts and writings. Books are an amazing thing, the primary repository of human knowledge, and they remain this even into the present digital age, with e-books and PDFs having modernized this traditional medium. In addition, if you define “book” as simply a lengthy written text regarding a particular subject, then a book becomes timeless and formless, meaning books will always be with us since humans will always be spilling a lot of ink on particular subjects.

A library is, based on the original Latin “librārium”, a place for books. I have developed, and am continuing to develop, a sizable library of books on the topics that interest me, and many of which may be found in this blog. They have helped to develop me intellectually and direct me towards further research and discoveries in my areas of interest. Having a good library means having a good mind!

In this page of my blog I wanted to take several select volumes from that library of mine and break it up by genre to serve as a recommended reading/shopping list for my readers. The books listed below make up the core of what I know, and by reading even just one book from each section should help start you on a libertarian, state-skeptical journey not too dissimilar from my own.

This page will serve as something of an annotated bibliography, first listing all the recommended entries, then describing - in brief - the content and importance of each of those entries. I don’t just wanna list a bunch of books without giving the thought of why these are key resources for each of the given topics, after all.

Political theory/Libertarianism

• Murray N. Rothbard, For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto.

• Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr., Against the State: An Anarcho-Capitalist Manifesto.

• Walter E. Block, Toward a Libertarian Society.

— Building Blocks for Liberty: Critical Essays by Walter Block.

As I explain in my about page, my ideology is more-or-less Rothbardian libertarianism/anarcho-capitalism. The several books named above are very important reading material to procure for the purpose of reading about this ideology and understanding its theoretical and practical foundations. Of especial importance is Rothbard’s For a New Liberty, which is the manifesto of this ideology, the very first written to explicitly conceptualize anarcho-capitalism. As Lew Rockwell states in his introduction to the book, “There are many varieties of libertarianism alive in the world today, but Rothbardianism remains the center of its intellectual gravity, its primary muse and conscience, its strategic and moral core, and the focal point of debate even when its name is not acknowledged” (p. ix).

All these books are important reads, however. They cover two very important aspects of any political theory: the theoretical/mechanical side and the practical side. The theoretical side of a concept, or its mechanics, describes how it ought to work; the practical side describes how its mechanics would operate in response to certain issues. For example, in For a New Liberty, Rothbard, in the part of the book titled “The Libertarian Creed”, goes over the fundamental axioms of libertarian ideology, which are laissez-faire, pro-capitalist, and anti-State. Then, in the rest of the book, he discusses how libertarianism in practice would respond to various social, economic, and political issues such as education, welfare, foreign policy, etc. Similarly, Lew Rockwell in Against the State has a chapter called “How Would Anarchy Work?” which discusses the mechanics of anarcho-capitalism, and the other chapters of his book provide ancap critiques of various social, economic, and political issues such as the War on Drugs and the Federal Reserve system.

If you want to understand the basics, logic, practicality, and superiority of the anarcho-capitalist/libertarian system, then these are the books for you! For a simple introduction, Rockwell’s less-than-200-page book will work. If you similarly want simple and accessible language but a more comprehensive treatise then it is Rothbard for you. Block is perhaps best for the more initiated and open-minded as he can be a bit ballsy and radical.

Deep politics

• G. Edward Griffin, The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve (5th ed.).

• Alasdair Elder, The Red Trojan Horse: A Concise Analysis of Cultural Marxism.

• Patrick Newman, Cronyism: Liberty versus Power in Early America, 1607–1849.

• Antony C. Sutton, Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution.

— Wall Street and FDR. 

— Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler. 

—  America’s Secret Establishment: An Introduction to the Order of Skull & Bones.

Deep politics is probably the most recurring topic on my blog and one of my favorite subjects. I think it’s because solving puzzles has always been fun for me and, after discovering that vast and convoluted networks exist among the Elite, the prospect of uncovering puzzles deep within our government[s] just came naturally to me. A number of books are worthy reads on the topic of deep politics/conspiracy theories, and those are the ones which made it on the list above.

G. Edward Griffin’s years-long crusade against the Federal Reserve, wrapped up neatly in his The Creature from Jekyll Island, was the very first book I ever read that touched on conspiracy theories and deep politics. It was a fascinating read and set me on my current path for sure (especially due to its skepticism of the Fed, which led me to Ron Paul, who led me to libertarianism). It is a splendid intersection between economic criticism, political ombudsmanship, and historical revisionism that covers all the basic tenets of deep politics (the orchestration of major events, the top-down control of society, the restriction of information, etc.)

The next giant in this literary genre is Antony Sutton, who wrote so much of interest in this area. His main works, listed above, focus on two important entities: the Anglo-American Establishment, which he generalized as “Wall Street”, and the Skull & Bones secret society of Yale that has produced dozens of statesmen and moguls over the generations. Either groups have close connections to each other and the Pilgrims Society, the olive branch that was extended between the English and American oligarchies at the turn of the 19th century and whose members have been involved with almost every deep event since then. The more than 1,000 pages of light shed on these groups and their agents have gone underappreciated to all but the truest freethinkers and dissidents, serving as the foundation of our skepticism of the power elite and history.

Alasdair Edler and Patrick Newman’s works are included because they cover two underappreciated subgenres of deep politics. Let me explain. Edler’s The Red Trojan Horse validates the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory as far more than mere alt-right prattle, but a real force undermining the traditional foundations of Western civilization in favor of a Hegelian-Marxian collectivist superstate. Cultural Marxism is a very real force that has been empowering the Deep State-empowered Left for decades now, and is increasingly coming to fruition with various sociopolitical developments that have been noted in recent years. With regards to Newman’s Cronyism this work is important because it exposes the early history of political corruption and conniving in America, showing that it wasn’t all sunshine and libertarian rainbows in the days of Washington and Jefferson, but rather there was a very real and severe struggle between authoritarians and liberals in our nation from the get-go.

 

History

• Thomas E. Jr. Woods, 33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask.

• John T. Flynn, The Roosevelt Myth.

• Murray N. Rothbard, The Progressive Era, ed. Patrick Newman.

• Bertrand de Jouvenel, On Power: Its Nature and the History of Its Growth.

“Who controls the past controls the future” is the famous assertion by George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. This is because humans learn from past experiences, and if our past experiences convey certain lessons we will apply those lessons to today. If those lessons are formed to teach a specific agenda, however, we could end up perpetuating that agenda. That is one of the most primary endeavors of regimes in history has been historical revisionism and negationism, which has been seen in the USSR, National Socialist Germany, China, North Korea, and elsewhere.

Because intellectuals tend towards socialism and statism, and intellectuals control the flow of information in academia, the majority of historiography has been bent towards statist and socialist interpretations and apologetics. In order to prevent modern society from applying statist and socialist lessons to our lives, then, we must break free of the conditioning that this biased historiography that permeates the public school system and even the majority of private universities has given us.

Tom Woods’ book is first on the list because it is a very light read and it helps reconstruct the truth behind the history of America, the shining beacon of liberty for several decades of its existence. If America, a template for freedom, has its successes attributed to the State and to socialism then it will leave many with the impression that the template for freedom is government authority and socialized economics. It answers questions such as, “Were States’ Rights Just Code Words For Slavery And Oppression?” “Was the ‘Wild West’ Really So Wild?” and “What Made American Wages Rise?” and does so by debunking and replacing various statist and socialist misconceptions of these questions.

Following the subject of pro-socialist bias in academia/historiography we turn to John Flynn’s The Roosevelt Myth, which is a scathing critique of one of the most socialist administrations to date. Because of the misconception of FDR’s New Deal as a successful program that saved America, and the accurate conception of it as a socialist programme, many have been led to believe that socialism is viable, because - after all - it worked in the most capitalist country in the World! To the contrary, Flynn exposes the New Deal as an utter economic and political failure and Roosevelt as nothing more than a political opportunist and authoritarian menace.

 Next on the list is Murray Rothbard’s The Progresive Era, resurrected from a pile of notes and recorded citations by faithful disciple Patrick Newman, which covers the single greatest period of political centralization and government growth in American history. The common perception of the Progessive Era in the typical history textbook is that it was “a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States of America.” However, Rothbard flips the script by arguing “progressivism brought the triumph of institutionalized racism, the disfranchising of blacks in the South, the cutting off of immigration, the building up of trade unions by the federal government into a tripartite of big government, big business, big union alliance, the glorifying of military virtues and conscription, and a drive for American expansion abroad” (p. 40). In other words, the Progressive Era would be better called the Regressive Era by historians as it represented the fall of the laissez-faire federal republic and the rise of the high-tax regulatory regime.

The final history book I recommend is one that had great influence on Murray Rothbard, especially in the development of his historiographic concept of “Liberty v. Power”. It is Bertrand de Jouvenel’s On Power, which as its subtitle so aptly informs, describes Power’s “nature and the history of its growth.” De Jouvenel describes things such as the growth of political power in the wake of war, the social consequences of the warlike spirit, and the development/devolution from parasitism to symbiosis. This decades-old yet ever-sharp 500-page book is an immensely profitable read for all contrarian students of history.

Economics

• Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market.

• Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson.

Economics is one of the most important subjects someone can have knowledge in, along with history and religion (IMO). Economics is the science that deals with the rise and fall of civilization, the advancement and retrenchment of human development, the feeding and healing of the multitudes, and the question of whether human affairs are dominated by cooperation or violence. It is an extremely important, pertinent, and fascinating science, and I have also discussed economics several times in this blog. So, providing some reading material on economics is a logical move.

The foremost treatise on economics - inheriting or disinheriting earlier ones such as The Wealth of Nations, Das Kapital, Say’s Political Economy, Human Action, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, and Essay on the Nature of Trade in General - is Murray Rothbard’s Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market. This nearly 1500-page book covers absolutely everything an economics book possibly can. It provides a sweeping presentation of Austrian economic theory along with scathing critiques of alternative schools (in Man, Economy, and State) plus an analysis of taxation, the welfare state, regulation, economic planning, and all forms of socialism, large and small (in Power and Market). No work can be better than Rothbard’s, which, several decades on, remains the undisputed champion of [Austrian] economics.

However, for good reason, Rothbard’s work can seem a bit too bulky for the lay reader. While I do not seek to necessarily encourage that viewpoint, and I wish for everyone to read Rothbard, if someone wants a much shorter but equally enlightening and Austrian treatise then they should turn to Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson. This 200-page book is a great primer on economics from an Austrian perspective and is the go-to book of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, which provides copies of the book free-of-charge. 

American politics

• Andrew P. Napolitano, Suicide Pact: The Radical Expansion of Presidential Powers and the Lethal Threat to American Liberty.

• Robert Higgs, Against Leviathan: Government Power and a Free Society.

• John W. Whitehead, Battlefield America: The War On The American People.

• Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr., Against the Left: A Rothbardian Libertarianism.

Significant structural changes in the American political system have clearly occurred over the last few decades. It is my, and many libertarians’, conviction that these changes have been deleterious to liberty. Being able to understand and visualize the nature and extent of these changes is quite important, not only to Americans but also to the billions of people around the world that live in America’s geopolitical ambit (even our “enemies”, such as China and Russia, are affected by us because, ultimately, we either trade with them or chose to or not to invade them).

Judge Napolitano’s book Suicide Pact is a great resource on this issue, as it takes a look at - per its subtitle - “the radical expansion of presidential powers and the lethal threat to american liberty.” It details how the liberties of American citizens have been significantly rescinded in decades past, what issues we currently face, and where the future might lead us. This nearly 500-page book is highly recommendable.

Robert Higgs’ Against Leviathan critiques numerous aspects of American politics, such as the vast regulatory apparatus that exists here, the wartime Leviathan, American presidents (like FDR, Nixon, etc.), and other subjects. It is a collection of various essays he had written beforehand, and is an enlightening revisionist take on the American economy, government, Establishment, and story.

John Whitehead’s book Battlefield America is similar to Judge Napolitano’s Suicide Pact as it details the encroachment on and erosion of our liberties in America. It describes the development of a police state in this country, once truly the sweet land of liberty. Reading this book will show you that we do not live in a republic, in a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, not anymore.

Finally, there is Lew Rockwell’s Against the Left. I included this book because the American Left is becoming a very powerful socio political force in this country, as signaled by various events like Joe Biden’s “election”. Also, for some time now, the Left has been driven by the Deep State, adding to its power and danger. Rockwell’s book is a devastating critique of this ideology and, simultaneously, an exaltation of libertarian values over left-egalitarian ones.