Liberal Indiana has a post entitled “Summer Reading for Liberals.” Of the books with which I am familiar, LI mentions 1984; Animal Farm; Guns, Germs & Steel; Collapse; and the Bible. (The Bible was mentioned as something LI had read in an ultra-conservative high school, but in the comments, I pointed out that the bits about Jesus in the Bible tend toward the liberal, particularly those parts in the Sermon on the Mount.)
1984 and Animal Farm are good because they illustrate the dangers of unchecked government. In the comments, I suggested John Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath” and Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle.” Both of those books illustrate the dangers of an unchecked market.
Most ominous, perhaps, are Jared Diamond’s Gun’s, Germs & Steel and Collapse. They are more ominous because, as the saying goes, “Mother Nature bats last,” and she can dish out far more pain than either unchecked government or an unchecked market.
Another book I forgot to mention over at LI, is John Stuart Mill’s “On Liberty.” It’s a pretty good philosphical justification on why folks should pretty much just be left free of coercion as much as possible.
The social conservatives better ban Steinbeck for high school reading.When I was 17 I read everything he ever wrote, one after the other, and it planted liberal seeds that gradually sprouted over my lifetime.Also true about the Bible! Take out the Old Testament and emphasize Jesus and we have another liberal seed planting.Jesus shared with the poor and ministered to the afflicted.
Very true about Jesus. Not just the care to the poor and afflicted, but he also had VERY liberal ideas on religion. The Falwell’s (sp?) and 700 Clubs of the day opposed Jesus’s teachings so much that they had him executed by the state.
It is sad that both “sides” ignore the parts they don’t like. Many conservtitves ignore Jesus’ compassion, and many liberals ignore his message about “nobody comes to the Father except through me”.
Personally, this helps me validate his message. If one large group of people agrees with 1/2 of his message, and another large group of people agrees with the other 1/2, then there seems to be truth there.