Short and Sweet Literature? - Liberty.me

Short and Sweet Literature?

Tags: education Literature Philosophy reading

Noah Summers August 1, 2016 at 4:23 pm

A lot of my favorite libertarian literature is on the shorter side; more like long essays or pamphlets rather than book-length treatises (I love those for my own enjoyment, of course, but it’s nigh impossible to recommend an hour-length lecture to a friend, let alone an actual book).

A couple of my favorite examples are Against Intellectual Property (Kinsella), Chaos Theory (Murphy), The Production of Security (Molinari), and The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude (Boetie).

I would like to find more works of similar length, especially for the purpose of recommending short yet mind-blowing reads to friends/family. What are your favorites?

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Richard Masta August 1, 2016 at 5:19 pm

Depends on your definition of “libertarian” but here I go:

Anthem-ayn rand

Give me liberty- rose wilder lane

Walking- h.d.Thoreau

Authoritarian sociopathy-davi Barker

The rebel’s journey-darryl perry

Another idea might be to compile essays/articles you like and make an anthology. For example, just the new England chapters of Rothbard’s Conceived in Liberty make compelling reading for someone interested in my local history)

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  Massimo Mazzone August 1, 2016 at 8:23 pm
  
  I, pencil
  
  Various chapters of Defending the undefendable
  
  Reagan, an authopsy by Rothbard
  
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    Noah Summers August 2, 2016 at 12:25 am
    
    Thanks for the suggestions!
    
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Will Smith August 1, 2016 at 11:01 pm
Well, if short reads for people who are new to less-government-than-we-have-now thought is what you have in mind, here are a couple off the top of my head:
- Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity – This book is about more than just political matters, and the myth/truth format makes the book engaging for people like me who have short attention spans.
- Concise Guide to Economics – Just check out the webbed edition to see why: http://www.conciseguidetoeconomics.com/
I could recommend way more, but it depends on who your target audience is. A book like “Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think” may not be the brief kind of thing you have in mind but for people like me, the subject matter was what convinced me that innovation is the solution to most of our problems (in spite of politics).

My advice here overall is that people new to anything “Libertarian” (even in a broad sense) may not find philosophical works to be all that compelling. They could care less about the “morality” of an issue if taking that route leads to people starving or getting killed.

But again, half the problem will not be having a good recommendation in mind but rather it will be knowing the person you are making a recommendation too.
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  Noah Summers August 2, 2016 at 12:21 am
  
  “…people new to anything “Libertarian” (even in a broad sense) may not find philosophical works to be all that compelling.”
  
  Too true. Like you suggested, I only recommend readings to a very specific type of person (usually coworkers who may be statists but who also enjoy an intelligent argument). One such person reacted very well to “A Century of War” by John V. Denson. I’ve just recommended Against Intellectual Property to another person, and they not only showed genuine interest, but even sought out the audiobook on their lunch break. Rare occurrences, but thankfully they do happen.
  
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Ken Jons-un August 1, 2016 at 11:09 pm

The Law by the esteemed Mr Bastiat and also The Candle Makers Petition because they fit your description well and are time tested.

I’ll second Anthem as well as I, Pencil

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  Massimo Mazzone August 2, 2016 at 12:38 am
  
  How could I forget The petition, Ken? An absolute must….
  
  Another short piece that is not a classic but I love because is very funny and shows the stupidity of the political and bureaucratic process is this of the late professor Whitebread: http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/history/whiteb1.htm
  
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Peter Truscinski August 3, 2016 at 1:34 am

“Animal Farm,” by George Orwell; or “The Prince and the Pauper,” by Mark Twain

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Richard Masta August 7, 2016 at 9:17 am

I feel like your list is hoping to be strict libertarian/austrian texts. while books like “animal farm” are revered by libertarians for its message, people who aren’t seeking out actual libertarian ideas won’t make those connections. average people hate government, but they don’t connect the dots that specific libertarian texts do. I just remembered a few that may be helpful:

“Freedom” – kokesh

“the most dangerous superstition” – rose (I haven’t read this yet, but I’ve heard enough from Larken in interviews that I know the book is solid)

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  Richard Masta August 8, 2016 at 11:03 am
  
  surprised it took me until now to remember:
  
  Bourbon for Breakfast/It’s a Jetsons World/Beautiful Anarchy/Liberty.me all books by Jeffrey Tucker, all of them filled with real life examples of how freedom works and authority fails.
  
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    Noah Summers August 8, 2016 at 11:36 am
    
    While I felt that Kokesh’s book was a little on the assertive side (telling, rather than showing), I do love Jeffrey’s literature. I’ve only listened to Stefan Molyneux’s reading of It’s a Jetson’s World so far, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy the rest (speaking of which, Bit by Bit has been on my “next to read list” for a while now).
    
    I only looked into Larken Rose recently, and I’m surprised it took me this long. I’m a huge fan of Ayn Rand’s attitude and literary style, and Larken has taken those to their anarchist conclusions, so he’s a joy to listen to.
    
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    - Richard Masta August 8, 2016 at 4:01 pm
      
      only “problem” with larken’s style — well, the problem is his opponent’s lack of understanding — is that he’s so logical it comes off as illogical. if that makes sense. people don’t want to admit he’s right, deep down.
      
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