Top Hacker News Book Recommendations in Politics & Social Sciences (all time)

All Time Past 6 Months

Everybody: A Book about Freedom

Olivia Laing

4.4 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880

W. E. Burghardt Du Bois and David Levering Lewis

4.8 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Don't Label Me: How to Do Diversity Without Inflaming the Culture Wars

Irshad Manji

4.3 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Believe in People: Bottom-Up Solutions for a Top-Down World

Charles G. Koch and Brian Hooks

4.5 on Amazon

1 HN comments

The Art of Communicating

Thich Nhat Hanh

4.8 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto

Mark R. Levin

4.8 on Amazon

1 HN comments

The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government

David Talbot, Peter Altschuler, et al.

4.6 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America

Kathleen Belew

4.6 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times

Jonathan Sacks

4.8 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Columbine

Dave Cullen, Don Leslie, et al.

4.7 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History

Kurt Andersen

4.7 on Amazon

1 HN comments

The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X

Les Payne, Tamara Payne, et al.

4.8 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America

Alec MacGillis

4.5 on Amazon

1 HN comments

The Naked Communist: Exposing Communism and Restoring Freedom (Freedom in America) (Volume 2)

W. Cleon Skousen , Paul B. Skousen , et al.

4.8 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Little Black Sambo: Uncensored Original 1922 Full Color Reproduction

Helen Bannerman and Florence White Williams

4.6 on Amazon

1 HN comments

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sequoiaonFeb 4, 2020

Improve your ability to participate in the democratic process!! Our (Americans') democratic "muscles" have atrophied so much in recent decades. People can hardly disagree without thinking the other is evil. I've found that even in small groups (such as school-parent coop), people struggle to do things like negotiate different priorities, listen to one another, and come to a compromise. This is a very dire condition for a democratically-led society, as these skills are essential for such a system to function.

No one is going to fix this for us, but we can all contribute to fixing it together! To quote a recent New Yorker article on democracy in crisis[0], "Don’t ask whether you need an umbrella [if you need to prepare for failure of democracy]. Go outside and stop the rain [fix it!]."

How? Make an effort to reach out to people with different views. Commit to listen to them and be willing to agree to disagree in a friendly manner. You'd be surprised how quickly the name-calling can stop and the shared humanity can be found when you really listen! For inspiration & guidance, read one or more of the following:

    * Don't Label Me by Irshad Manji (lots of practical democratic advice, if you pick only one pick this one)
    * The Coddling of the American Mind by Haidt & Lukianoff
    * How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

The second book has an overly-confrontational title–rest assured the book itself is level headed and thoughtful. The third book will help you in business & your personal life, and may improve democracy as well!

Let's (Americans) roll up our sleeves and take on The Big Challenge in 2020: improving our own democratic skills to get our society back on track.

0: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/02/03/the-last-time-...

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