Reddit reviews Why Not Socialism?
We found 8 Reddit comments about Why Not Socialism?. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Princeton University Press
Reddit reviews Why Not Socialism?We found 8 Reddit comments about Why Not Socialism?. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
People are too selfish to live in a libertarian society with volunteerism.
Socialism doesn't need to use violence, because everyone shares voluntarily.
(aka http://www.amazon.com/Why-Not-Socialism-G-Cohen/dp/0691143617)
Two modern and more "moderate" books, considering that your brother goes to DSA meetings:
"Why not Socialism?" by G.A. Cohen
"Why Marx was right" by Terry Eagleton
And two firecrackers, one marxian, one anarchist:
"The Communist Manifesto" by Marx/Engels
"The Conquest of Bread" by Kropotkin
Before you go and buy any of this stuff for a dozen bucks or so, consider that they are all available online, "Manifesto" and "Conquest" even legally.
There's been a lot of discussion in political philosophy about how resources, power, and money (capital) ought to be distributed in a just society. Any good introduction to political philosophy will give you a chapter or two discussing Rawls' theory of justice and how we ought to apply it. Most interpretations of the theory lend themselves to more socialist ways of doing things (details will vary). Jonathan Wolff's An Introduction to Political Philosophy does just that. The chapter about just distribution also gives a very brief look at Marx. He also talks about Rousseau's views on the existence of private property. Rousseau was influential to early socialist movements but he was also from the 1700s so he might not be of interest to you.
I'd also recommend The Communist Manifesto. Although you clearly want something more modern, this is a very short book and is super digestible and pithy. Straight to the point and it's a good place to start if you wanted to learn about Marx.
But here's a list of more modern books that I want to read soon on this topic in no particular order:
Since you say you're a "thoroughly indoctrinated capitalist", I'm sure you'll do this anyway but I just thought I'd say that it's always good to read critically. Make sure to go out of your way to find responses to the arguments made in any of these books. If you did find what Rawls had to say interesting, for example, you should also look at the stuff that Robert Nozick has written in Anarchy, State and Utopia which is a direct response to the Rawlsian theory of justice where he claims that people have intrinsic rights to ownership and that whether or not the distribution of resources is just has nothing to do with who has what but is more to do with whether the means by which they acquired them is just.
Also, I'd like to help with recommending books that will teach you how to be "good" at philosophy. Think you could explain what you mean?
As it stands, the only way to get "good" at it is probably to just make sure you take plenty of notes explaining the arguments made and look at them through a critical lens. Even when you agree with an argument, it's good to know how one could challenge it if your values or underlying intuitions are different.
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Left is best.
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Socialism/Communism
A People's History of the World
Main Currents of Marxism
The Socialist System
The Age of... (1, 2, 3, 4)
Marx for our Times
Essential Works of Socialism
Soviet Century
Self-Governing Socialism (Vols 1-2)
The Meaning of Marxism
The "S" Word (not that good in my opinion)
Of the People, by the People
Why Not Socialism
Socialism Betrayed
Democracy at Work
Imagine: Living in a Socialist USA (again didn't like it very much)
The Socialist Party of America (absolute must read)
The American Socialist Movement
Socialism: Past and Future (very good book)
It Didn't Happen Here
Eugene V. Debs
The Enigma of Capital
Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism
A Companion to Marx's Capital (great book)
After Capitalism: Economic Democracy in Action
Capitalism
The Conservative Nanny State
The United States Since 1980
The End of Loser Liberalism
Capitalism and it's Economics (must read)
Economics: A New Introduction (must read)
U.S. Capitalist Development Since 1776 (must read)
Kicking Away the Ladder
23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism
Traders, Guns and Money
Corporation Nation
Debunking Economics
How Rich Countries Got Rich
Super Imperialism
The Bubble and Beyond
Finance Capitalism and it's Discontents
Trade, Development and Foreign Debt
America's Protectionist Takeoff
How the Economy was Lost
Labor and Monopoly Capital
We Are Better Than This
Ancap/Libertarian
Spontaneous Order (disagree with it but found it interesting)
Man, State and Economy
The Machinery of Freedom
Currently Reading
This is the Zodiac Speaking (highly recommend)
It's certainly more complicated than that. Capitalism is mostly rooted in the [extrinsic motivations] (http://psychology.about.com/od/eindex/f/extrinsic-motivation.htm) of fear and profit. While you could say [what socialism is more about] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0691143617) are the [intrinsic motivations] (http://psychology.about.com/od/motivation/f/intrinsic-motivation.htm) like challenge, curiosity, and collaboration. People operate based on both kinds of motivation and a [surprising amount of it is intrinsic] (http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc) especially when creativity is called for.
Is the wage laborer doing hard manual labor full-time operating off the profit motive? Of course. Is the scientist, painter, inventor, etc.? Not so much. The inventor may dream of millions, but I bet you curiosity and the challenge lead to that inspiration, and if you just sit around just trying to think how to get rich your ideas won't be that original. What about the millionaire investor picking carefully which companies to fund? Is the investor greedy, evil, and siphoning money out of the economy, or is that investor doing a public service by making sure our resources are pooled in the best place? It's some of both.
Believe whatever you want about human nature, but recognize that it's complicated. Basic income would help the hard-working poor and the starving artist but it'd also prop up the unmotivated. It seems most people here on this subreddit though have faith in humanity and want to move away from the profit motivate running so much of the world.
Cohen's Why not socialism? and some of the literature around it have been getting press lately.
Broke
Woke
Although I can't think of any free articles or videos off the top of my head, this is a nice, short book that covers a lot of what you have questions about. Cohen is an amazingly clear writer, and while it is certainly not comprehensive, it will give you a good overview of the issues, and some further places to start looking for these answers.