Best american history books according to redditors

We found 18,784 Reddit comments discussing the best american history books. We ranked the 6,356 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.

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Canadian history books
Caribbean history books
Central America history books
Mexico history books
Native American history books
South America history books

Top Reddit comments about American History:

u/arjun101 · 1307 pointsr/worldnews

Incidentally, during the '50s and '60s Western governments were against the secular, nationalist, and socialist movements that were laughing off religious ideas and trying to modernize their countries, and sided with the Islamic monarchies.

Arguably the primary reason why monarchies like Saudi Arabia didn't get overthrown by the various labor movements, progressive technocrats, and nationalist military officers that emerged against them during the '50s and '60s was because of the massive amounts of military and economic support given to these backwards, totalitarian monarchies by Western governments (mainly the US and the UK).

-edit-

Here are some good books on the very interesting and complex subject of the Middle East, Islamic fundamenetalism, and US foreign policy

u/elpresidente1776 · 923 pointsr/The_Donald

https://www.amazon.com/Liberal-Fascism-American-Mussolini-Politics/dp/0767917189

Contrary to what most people think, the Nazis were ardent socialists (hence the term “National socialism”). They believed in free health care and guaranteed jobs. They confiscated inherited wealth and spent vast sums on public education. They purged the church from public policy, promoted a new form of pagan spirituality, and inserted the authority of the state into every nook and cranny of daily life. The Nazis declared war on smoking, supported abortion, euthanasia, and gun control. They loathed the free market, provided generous pensions for the elderly, and maintained a strict racial quota system in their universities—where campus speech codes were all the rage. The Nazis led the world in organic farming and alternative medicine. Hitler was a strict vegetarian, and Himmler was an animal rights activist.

Do these striking parallels mean that today’s liberals are genocidal maniacs, intent on conquering the world and imposing a new racial order? Not at all. Yet it is hard to deny that modern progressivism and classical fascism shared the same intellectual roots. We often forget, for example, that Mussolini and Hitler had many admirers in the United States. W.E.B. Du Bois was inspired by Hitler's Germany, and Irving Berlin praised Mussolini in song. Many fascist tenets were espoused by American progressives like John Dewey and Woodrow Wilson, and FDR incorporated fascist policies in the New Deal.

u/sterexx · 473 pointsr/worldnews

Gathering and analyzing intelligence on other countries is its primary, original role. Most directly for keeping specifically the President informed of just what the heck is developing around the world. It was started after WW2 in order to prevent another Pearl Harbor surprise. And they were not allowed to gather intelligence on US soil, but that has not been strictly observed.

This work involves gathering tasks as mundane as always reading the news in a target country, as political context matters as much as tapped phone conversations when putting together an analysis. But the movie-caliber stuff is important too. They tap phones, recruit sources in governments and industry, build a whole network of resources.

To collect this information, the CIA uses two kinds of employees. “Official cover” officers pose as diplomats in US embassies worldwide. All embassy staff will be under surveillance from the target country’s counter-intelligence organizations — their FBI equivalents — so meeting sources is risky and they might stick to less blatant parts of the job. But on the upside, they have diplomatic immunity and just get sent home if caught spying. Non-official cover officers get jobs in multinational companies or assume some invented identity that gives them a reason to be in country. They can more freely recruit local sources but must rot in prison or die if caught, unacknowledged.

Info goes back to legions of analysis teams working in offices in the US who prepare it into reports.

The CIA also engages in covert and clandestine activities meant to influence other countries. This latter role has grown, diminished, and changed in nature throughout its history depending on political climate. Some bad press from some really ugly leaks in the 70’s (I think) about the extent of these activities put a big damper on them for a while, requiring Presidential sign-offs on killings, iirc. Post 9/11, the CIA is back on the hard stuff but keeps a legion of lawyers to make sure it’s teccchhnically legal.

These cold war activities include funding and organizing Afghan resistance against communist rule, for example. A whole covert war. Also tons of election rigging, assassination, etc. Post cold war they have been involved in anti-terror activities like running the war against the Taliban and assassinating militants and their neighbors with drone missiles.

Fun fact: “covert” operations are meant to hide who is behind an operation, “clandestine” are meant to conceal the entire operation from anyone but us. Compare an assassination to a phone tap.

Edit: in one episode (2 or 3 i think) of Netflix docu series Inside the Mossad explains how Israel’s foreign intelligence uses elaborate sting operations to recruit sources. By the time they realize they’re working for Mossad, they’re in too deep to not go along with it. Intelligence orgs do this a lot when they know the people they need probably hate the org’s country. This is basically all the time for Israel spying on other middle east states. Case officers often use really impressively manipulative strategies for recruiting and controlling their local agents. “The Americans” illustrates some great examples of this, if a little more dramatic.

Edit 2A: There are a bunch of other specialized US foreign intelligence agencies, like the NSA that traditionally intercepts signals and cracks their codes.

Edit 2B: In the UK, MI6 of James Bond fame does foreign intelligence and MI5 does counter-intelligence. These existed during WW2 but back then the lines got blurred, with both organizations running their own double agents against Nazi Germany’s own two competing foreign intelligence orgs. In fact, 0% of any spies Germany sent to Britain were able to work for enough time before being caught to send anything useful over. By 1944, when the UK was more confident that they were controlling all the sources sending info to Germany (the ones that wouldn’t work for the UK as double agents radioing harmless intel back home were either dead or imprisoned), they fed Germany massive misinformation about the location (and timing?) of the D-Day Normandy invasion. Read the excellent book Operation Double Cross to learn about this incredible operation.

BOOK EDIT:

Books on the CIA I found rewarding.

“The Master of Disguise” by Tony Mendez. Ben Affleck played him in Argo. Memoir of this artist’s time in the CIA inventing disguises and forging travel documents, often to exfiltrate an exposed source. Watch or read Argo too if you haven’t, the film at least is incredibly cool because its evacuation of American diplomats from Iran as Canadian filmmakers is largely real.
https://www.amazon.com/Master-Disguise-Secret-Life-CIA/dp/0060957913/

“Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA.” Recent declassifications are exposing just how terribly the CIA bungled things in the early cold war, which is what this is about. From massive nuclear arms race miscalculations that threatened the world, to unfounded communism paranoia that led to totally unnecessary coups, they used classification to hide their greatest errors.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307389006/

“Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to Al-Qaeda.” Beyond just the tech, you get insight into the lives of tech team members who would bug homes for their career. Interesting stuff. I think I read a different edition but this is probably fine.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0452295475/

“Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001”
Tom Clancy name, but actually an extremely detailed history of the CIA’s 1980’s support for Afghan mujahideen against the USSR and continued involvement in the 90’s. Down to highlighting cultural generational differences within the multiple cohorts of CIA officers in charge of the long-running operation. Also highlights Pakistan’s demand to hand out all the money, both to act as kingmaker for the dominant factions and to skim hella bux off the top. Descriptions of the conflict and how the Afghans relentlessly persevered and how factions had independent deals and truces with USSR. Then much of the civil war aftermath of USSR pullout when the US stopped caring. Taliban become popular for not tolerating warlords raping local boys, an issue that remains to this day among US supported administration (a coalition of “former” warlords who you will recognize if you read the book). Great read, incredible breadth.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143034669/

u/TheBurningBeard · 426 pointsr/news

Bones breaking isn't necessarily what kills you in rapid deceleration situations. Often times it's your heart detaching from your aorta. Every once in a while someone survives a jump off the golden gate bridge or something, and it's usually because when they hit the water their heart happened to be not full of blood for that split second, and wasn't as heavy, thus staying attached.

edit: this comment got a little more attention than I thought it would. If you're interested in this kind of thing, I would highly recommend Mary Roach's book Stiff.

u/lemon_meringue · 422 pointsr/politics

Didn't want to spam the queue, but if anyone else wants to post parts 2 and 3 of this amazing, comprehensive piece of journalism, here are the other two parts to this story:

Part 2: Internal Divisions President Trump’s election made the Murdoch family more powerful than ever. But the bitter struggle between James and Lachlan threatened to tear the company apart.

Part 3: The New Fox Weapon The Disney deal left the Murdochs with a media empire stripped to its essence: a hardcore right-wing news machine — with Lachlan in charge.

It's a very long read, but worth it.

I also recommend Jane Mayer's seminal book from 2017 entitled Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right to get a full picture of how the oligarchy has slimed in and committed violence against our democracy for over a generation.

u/metamet · 383 pointsr/technology

Just to highlight some key info:

> As they dig into the viralizing of such stories, congressional investigations are probing not just Russia's role but whether Moscow had help from the Trump campaign. Sources familiar with the investigations say they are probing two Trump-linked organizations: Cambridge Analytica, a data-analytics company hired by the campaign that is partly owned by deep-pocketed Trump backer Robert Mercer; and Breitbart News, the right-wing website formerly run by Trump's top political adviser Stephen Bannon.

Wanna learn more about Mercer's connections? Check out Dark Money by Jane Mayer, an investigative journalist with The New Yorker.

u/EstacionEsperanza · 381 pointsr/forwardsfromgrandma

I have this book, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. It has a decent reputation among historians AFAIK, and one of the main points of the book is that Native Americans had fairly sprawling and diverse civilizations across North America before European contact. Lots of European accounts of Native Americans describe them as clean, healthy, tall, beautiful actually.

So yeah, Branco can eff right off with his summation of indigenous civilization as human sacrifices, slavery, and early death. I'm not an expert of pre-Columbus American civilizations and cultures. I know these things did happen in the Americas before European contact, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that it's pretty stupid to suggest Europeans were automatically the harbingers of civilizations and decency.

Christopher Columbus and his men helped decimate the population of Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands. They forced native Tainos to collect gold. They severed the hands of men and boys if they didn't meet their gold quotas. They sexually enslaved women and young girls. They met any resistance with indiscriminate cruelty. An opening salvo in centuries of European barbarism towards indigenous people in North and South America.

Christopher Columbus was a monster and deserves to be remembered as such.

u/AtheistSteve · 340 pointsr/AskReddit

There is a book called Lies My Teacher Told Me that has a chapter that talks about how these high school text books are written. It is very leftwardly slanted, but overall a pretty good read.

EDIT would you consider doing an AMA?

u/Khan_Bomb · 271 pointsr/history

That'd be 1491 by Charles Mann.

EDIT: Just to note. This is a controversial book among historians. Much of the info presented can largely be seen as conjecture without a lot of veritable proof behind it. So take it with a grain of salt.

u/gospelwut · 208 pointsr/todayilearned

I know that feel bro.

I argued with my 3rd grade teacher that tomatoes were fruits, or at the very least classifiable as both. She insisted I was wrong because they were... in salads. My distrust of institutionalized education began that day, you stupid fucking cunt Mrs. Stevenson.

Relevant: Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong [Paperback]

u/ricebake333 · 207 pointsr/pcmasterrace

>What the actual fuck is wrong with politicians.

You're slowly becoming aware of how corrupt and fucked up the world really is... You're not seeing what's going on behind the scenes... they fear the net and hence want to lock everything down.

The (mass surveillance) by the NSA and abuse by law enforcement is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7ZyJw_cHJY

Brezinski at a press conference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWTIZBCQ79g

Snowden on terrorism/spying.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2015/sep/25/edward-snowden-treaty-glenn-greenwald-mass-surveillance-terrorism-video

Democracy Inc.

http://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Incorporated-Managed-Inverted-Totalitarianism/dp/069114589X/

Intereference in other states when the corporations dont get their way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mxp_wgFWQo&feature=youtu.be&list=PLKR2GeygdHomOZeVKx3P0fqH58T3VghOj&t=724

From war is a racket:

"I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil intersts in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested."[p. 10]

"War is a racket. ...It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." [p. 23]

"The general public shoulders the bill [for war]. This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations." [p. 24]
General Butler is especially trenchant when he looks at post-war casualties. He writes with great emotion about the thousands of tramautized soldiers, many of who lose their minds and are penned like animals until they die, and he notes that in his time, returning veterans are three times more likely to die prematurely than those who stayed home.

http://www.amazon.com/War-Racket-Antiwar-Americas-Decorated/dp/0922915865/

u/bkkgirl · 199 pointsr/ImGoingToHellForThis

The reason tribes were small when Europeans arrived was because European disease arrived first, often with 95% death tolls. Except for the very first explorers (Pizarro, etc.), what European settlers saw was a post-apocalyptic society. Prior to that, Native Americans had as large and complex (and as violent) societies as any that existed on the other side of the Atlantic.

A good book about the modern scholarship on the subject is Mann's 1491, which I highly recommend.

u/JacobCrim88 · 183 pointsr/television

Mercers and The Kochs. Read or listen to Dark Money. It's scary.

u/OJ_287 · 173 pointsr/todayilearned

Sure, and how about the overthrow of the democratically elected Mosaddegh in Iran in 1952? Or how about the countless meddling in Central and South America? Speaking domestically, why is it that they always infiltrate peaceful groups of citizens and then play the role of provocateur?

The U.S. federal government should basically never be trusted and yet it seems each generation falls prey to their lies and propaganda - especially with regard to foreign policy. WMD's anyone? The American citizenry should always view everything the government says with an inherent distrust. That should be the default position of the citizenry. They have lost the privilege of being trusted. They don't work for or serve the interests of average Americans in the least. When the corporate/MIC/establishment elite want to meddle in another countries affairs or start a war, they will do whatever lying or black bag operations they need to in order to achieve their objective. They've done it plenty before and they will continue doing it until we refuse to allow it any more.

The U.S. government has put down so many populist movements and meddled/overthrown so many governments in the name of "making the world safe for capitalism" it's crazy. No other country even comes close. Yes, that's right, not democracy - that is the biggest lie of them all. The U.S. couldn't give two shits about democracy. Not even here at home. They just want to keep us believing that we live in a democracy and keep us participating in their rigged system so that we won't revolt.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Mohammad_Mosaddegh

http://www.amazon.com/Overthrow-Americas-Century-Regime-Change/dp/0805082409/ref=tmm_pap_title_0/191-0374213-3312233

http://www.amazon.com/All-Shahs-Men-American-Middle/dp/047018549X/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321374076&sr=1-1

u/[deleted] · 170 pointsr/worldnews

Fun fact, the US government (lead by Nixon and Kissinger) actively resupplied the Pakistani military during their genocidal campaign in Bangladesh in 1971, even though they knew what was happening. They also did the same thing during the Indonesian genocides of the mid-50s, coordinated with Islamist paramilitaries. And during the 1980s, both the US and Saudi Arabia poured billions of dollars into General Zia's dictatorship (whose social base was the same political party that perpetrated the mass killings in Bangladesh), helping him purge leftists and secularists and build thousands of Wahhabi madrassas--which got plenty of recruits from the refugees fleeing the US coalition's insurgency in Afghanistan.

I'd say that much of the rise of paramilitary Islamist politics in the last few decades in South Asia comes down to the legacy of US-Saudi imperialism in the area, and their use of the Pakistani military as an pillar of their regional power. The effects of the 1980s war in Afghanistan can't be underestimated, it totally mutated the socio-political fabric of Pakistan and the wider region. I really like this quote from Steve Coll's Ghost Wars:

>In 1971 there had been only nine hundred madrassas in all of Pakistan. By the summer of 1988 there were about eight thousand official religious schools and an estimated twenty-five thousand unregistered ones, many of them clustered along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier and funded by wealthy patrons from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States...Almost a decade earlier, [ISI] was a small and demoralized unit within the Pakistani military…Now ISI was an army within the army, boasting multiple deep-pocketed patrons, including the supremely deep-pocketed Prince Turki and his Saudi GID. ISI enjoyed an ongoing operational partnership with the CIA as well, with periodic access to the world’s most sophisticated technology and intelligence collection systems….Outside the Pakistan army itself, less than ten years after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, ISI had been transformed by CIA and Saudi subsidies into Pakistan’s most powerful institution (Coll 2004: 180).

And of course, the ISI--and their Saudi backers--went on to fund Islamist paramilitary networks across the region, both in Kashmir and Bangladesh.

u/dog_in_the_vent · 126 pointsr/videos

There was infighting between proponents of nuclear safety and proponents of nuclear readiness in SAC and Los Alamos. Some people wanted to have multiple independent safety devices to prevent accidental nuclear detonations or launches, others wanted nothing but a big red button to launch the missiles.

Command and Control by Eric Schlosser does a very good job of telling this story, as well as the story of a nuclear accident in Damascus Arkansas.

u/xidfogab · 119 pointsr/worldnews
u/AaFen · 112 pointsr/MapPorn

If you're still struggling to understand the link between the Taliban and 9/11 then you really need to get some research done.

​

I highly recommend Ghost Wars by Steve Coll. It's an excellent readable-but-academic look at the recent history of Afghanistan from the Soviet invasion through to 9/11.

u/degeneration · 110 pointsr/politics

I think you are pointing out the stupidity of the American voter. Various people have commented on this. I think the book "What's the Matter with Kansas?" talks a lot about how the right twisted people into voting against their own best interests by exploiting wedge social issues and creating a false image as the heroes of the "little guy". For a long time I was on the bandwagon of blaming institutions like Fox News for deliberately misleading people and manipulating public opinion, but at this point there has been 10+ years of direct, incontrovertible evidence of the sheer corruption and incompetence of the right. If people can't see that at this point they are either being willfully ignorant, or they are just ignorant.

u/alek9 · 106 pointsr/NeutralPolitics

I started reading Dark Money, where they outlined how a whole bunch of think tanks were created to push a libertarian philosophy while espousing non-partisanship, while being funded by hardcore libertarians and billionaires like the Koch brothers, Scaife etc. So bear in mind that some these "non-partisan" think tanks might just be that.

u/__worldpeace · 100 pointsr/AskSocialScience

This is a great question that I have thought about a million times. I have actually spent a lot of time trying to find a book on it, but I have not come across one that is specifically about Sociology or Psychology.

I first started to think about this when I was getting my masters degree (in Sociology). Often times I was super excited to share the things I would learn with my family and friends, and how the things I was (and still am) learning are often in contradiction to the things I was told/learned growing up. For context, I'm a white girl who grew up in an upper-middle class politically conservative suburb in a large city with successful parents, and I was always given everything I wanted/needed. I considered myself a Christian and I told people that I was a republican (although I knew nothing about politics and was just identifying with my parents).

Then I started studying Soci and my entire perspective on the world changed. It opened my eyes and forced me to look beyond my tunnel vision of society. It was really hard at times to come to terms with things that I thought I already understood, especially social issues that I had never thought about before or issues that had always been presented to me in a one-sided, biased manner.

A good example of this is the trope of the Welfare Queen. I was told that poor people, esp. poor black people, were moochers and only wanted handouts because they were lazy and didn't want to get a job. Of course, I learned that the Welfare Queen (and welfare "fraud") is a myth that was promulgated by Ronald Regan in order to stigmatize people in poverty so that he could convince Americans that rolling back the social safety net was justified because it was only being used by poor black (read: undeserving) citizens. The truth is that most people on welfare do have jobs (i.e. the 'working poor'). Also, the welfare reforms of 1996 created a 5-year maximum lifetime cap on benefits so that welfare "cheaters" (which did not exist anywhere near the level that we're often told) were literally unable to collect benefits for life (also, contrary to popular opinion, women do not have more babies to get more benefits. In fact, if a woman has a child while receiving benefits, she and her family will be removed from the rolls). Welfare is probably one of the least understood/mischaracterized social issue in American society.

Science in general is often met with the sting of anti-intellectualism, which is part of the answer to your question. However, I think social science in particular gets it worse than the 'natural' sciences like Biology and Chemistry. I used to say that it was because people were generally more suspect of social sciences, but I think it's more than that. People like to dismiss facts about social issues that they don't agree with or have a different view on because it's much easier to disagree that we live in a post-racial society (we don't) than it is to disagree on the functions of bodily organs. People also tend to conflate their individual life experiences with overall reality (i.e. "well, i've never experienced [blank] so it must not be true or its exaggerated" or "well, I know someone who is [blank] but [blank] doesn't happen to them"). You get what I am saying here? Most people don't question or critically think about social norms or commonsense 'truths' because these 'truths' are so embedded in our milieu that its hard to imagine otherwise. So instead of thinking critically, people dismiss sociological knowledge as either "elitist" or "not real science" so that they can remain undisturbed in their own little worlds.

Once I saw a question on r/askreddit that asked what the slogan of your college major or job would be. I would say, "Sociology: reminding people of uncomfortable truths since 1838" or "Sociology: everything you were taught about society was a big lie" lol.

I'm sorry I can't find any literature for you, but I can recommend these instead:

Anti-Intellectualism in American Life

The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters.



u/unikcycle · 99 pointsr/AskReddit

http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0684818868

I like how this author puts it. He wasn't the first to discover the America's. He was the last. He was the most historically important because of the impact he had on the America's. Also in the book they talk about the many African boats that sailed the ocean and landed on the southern end of the continent. I believe he wasn't even the first European but he did make it profitable and that's what really mattered.

u/Human_Dilophosaur · 98 pointsr/AskHistorians

A good resource in the first half of the narration--Mossadegh's rise to power, nationalization of oil resources, and overthrow--is All the Shah's Men by Stephen Kinzer. Just be aware that the author is writing partly to make a political point about regime change.

The film is very accurate, although, as you said, a bit simplified in its description. The early 20th century rulers of Iran signed a treaty with Britain allowing the Anglo-Iranian Oil Corporation (later BP) essentially unfettered access to the country's oil resources. Muhammed Mossadegh successful rose to power as a nationalist and populist prime minister. In 1951, he nationalized Anglo-Iranian.

This led to severe diplomatic tensions between Iran and the UK, in which the UK considered using military force, but ultimately decided to overthrow Mossadegh through a coup. Iran then cut diplomatic relations with the UK, expelling most of their spies in the process. The UK was able to convince US President Dwight Eisenhower through his Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and the CIA director, his brother Allen Dulles, to carry out the coup on behalf of the UK. The Americans were concerned that Mossadegh's nationalization of industries was a step on a road to communism, and they were concerned they might lose Iran's oil resources to the Soviet sphere of influence as a result.

Kermit Roosevelt Jr, a CIA officer in Iran, executed Operation Ajax in 1953, which overthrew Mossadegh's government and reinstalled Mohammed Reza Pahlavi as king ("shah") of Iran under the guise of a popular uprising.

This is, of course, still a simplification, but hopefully provides a little more detail. Maybe somebody else can provide some input on the 1979 revolution?

Edit: Corrected as per willpredun.

u/sympathico · 96 pointsr/politics

I heard in "Goodwill Hunting" about the book from Howard Zinn that would knock you on your ass, A People's History of the United States. I did, and it did.

And you are correct, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

u/HenryJonesJunior · 87 pointsr/todayilearned

Most of what you're talking about is Hollywood, not reality. Eric Schlosser wrote an excellent book about the history of nuclear weapon controls, and most of the time most of what you mentioned wasn't in place.

u/vfr · 77 pointsr/atheism

That search is what made me atheist. The truth is that there is no true history of the bible. It's long lost, a mystery. For instance, we have no idea who wrote the gospels.. .totally anonymous. We don't know who wrote the OT... At best we know Paul's letters and a few other books, and we know when certain things were added or changed (for instance the famous John 3:16 was added by a monk later on).

If you want some insight into the history of Christianity, here are some links. It's a messy world filled with 2000 years of apologetics muddying the waters.

http://www.reddit.com/help/faqs/atheistgems#HistoryandLiteraryAnalysis (specifically this one: Examining the Existence of a Historical Jesus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvleOBYTrDE )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecumenical_council#List_of_ecumenical_councils

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne (responsible for converting most of Europe... by the sword. Dealth penalty for having any pagan items, sacked whole villages, etc). more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_I_and_Christianity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroaster

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_hypothesis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_mythology

Now, if you want some good books... I recommend:

http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0684818868

http://www.amazon.com/Misquoting-Jesus-Story-Behind-Changed/dp/0060738170

http://www.amazon.com/Wrote-Bible-Richard-Elliott-Friedman/dp/0060630353/ref=pd_sim_b_6

Any other questions?

u/2016-01-16 · 72 pointsr/sweden

Fakta om IQ, eller g (generell intelligensfaktor)

  • Hög ärftlighet (r = 0.5-0.8)
  • Korrelerar med hjärn- och skallstorlek (r = 0.2-0.4 beroende på mätmetod)
  • Har prediktiv validitet (skolbetyg, lön, utbildning, arbetseffektivitet, succesivt bättre förmåga att lösa kognitiva problem för varje percentil etc.)
  • Hög reliabilitet (r > 0.9) för återtest av samma individ senare i livet
  • Validitet och reliabilitet är densamma för samtliga folkslag.
  • Svarta i USA erhåller i genomsnitt en standardavvikelse (1 σ) lägre resultat än vita européer som i sin tur erhåller ungefär en halv standardavikelse lägre resultat än östasiater.

    Detta är konsensus i forskningen. Även forskare som exempelvis Richard Nisbett eller James Flynn, som tror att gruppskillnaderna är helt och hållet miljömässiga instämmer i det som skrivs ovan. Ingen insatt i forskningen tror på det typiska "IQ mäter ingenting", "IQ gynnar västerlänningar", "IQ mäter en minimal del av intelligens". Sådana påståenden visar att man ej läst litteraturen, exempelvis Nisbett, Murray och Herrnstein eller Mackintosh.

    Huruvida intelligensskillnaderna mellan grupperna (svarta-vita-asiater) beror på arv, miljö eller en kombination är mer spekulativt och här får man bilda sig en egen uppfattning genom att tillgodogöra sig argumenten från båda sidor. Här (kort och lättläst) är en bra sammanfattning av argument för och emot en ärftlig komponent till gruppskillnaderna skriven av Rushton & Jensen som tror på en 50-50-modell (observera att ingen tror på en 100% ärftlig modell, striden står mellan de som tror på 100% miljö mot de som tror på ungefär 50% miljö/50% arv).

    Data att fundera över (diagram):

  • Minnesota Transracial Adoption Study

  • Koreanska och icke-koreanska adoptivbarn mot infödd befolkning i Sverige

  • Amerikanska högskoleprovet SAT, efter inkomst och ras

  • Piffer (2015):

    > Published Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS), reporting the presence of alleles exhibiting significant and replicable associations with IQ, are reviewed. The average between-population frequency (polygenic score) of nine alleles positively and significantly associated with intelligence is strongly correlated to country-level IQ (r = .91). Factor analysis of allele frequencies furthermore identified a metagene with a similar correlation to country IQ (r = .86). The majority of the alleles (seven out of nine) loaded positively on this metagene. Allele frequencies varied by continent in a way that corresponds with observed population differences in average phenotypic intelligence. Average allele frequencies for intelligence GWAS hits exhibited higher inter-population variability than random SNPs matched to the GWAS hits or GWAS hits for height. This indicates stronger directional polygenic selection for intelligence relative to height. Random sets of SNPs and Fst distances were employed to deal with the issue of autocorrelation due to population structure. GWAS hits were much stronger predictors of IQ than random SNPs. Regressing IQ on Fst distances did not significantly alter the results nonetheless it demonstrated that, whilst population structure due to genetic drift and migrations is indeed related to IQ differences between populations, the GWAS hit frequencies are independent predictors of aggregate IQ differences.
u/DonSoares · 71 pointsr/TrueReddit

Great read for those interested in a more historical look at the subject. Very well argued and interesting book, very eye opening in terms of the many different aspects of American society and how they developed over the last few hundred years.

http://www.amazon.com/Anti-Intellectualism-American-Life-Richard-Hofstadter/dp/0394703170

u/toinfinitiandbeyond · 69 pointsr/WTF
u/DiscordianAgent · 69 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

A great read on this subject is Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety by Eric Schlosser. At some points during the cold war Strategic Air Command had nuclear equipped bombers circling around the perimeter of US and NATO airspace non-stop. As with anything we decide to do 24/7, there were some accidents. If you think a B-52 bursting into flames on a runway sounds kinda stressful, imagine how much worse it gets when you know it has shaped explosives ready to jam together some fissile materials inside it. A situation like that occurred once, and lucky, the shaped explosives melted in the heat before they could go off. In another incident a B-52 had something fail and ripped apart in mid-air. This occurred over US airspace, and in some kinda crazy failure of oversight, the bomb on that plane had its physical safety enabled, meaning if the pilot had happened to also have his bomb key turned to the right we would have ejected a live nuke onto Virginia.

To answer your question though: minor taps are unlikely to set off the shaped explosives which start the reaction. Think of the nuke as a football shaped thing with two bits of material in them that, when slammed together with a lot of force, set off a nuclear reaction. If only half the "lens" explodes, that might not be enough force even, so even if you shot the exposed bomb it might only set off some of the shaped explosives, possibly resulting in a 'dirty bomb' or possibly just a loud bang. The detonation charge has to be perfectly timed to all parts of the football in order to make sure the two halves slam together with maximum surface area.

By the way, I can't recommend that book enough, it made me much more aware of how many crazy accidents and near accidents our nuclear weapons program has had, and it really makes you think twice about why the fuck we need thousands of these weapons sitting around, and the huge amount of effort which went into them, both on the design level and on the practical every-day level.

u/laterkater · 68 pointsr/WTF

This was detailed on an episode of Human Planet on Discovery. You can watch it here!

I was secretly bummed they never showed the actual process. I feel most bad for the man who has to do the burial itself. If I remember correctly, he had to drink a considerable amount of whiskey in order to stomach what he was about to do.

(Also, if you're still curious about the ways corpses can and have been used throughout the centuries, have I got the book for you.)

u/LeChuckly · 68 pointsr/TrueReddit

If you want to hear more about this I recommend "Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right". Unfortunately - seminars like this are only the tip of the ice-berg. There are huge ideological enterprises set up with goal of establishing "beach-heads" at prestigious universities by setting up private organizations that are attached to the university but paid to publish certain results. Their role is usually to promote free markets and encourage the inclusion of economic costs in law (not just public good). The Mercatus Institute is another example of one of these privately-funded-but-publicly-housed organizations. They're the guys who made news a few months ago when they published a study on Bernie Sander's medicare-for-all plan that showed that even though it was expensive - it was still cheaper than what we're spending now.

u/maglen69 · 67 pointsr/news

A book written on just that subject

That and even though our govenor is a complete shitbag, he managed to get reelected just by having an R by his name.

u/jt004c · 66 pointsr/AskReddit

Sorry but if you think the GOP was transparent and honest in 1994, and that America had been the historical good guys up until recently, all that says is how naive and uninformed you were up until recently.

I'm not about to type out the recent history of GOP practices and motivations here, but rest assured that the GOP has been serving the same masters for many, many years, and the "freaking cool" contract was just more of that.

As for the "USA is the world's good guy!" narrative, that's just patriotic propaganda. Yes there is much good, but there is also much bad in our history. Our pioneering use of slavery, genocidal treatment of native americans, exploitation of natural resources, and manipulation of smaller nations' governments for commercial gain, have been with us since the founding days of our nation. Torture, genocide, and untold unnecessary suffering have been the regular result of these national actions. Many of our problems today result directly from obliviousness to the realities of our own history. We can't avoid repeating it if we willfully forget it.

US History textbook authors are one of the biggest promoters of this narrative, so it's understandable that it pervades the national consciousness, but also sad.

Read Lies My Teacher Told Me for a good discussion of this.

u/genida · 60 pointsr/politics

This might. Private funding, funneled through philantropic foundations to charitable and social causes. Aimed and organized specifically to swing close elections, influence their idea of a conservative ideology and culture and hand-pick candidates in their service. Billions of dollars from very very rich donors. Candidates either toe their line or find themselves either without funding, or run out of primaries. Paul Ryan and many others are featured.

Lots of names, lots of details. One of the best books I've read on american politics in a long time.

u/The_Doja · 59 pointsr/worldnews

I'm in the middle of an amazing book that goes into great details about the current narrative and academic belief of Pre-Columbus Americas. It counters most common notions and really has some interesting points to back it up. The main one being that North and South America were not pristine wilderness lived in harmoniously with its people; it was actually very much so engineered by the hand of man to accommodate extremely large civilization centers. Some far greater than any European city at it's time.

It's really cool to hear how they piece together some of the political dramas of the Mayan culture based on their findings. From what I remember in the earlier chapters, part of the reason the Maya didn't need iron/bronze weapons was because their method of conquering was through assimilation and trade. They would provide surrounding city-states vast trade networks to gain wealth and knowledge, then redistribute populations around their giant network. Once a city became dependent on the income, the Maya would instate their own leadership into said town and slowly it would become Mayan.

If you're interested. Check it out 1491 by Charles Mann

u/Aoxous · 58 pointsr/EnoughLibertarianSpam

Jonah Golberg strkes again! This idea that fascism is left-wing is perpetuated by Goldberg's book, Liberal Facism.

>Contrary to what most people think, the Nazis were ardent socialists (hence the term “National socialism”). They believed in free health care and guaranteed jobs. They confiscated inherited wealth and spent vast sums on public education. They purged the church from public policy, promoted a new form of pagan spirituality, and inserted the authority of the state into every nook and cranny of daily life. The Nazis declared war on smoking, supported abortion, euthanasia, and gun control. They loathed the free market, provided generous pensions for the elderly, and maintained a strict racial quota system in their universities—where campus speech codes were all the rage. The Nazis led the world in organic farming and alternative medicine. Hitler was a strict vegetarian, and Himmler was an animal rights activist.

What do RWers consider fascist? Universal healthcare, public education, Social Security, organic food, separation of church and state, gun control, a woman's right to choose, public awareness on the dangers of smoking, etc.

When you argument rests upon equating Nazism with universal healthcare, public education, and Social Security, you really don't have an argument. You simply have BS talking points that make you look like an idiot.

u/BigBennP · 58 pointsr/politics

You're not going to get a serious answer from the reddit echo chamber. So far you seem to have gotten:

"Her vagina"
"Nothing"
"the mainstream media is in the tank for Clinton"
"There are no Clinton supporters on the internet."

So here's what I consider the best arguments in her favor, mostly they're culled from my democratic pol/strategist friends, most of whom are serious Clinton supporters by virtue of where I live:

  1. Whoever gets elected is going to have to deal with a republican congress at least until 2020, if not further. So incremental change is a given. Exactly how much of Bernie's agenda is going to get adopted by a republican congress? How is he going to get it taken up? So what's going to get passed? How is sanders going to deal with a congress that says "lol no" and sends him a budget increasing military funding and cutting welfare? At the end of the day this boils down to the "experience" argument, but there's a twist. Sanders definitely also has a history of legislative accomplishments, but more than a few presidents, Obama included, have shown us that legislative experience doesn't translate to effective leadership from the White House. I'll be frank, it's pretty damn obvious that the Clintons inspired Frank and Clair Underwood from the house of cards. That is, however you care to look at it, a reality. Personal relationships and a willingness to twist arms is what gets legislation through. Inability to work congress has been Obama's greatest failing as president I think. (I'm not saying congress doesn't share the blame, but politics is the art of the possible, more could possibly been done had the situation been better managed).

  2. Clinton had a point when she said she's been the focus of partisan attacks for 10+ years. There's a SHITLOAD of dirt out there, but for the most part it's already been dug up. Think about the shit that Republicans dug up on John Kerry with the swiftboat nonsense, or on OBama with reviewing every single thing Jeremiah wright said, how exactly did it become a controversy that Obama's pastor said "god damn America?". You already largely know what Republicans are going to bring up with Clinton. Where's Bernie Sanders dirt? His personal life is largely unknown, and he's skated by on a northeastern tolerance for social indiscretions and refusing to discuss it. I guarantee you it's not because dirt doesn't exist, and not because it hasn't been dug up, but because it's being held in reserve for the general. Republicans forever tied to tar Obama with the idea that he was Saul Alinksy's protege, some kind of 60's radical reborn. Sanders actually is that 60's radical, and actually calls himself a socialist to boot. There's quite a bit out there of him associating with genuine revolutionary socialists and communists. There's going to be an army of people looking for every photo of everyone Sanders ever associated with and everything bad they said about America. His personal life wont' be off limits either. Did you know Sanders has an adult son that was born out of wedlock? Sure, millenials won't give a damn, but it will be the basis for tens of millions of negative advertising.

  3. Electability. It's popular here to point to head to head polls suggesting Sanders is better able to beat Trump. But those same polls also showed Clinton beating everyone but Kasich. In a hypothetical match up against Trump, Sanders comes out +13 and Clinton comes out +6. But the presidential campaign map matters a lot as well. Sanders did particularly poor among Latinos and African Americans, and does exceedingly well amongst poor white people in largely white (and largely red) states. Sanders tied Oklahoma, and won Wisconsin, West Virginia, New Hampshire and Vermont. Clinton, Among others has won California, New York, Illinois and Florida. Even taking election shenanigans into account, the former aren't going to matter so much in the general election and the latter will.


    They are what they are, but the real question is what are you going to do about them? because when you step outside of the echo chamber, it's pretty obvious that Clinton's going to end up the Nominee. Sanders is fighting the good fight and will carry a liberal platform to the convention, which I think is a very good thing for the party in geneal and the Sanders/Warren wing of the party in particular, but his chance of ending up the nominee at this point is virtually nil unless something radical changes like Clinton actually succumbing to a major scandal or getting criminal charges filed. Then question is then, are you going to succumb to the drawback of a two party system and vote for the lesser of two evils or do something that might result in Trump becoming president? It's easy to say now, how do you think Nader supporters felt in 2001 when Bush took office?

    I would add to this, your question makes the exact same mistake democrats have made for years as it relates to Republican voters. going back to Thomas Frank's Book what's the matter with Kansas and why Obama's comments about clinging to guns and religion caused such a fury on the right even though they're pretty true.

    At its heart, the way people choose political candidate is not 100% logical. People are not robots. The reason political disagreements exists is because people have different priorities. Priorities are not driven solely by logical connections. People choose a candidate based on how they feel about them. Obama won an election (both primary and general) by creating a feeling that he would be different. Trump's winning the republican primary by creating a feeling among disenchanted voters that he's going to come in and make it right, no matter what his background or prior policy preferences were.

    Clinton has done a decent job creating an emotional connection with certain demographics.Women over 40, African Americans, Hispanics. She fails at it markedly among millennials and to some extent among men.

    Not speaking truth to power, but rather telling the truth to the mob, or at least answering a question deliberately asked about what the defenses of clinton are.
u/thatguygreg · 51 pointsr/news

> single mother

> caring for disabled parents

> Trump voter

Can we update What's the Matter with Kansas for the new level of cognitive BS these people put themselves through?

u/verbatim2242 · 50 pointsr/politics

For anyone looking at a deep dive into the subject of command and control, "Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety" by Eric Schlosser is well worth the read.

>“As part of that administrative process, Butler decided to look at every single target in the SIOP, and for weeks he carefully scrutinized the thousands of desired ground zeros. He found bridges and railways and roads in the middle of nowhere targeted with multiple warheads, to assure their destruction. Hundreds of nuclear warheads would hit Moscow—dozens of them aimed at a single radar installation outside the city. During his previous job working for the Joint Chiefs, Butler had dealt with targeting issues and the damage criteria for nuclear weapons."

>"He was hardly naive. But the days and weeks spent going through the SIOP, page by page, deeply affected him. For more than forty years, efforts to tame the SIOP, to limit it, reduce it, make it appear logical and reasonable, had failed. “With the possible exception of the Soviet nuclear war plan, this was the single most absurd and irresponsible document I had ever reviewed in my life,” General Butler later recalled.

>“I came to fully appreciate the truth . . . we escaped the Cold War without a nuclear holocaust by some combination of skill, luck, and divine intervention, and I suspect the latter in greatest proportion.”

To say that our current PEOTUS does not know what he is doing is an understatement. Given the history of nuclear power, storage, fallout, errors and use and given the chilling interview KAC gave last night on the Rachel Maddow Show clearly showing no formal knowledge on nuclear controlling powers across the globe, we should all recognize we are in for a long and hazardous ride which might not end well.

The history of nuclear power is ripe with peril and human error. Having someone at the trigger without an understanding of the issues and the technology behind that power should rightfully scare the hell out of everyone on the planet.

https://www.amazon.com/Command-Control-Damascus-Accident-Illusion/dp/0143125788

u/cyancynic · 48 pointsr/Denver

Checked out her facebook page. Who decided this idiot Julie Williams should be on a school board? Her highest level of academic achievement was attending a 4th tier local community college. Her facebook page still cites junk “studies” linking vaccines to autism. She’s a proud fan of Hannity and a bunch of other extremist right wing talking heads, and she cites mostly Koch sock puppet think tank “articles”.

It would be nice to have school board members who actually have a quality education. As to the history texts - I suggest Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. Its been a long time since I’ve been in school and I learned a lot.

u/SuB2007 · 48 pointsr/MakeupAddiction

I highly recommend "Stiff" by Mary Roach. It's...um...enlightening.

u/PersianPenisBox · 47 pointsr/conspiracy

You want some REAL information? Then you need to take the time and read.

http://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501

Start there. Its written by the 2 most prominent political theorists of our generation. Waltz and Mearsh have added more to political theory together than all of the other political theorists combined IMO.

These two are not 'conspiracy theorists' - they are acclaimed professors of political theory. Renowned in every respect. They wrote about the "Israeli Lobby" and its impact on US foreign relations. Its an unprecedented amount of support. I know it sounds weird to say "Zionism owns America" but to someone who is IGNORant (not a jab at you, its just the reality) it sounds strange. When you start reading about Zionism/Israel/Jews and their political impact on American foreign relations, every action you see witnessed on your TV or articles you read make contextual sense.

If you actually want knowledge, and not just facts you can peddle but not backup, then by all means go Google away. If you want a grounded understanding of how Israel buttfucks Americans so openly, start with the book.

u/pizzashill · 46 pointsr/TopMindsOfReddit

Holy Christ, the top comment there triggered me so hard I'm gonna have to reply to it.

/u/elpresidente1776

>> https://www.amazon.com/Liberal-Fascism-American-Mussolini-Politics/dp/0767917189

This book is god awful, it is absolutely riddled with bullshit - if you want to see just how bad it is, here's an actual expert dismantling this guy:

http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/122231

>> Contrary to what most people think, the Nazis were ardent socialists (hence the term “National socialism”).

No, they were not. This is blatant bullshit, as Richard J. Evans in the third Reich trilogy writes:


>> Perhaps to emphasize this anti-capitalist focus, and to align itself with similar groups in Austria and Czechoslovakia, the party changed its name in February 1920 to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party; hostile commentators soon abbreviated this to the word ‘Nazi’, just as the enemies of the Social Democrats had abbreviated the name of that party earlier on to ‘Sozi’. Despite the change of name, however, it would be wrong to see Nazism as a form of, or an outgrowth from, socialism. True, as some have pointed out, its rhetoric was frequently egalitarian, it stressed the need to put common needs above the needs of the individual, and it often declared itself opposed to big business and international finance capital. Famously, too, antisemitism was once declared to be ‘the socialism of fools’. But from the very beginning, Hitler declared himself implacably opposed to Social Democracy and, initially to a much smaller extent, Communism: after all, the ‘November traitors’ who had signed the Armistice and later the Treaty of Versailles were not Communists at all, but the Social Democrats and their allies.

>> The ‘National Socialists’ wanted to unite the two political camps of left and right into which, they argued, the Jews had manipulated the German nation. The basis for this was to be the idea of race. This was light years removed from the class-based ideology of socialism. Nazism was in some ways an extreme counter-ideology to socialism, borrowing much of its rhetoric in the process, from its self-image as a movement rather than a party, to its much-vaunted contempt for bourgeois convention and conservative timidity. The idea of a ‘party’ suggested allegiance to parliamentary democracy, working steadily within a settled democratic polity. In speeches and propaganda, however, Hitler and his followers preferred on the whole to talk of the ‘National Socialist movement’, just as the Social Democrats had talked of the ‘workers’ movement’ or, come to that, the feminists of the ‘women’s movement’ and the apostles of prewar teenage rebellion of the ‘youth movement’. The term not only suggested dynamism and unceasing forward motion, it also more than hinted at an ultimate goal, an absolute object to work towards that was grander and more final than the endless compromises of conventional politics. By presenting itself as a ‘movement’, National Socialism, like the labour movement, advertised its opposition to conventional politics and its intention to subvert and ultimately overthrow the system within which it was initially forced to work.

>> By replacing class with race, and the dictatorship of the proletariat with the dictatorship of the leader, Nazism reversed the usual terms of socialist ideology. The synthesis of right and left was neatly symbolized in the Party’s official flag, personally chosen by Hitler in mid-1920: the field was bright red, the colour of socialism, with the swastika, the emblem of racist nationalism, outlined in black in the middle of a white circle at the centre of the flag, so that the whole ensemble made a combination of black, white and red, the colours of the official flag of the Bismarckian Empire. In the wake of the 1918 Revolution these came to symbolize rejection of the Weimar Republic and all it stood for; but by changing the design and adding the swastika, a symbol already used by a variety of far-right racist movements and Free Corps units in the postwar period, the Nazis also announced that what they wanted to replace it with was a new, Pan-German, racial state, not the old Wilhelmine status quo.

>> By the end of 1920, Hitler’s early emphasis on attacking Jewish capitalism had been modified to bring in ‘Marxism’, or in other words Social Democracy, and Bolshevism as well. The cruelties of the civil war and ‘red terror’ in Lenin’s Russia were making an impact, and Hitler could use them to lend emphasis to common far-right views of the supposedly Jewish inspiration behind the revolutionary upheavals of 1918-19 in Munich. Nazism would also have been possible, however, without the Communist threat; Hitler’s anti-Bolshevism was the product of his antisemitism and not the other way round.

Or even more:

>> A more alarmist note was sounded by the French ambassador, André François-Poncet. The perceptive diplomat noted that the conservatives were right to expect Hitler to agree to their programme of ‘the crushing of the left, the purging of the bureaucracy, the assimilation of Prussia and the Reich, the reorganization of the army, the re-establishment of military service’. They had put Hitler into the Chancellery in order to discredit him, he observed; ‘they have believed themselves to be very ingenious, ridding themselves of the wolf by introducing him into the sheepfold.’


Or we can can cite:

>> “As with other fascist ideologies and movements it subscribed to an ideology of national renewal, rebirth, and rejuvenation manifesting itself in extreme populist radical nationalism, militarism, and – in contradistinction to many other forms of fascism, extreme biological racism…the movement understood itself to be, and indeed was, a new form of political movement…the anti-Socialist, anti-liberal, and radical nationalist tenets of Nazi ideology applied particularly to the sentiments of a middle class disorientated by the domestic and international upheavals in the inter-war period.” (Neil Gregor, Nazism, Oxford, 2000 p 4-5.)

And again, from the trilogy:

>> The substantial overlap between the Nazis’ ideology and that of the conservatives, even, to a considerable extent, that of German liberals, was a third major factor in bringing Hitler into the Reich Chancellery on 30 January 1933. The ideas that were current among almost all German political parties right of the Social Democrats in the early 1930s had a great deal in common with those of the Nazis. These ideas certainly bore enough resemblance to the Nazis’ for the bulk of the liberal and conservative parties’ supporters in the Protestant electorate to desert them, at least temporarily, for what looked like a more effective alternative.

>> The Nazis declared that they would scrape away foreign and alien encrustations on the German body politic, ridding the country of Communism, Marxism, ‘Jewish’ liberalism, cultural Bolshevism, feminism, sexual libertinism, cosmopolitanism, the economic and power-political burdens imposed by Britain and France in 1919, ‘Western’ democracy and much else. They would lay bare the true Germany.

You have literally no idea what you're talking about, nazism, indeed, was an extremist form of anti-liberalism/socialism, and their allies in government were not the socialists, or the liberals - but the right wing nationalists and the conservatives.

Their primary enemy was in fact the socialists, and socialists were some of the first people to be thrown in camps.


You are easily one of the least informed people I have ever encountered on the Donald - in the future, avoid discussing topics you have not even a basic understanding of.

Or at the very least avoid reading garbage books written by historically illiterate hacks.

All of that shit you tried to cite, the smoking, the healthcare, the jobs? This was all because Hitler and the nazis were obsessed with a perfect Aryan race.

The nazis also rounded up and tossed the unemployed in camps and called them "workshy."

They believed modernism/liberalism had corrupted german culture - and this is most evident in the "degenerate art/music" events they held all over the place.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degenerate_Art_Exhibition

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degenerate_music

u/UncleJesticle · 45 pointsr/AskReddit

That Robert E. Lee was an honorable fellow, and that the South was fighting for states' rights. If you're interested in this stuff, you should really read Lies My Teacher Told Me

u/AncientMarinade · 44 pointsr/Economics

I would highly recommend [what's the matter with Kansas] (https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Matter-Kansas-Conservatives-America/dp/080507774X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493738579&sr=8-1&keywords=what%27s+the+matter+with+kansas) by Thomas Frank. It is an engaging, informative look at the context around why an entire state of low-income voters voted for policies that were drafted to harm them.

u/Onfortuneswheel · 42 pointsr/UnresolvedMysteries

I am planning to pick up a number of books I saw on this list.

Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City is probably the best true crime I’ve read. Some older true crime novels can be really campy and sensationalized.

Also, it’s not true crime, but Mary Roach’s Stiff is a fun read about cadavers and the human body after death.

u/arcangleous · 38 pointsr/CanadaPolitics

The same Eisenhower who extremely critical of wealthy industrialist taking control of the national and attempting to exploit the poor to their benefit? I'm not saying everything he did was good, but he was aware that a certain, powerful segment of the population was more interested in ranking up a high score in their bank accounts than helping people.

> Neoliberalism, love it or hate it, saved the economy in the 80s and 90s.

That's a massive over-simplification, and mostly inaccurate. While several important metrics from measuring the economy did improve during that period, "real wages" (wages adjusted for inflation) didn't grow significantly between 1981 and 2011. A lot of the economy growth came from women entering the work force in larger numbers & obtaining wages comparable to men, from computers & automation massive boosting the productive per worker, and a massive increase in the access to credit (debt). Of the three, Neoliberalism/Laissez-Faire economy only really affected the third, with probably overall negative consequences. At the heart of the Great Recession was the house market collapse: Because of the lack of real wage growth, people couldn't afford to buy houses except through increasing ridiculous mortgages, which they were able to obtain since the investment class demands growth. This debt bubble was leveraged to create even more (imaginary) wealth, which showed up in most of the economy metrics (especially the stock market). It just disappeared when reality set in and real wages couldn't support incurred debt, crashing the economy.

> Nixon brought in the Environmental protection agency.

I put Nixon on the list for breaking the law to maintain political power. Without Watergate, he would not have made the list.

> Political parties respond to the needs and wants of the electorate.

The reason I mentioned think tanks is that they are one of the tools used by conservative to re-frame and shape the wants of the electorate. Most traditional think tanks collect facts and do analysis to build policy recommendations, but many conservative ones (especially ones funded by the Kochs) begin with the ideology and cherry-pick the data to support the policies they have already written. It's both intellectual dishonest and much easier to build a convincing narrative with. I suggest reading Dark Money and Democracy in Chains if you want to examine the interplay between conservative think tanks, public opinion and money.

> People are the ones who vote after all.

Which is why voter suppression and gerrymandering play such an important role is US elections. Given the ugly history of disenfranchisement in that country, it's much easier to build support for preventing "the wrong people" from voting that it is to actually convince other people to support your policies. It's disguising and disgraceful. Thankfully, the Supreme Court up here has been consistent on supporting everyone's right to vote.

u/cinemabaroque · 38 pointsr/AdviceAnimals

You know what I hate? The fact that black communities have been isolated in economic ghettos by Federal Government policies like redlining and then have to put up with ignorant people like you who ignore all the crime in white communities so you can hate on people different than you.

You want cultural differences, how about Meth? Or a history of owning slaves? Or maybe you mean the fact that we imprison people who use one type of cocaine for much longer than the kind that is popular with white people?

This is the type of stupidity and ignorance that makes reddit look ugly, why don't you go read some actual history before making up hateful shit about black people?

u/gaussprime · 38 pointsr/todayilearned

I really can't recommend Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb enough. Teller in particular is amazing, so much so that he was the inspiration for Dr. Strangelove.

That book, and the precursor, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, are great reads if you want to understand both the science and the politics behind the bomb projects. They're written by a historian, so they're not too crazy into the math, but they will explain to you the issues, such as why you need U235 to make a bomb rather than U238.

u/OriginalStomper · 38 pointsr/Foodforthought

This emphasizes different points from those made in Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me. https://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281

Texas is the most populous state to approve textbooks at the state level. That means textbook publishers cater to Texas or their books fail, and schools elsewhere are often stuck with whatever Texas approved.

Texas is a Red state still deeply in denial about slavery and racism. Last I checked, kids in Texas public schools are still taught that the Civil War started for a "variety" of reasons, only one of which was slavery.

Publishers who want a successful textbook must therefore cater to Texas by downplaying the viciousness and significance of slavery. This is a primary reason why teachers have a hard time finding the materials they need.

u/skeebidybop · 37 pointsr/politics

Speaking of the Koch Brothers, eeryone should read Jane Mayer's Dark Money.

It is absolutely essential reading for understanding what has happened to the Republican party and our greater political zeitgeist.

u/omaca · 37 pointsr/MapPorn

Not exactly

The German scientists who were working on the Nazi nuclear program were taken prisoner by the British and kept incarcerated in Britain. Their rooms were bugged, and they were secretly recorded discussing in disbelief the news of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs. They knew the science and theory, but many of them didn't believe it was possible.

You are correct they didn't have sufficient uranium. Indeed, thanks to the Allied special forces and air-raids, and Norwegian resistance fighters, the only access to heavy water was destroyed and the largest shipment of heavy water itself was sunk (ironically).

I highly recommend Richard Rhodes The Making of the Atomic Bomb. It won a Pulitzer Prize in its own right. An utterly fascinating book and extremely well written.

u/GuitarFreak027 · 36 pointsr/videos

The book Command and Control gives a good accounting of that story, along with a really interesting look into the history of nuclear weapons. I'd highly recommend the book if you're interested in nuclear stuff.

u/thekingofwinter · 36 pointsr/TrueReddit

Some examples that help cultivate (rightfully so IMHO) the idea that the Koch brothers are "evil"-

1-Koch Industries is one of the top 15 polluters in the U.S. [source] (http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/apr/09/bob-beckel/bob-beckel-koch-brothers-are-one-biggest-polluters/)

2-All the while they've given upwards of 100 million dollars to the climate denial effort. [source] (http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/global-warming/climate-deniers/koch-industries/)

3-Koch Industries produces over 2 billion pounds of carcinogen formaldehyde and has actively worked to keep it from being classified as a carcinogen. [source] (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/08/30/covert-operations)

4-They've been accused of attempting to steal 31 million dollars worth of crude oil from Native Americans and were the biggest oil and gas industry donors to the congressional committee with oversight of the hazardous Keystone pipeline. I don't think all that cash was to make sure things were kept safe and clean. [source] (https://newrepublic.com/article/120922/keystone-xl-senate-bill-amendments-influenced-koch-brothers)

5-Just this month they did their part to smear the benefits of electric cars. [source] (http://insideevs.com/koch-brothers-attack-electric-cars/)

6-This [video] (https://youtu.be/2mbJhjCbwo8) gives a decent idea of how they've gone about promoting the dismantling of public education.

I could go on but I've got shit to do. Keep in mind this is nothing compared to the decades long campaign they've run to siphon away more and more money and influence from the poor. If you really want to see a bigger picture, read [Dark Money, by Jane Mayer] (https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0385535597).

u/Carbon_Rod · 35 pointsr/MorbidReality

Stiff - The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, if you want a light read about dead people. More amusing than it sounds.

u/Chip085 · 35 pointsr/politics

There is literally a book (and documentary based on the book) about this. Called What's the Matter With Kansas

u/ksmoke · 34 pointsr/NoStupidQuestions

There isn't a universal tech tree in real life. It's kind of hard to say any culture is "more advanced" than another when they're so different. It's especially hard when we just don't know that much about the native societies in the Americas pre-Columbus. There's a really amazing book called '1491' by Charles C. Mann that's a pretty easy read and probably the best summary of our understanding of pre-Columbian America and would answer a lot of your questions.

u/ciarao55 · 33 pointsr/worldnews

I think part of the problem is really that people are looking at only granular parts of problems today and don't have enough historical context. Its useless to follow every story about everyone and every little thing. There are lots of ups and downs in politics and there's no reason to be so reactionary to every single new and probably manufactured "scandal".... that's what's exhausting. I like to keep updated on a few big issues, I follow the careers of a few people I find inspiring (and follow a few that do things that worry me), and spend the rest of the time reading up on topics in book form... they have the advantage of being written over time, and with more vigorous standards for accuracy. The news, while still important where immediate info is necessary, is essentially click bait now. You don't need to get caught in the rip tides that pull you everywhere constantly, just understand the general trajectory of the important things.

edit: to those curious about some book recommendations: I'm by no means an expert in anything really, and the books you read should really be about the topics you personally are interested in, so don't take my word as gospel (or any author's). I like American history, ancient history, international relations, and though I think they're more boring I force myself to read about the health care system and the American education system because I feel they're important. I'm also looking to read some books on the military industrial complex and cyber security/ big data because I don't really know anything about them other than the stuff I see in passing on the news or here on Reddit. So if anyone knows a good overview of those issues, feel free to let me know.

  • For a good start on human history and the beginnings of modern economics/ intl relations (basically why the West has historically dominated), try Guns, Germs, and Steel I believe there's also a documentary if the book is too dense for your taste (it is pretty dense).

  • Perhaps if you're interested in why people get so damn heated talking politics, The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation

  • If you wonder why people vote against their own social and economic interest: What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America Full disclosure: I liked this book, but I lean left. I'm not sure if it matters, the point of the book is just to track how the Republican party went from being the party of elites, to the party of blue collar workers.

  • If the Supreme Court interests you at all, I liked Jeffrey Toobin's, The Nine

  • The achievement gap? Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria

  • Health care? There's a lot, but this one is an easy read and it compares the systems of Britain, Japan, Germany, and I believe Cuba (which is very good for their GDP!) and the US's. The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care by T.R. Reid

    This is just some stuff I've listed off the top of my head. Another thing that I find helpful to better understanding intl relations are books about the major genocides of the past few decades, which are hard to get through (because of the brutal content) but... What is the What (Sudan), First they killed my father (Cambodian genocide), Girl at War (more of a autobiography, but still chilling) there's a couple of others I've read that I can't remember now.

    Anyway, just go to Good Reads and look at Contemporary Politics. Perhaps Great Courses has a political philosophy course too that you can draw from if you wanna go even farther back into the origins of society's structure and political thought.

    Also podcasts! I've just discovered these but there's a lot of audio content (FREE!) that you can listen to on your commute and whatnot. I like Abe Lincoln's Top Hat right now.

    Edit edit: wow thanks for the gold!!
u/Captain_MakeItHappen · 33 pointsr/PoliticalHumor

ITT: Conflating 'Make America Great Again' with Nazis.

Of course.

u/NightGod · 32 pointsr/personalfinance

There are still options like The Body Farm and safety testing (aka, when crash test dummies aren't enough). You might find the book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers enlightening.

u/Basoom01267 · 32 pointsr/OldSchoolCool

Iran had a secularist, western style democracy. Then it demanded to audit the books of BP, so the CIA overthrew it and installed a dictator who would let the west keep looting the countries oil.

I recommend this book on the subject :

http://www.amazon.com/All-Shahs-Men-American-Middle/dp/047018549X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463470354&sr=8-1&keywords=all+the+shahs+men

u/23_sided · 31 pointsr/paradoxplaza

Disease and climate. We're finding more and more that disease and climate had a huge effect on how cultures managed to dominate the world by the beginning of the 19th century.

u/manisnotabird · 31 pointsr/politics

Everyone should read New Yorker writer Jane Mayer's book about the Kochs and (to a lesser extent) other far-right billionaires, Dark Money.

u/gec_ · 29 pointsr/TheMotte

In what I think is my first ever top level post here I'd like to discuss and point out some recently published claims by former officials that likely Israeli spy devices were found near the White House sometime in the last few years. Let me quote the article, bolded parts are mine:

> The U.S. government concluded within the past two years that Israel was most likely behind the placement of cellphone surveillance devices that were found near the White House and other sensitive locations around Washington, according to three former senior U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter.

> But unlike most other occasions when flagrant incidents of foreign spying have been discovered on American soil, the Trump administration did not rebuke the Israeli government, and there were no consequences for Israel’s behavior, one of the former officials said.

> The miniature surveillance devices, colloquially known as “StingRays,” mimic regular cell towers to fool cellphones into giving them their locations and identity information. Formally called international mobile subscriber identity-catchers or IMSI-catchers, they also can capture the contents of calls and data use.

> The devices were likely intended to spy on President Donald Trump, one of the former officials said, as well as his top aides and closest associates — though it’s not clear whether the Israeli efforts were successful.

Naturally these claims were denied by the Israeli embassy and no part of the U.S. government was willing to officially comment on it. They got another former counter intelligence official from the Obama administration to comment on these claims on the record and he said:

> “The Israelis are aggressive intelligence collectors, but they have sworn off spying on the U.S. at various points and it’s not surprising that such efforts continue,” said Daniel Benjamin, a former coordinator of counterterrorism at the Obama State Department and now director of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth.

> Benjamin, who emphasized that he was not aware of the FBI's investigation into the cell-phone spoofing, recalled once meeting with a former head of Mossad, the premier Israeli intelligence agency, when he was out of office. The first thing the former Mossad official told Benjamin was that Israel didn’t spy on the U.S.

> “I just told him our conversation was over if he had such a low estimate of my intelligence,” Benjamin said.

Anyway, I imagine none of this is that surprising to informed commentators (the United States has caught and jailed an Israeli spy in the United States before, Jonathan Pollard) -- and the U.S. government probably tries to do the same thing to Israel. But none the less it sparks a little dissonance that one of our closest allies is engaged in such behavior despite our vigorous (and even more vigorous under Trump) support of them. I'm not sure what the standard protocol is to respond to these things but is troubling that the administration made no attempt to rebuke the Israeli government (as the officials claim).

This, in my opinion, undermines his 'America First' attitude. In general, criticisms that one is failing to live up to ones own standards are a lot more potent than the claims that one is failing to meet the standards of others, so we'll see how this comes up in the 2020 election. Some of the Democratic candidates are practically just as pro-Israel as him, though, so it may not come up.

We should always be wary of 'anonymous officials' attempting to further their own agenda but these claims do fit into my previous understanding of how Israel operates and Trump's sympathy to Israel so at the moment I believe them. Let me know if you think there is a good reason to doubt their veracity.

What should the response be? I don't really know, but surely some sort of response or punishment is warranted by blatant espionage. It makes me ever more wary of exactly who is benefiting from our close relations with them, even aside from the consideration of the influence of the Israeli lobby.

u/TonyBagels · 28 pointsr/politics

"Surprising Op-ed"??


"Singing a new tune"?!?!


Charles and David Koch are the unrivaled kings of gaslighting and manipulation.

They have spent literally hundreds millions of dollars, over decades, on a concentrated effort to influence academia, the media, and public policy towards their pro-corporate (profits) and anti-goverment (public accountability) ends.

"Dark Money" should be required reading for everyone.

Buy it, trust me: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0307947904

Or listen to the audiobook free here:

Part 1: https://youtu.be/3uoaTlB5oPA

Part 2: https://youtu.be/gcQQKalLbZs

u/thebloodisfoul · 28 pointsr/stupidpol

lol jesus fucking christ, everyone understands that aipac is shorthand for a constellation of pro-israel lobbying groups and donors. go read the israel lobby if you're seriously this dense

u/Im_in_timeout · 28 pointsr/politics

I'm sure /u/Dr_Poz was referencing this insightful book from 2005:
What's the Matter with Kansas?

u/Tangurena · 28 pointsr/AskHistorians

> In my view, the second certainly wasn't

According to Rhodes [1], the Japanese command knew what affected Hiroshima was an atomic bomb [2] but concluded that since it took 4 years to build the first atom bomb, it would take the Allies 4 years to build the next. The folks at the top kept believing that they could force the Allies to a negotiated peace and that westerners were too weak - hence the suicidal efforts in Okinawa/Saipan and kamikaze to demoralize Allied troops.

The Yalta conference required Stalin to enter war against Japan within 90 days of the end of the German campaign. Depending on how you do the math and count timezones, Russia declared war against Japan and entered combat on day 89, 90 or 91.

According to Cook in Japan at War there were 4,335,500 Japanese soldiers at the time of the surrender with about 3,500,000 stationed outside the "home islands" (mostly stuck in Korea and Manchuria). This was a lot more than the Allies thought that Japan had.

Notes:
1 - I forget whether it was in Dark Sun (most likely because it was the followup written after the fall of the Soviet Union which opened up a lot of their secret archives) or The Making of the Atomic Bomb.
2 - The Japanese had 2 atom bomb projects: a chemical separation project in Tokyo and a gaseous diffusion project in what is now called North Korea around the Chosin Reservoir.

u/Whazzits · 27 pointsr/bestoflegaladvice

Animal and pet bodies are generally disposed of via a process that essentially liquifies the flesh in lye. I know that there was some amount of push several years ago to expand the service to human remains.

There's a company in Europe that was trying to push the idea of "planting" a person's body by using minimal preservation chemistry and no coffin, and putting a sapling above the body.

I'm not Tibetan, but even I can appreciate the symbology of their Sky Burials, wherein a body is sliced and left exposed to the elements, and is swiftly reclaimed by vultures.

However, there is one outstanding option for OP: Donating his body to science! Organ donors are lauded, as they well should be, but there's a pressing need for bodies for research purposes, particularly bodies of younger folk or children. The research gained through body donation can save hundreds, if not thousands, of lives, for decades after it's donated. Bodies have been used to research car crash impact effects--dummies are fine, but there really is no substitute for strapping a body into a car and launching it into a wall to see how it breaks (or doesn't!)

I'd strongly encourage anyone interested in alternative body disposal methods to read Stiff, by Mary Roach. It is far and away my favorite non-fiction book--hilarious, respectful, inquisitive, and educational!



u/troglodave · 27 pointsr/politics

You are correct on the title, "What's the Matter With Kansas", but it goes onto much greater depth than the single issue voting. It really delves into and explains why the social conservatives are being played to go against the fiscal conservative values they once held and who is profiting from them.

At the time it was written, 10 years ago, Thomas Frank made the prediction that this was the direction American "Conservatism" would head, and he has been dead on the money! An excellent read for those completely baffled by the ignorance of the average American voter.

u/Prince_Kropotkin · 26 pointsr/SubredditDrama

This book came out by an idiot:

https://www.amazon.com/Liberal-Fascism-American-Mussolini-Politics/dp/0767917189

Now millions of conservatives actually believe that national socialism = socialism.

u/ElectronGuru · 26 pointsr/oregon

Don’t need future scientists, current scientist already figured out

What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America
https://www.amazon.com/dp/080507774X/

u/Rvmntrx · 26 pointsr/milliondollarextreme

It's from the book of the same name. Written in '97, Strauss and Howe look through history and map out generational archetypes and the natural ebb and flow of events centered around Anglo-American societies. I'd highly recommend it. In the book, history is divided into cycles of 80-100 years (a Turning), roughly a generation. Then, the cycles are divided into quarters, a new generation being formed every quarter of a cycle. The authors analyze each generation and their general mood within society. In terms of what's coming up in world events (according to Strauss and Howe), America is currently at the tail end of an Unraveling. The next Turning being the Crisis phase.

u/Jackmack65 · 26 pointsr/politics

I agree. I think the country's economic strength and global leadership peaked about then, and both the loss of the Vietnam War and the fall of the Shah signaled the beginning of our decline.

My comment was really directed at the decline & fall of the republic in terms of political process. I trace the decline of political process effectiveness to Gingrich, whose scorched-earth, win-at-all-costs partisanship destroyed good-faith governance. If there's one person who broke the American model of government, it's him.

I do sort of wonder if the decline and fall of political systems lags the decline and fall of their respective economies. That might make for an interesting study.

If you've never read Strauss & Howe's The Fourth Turning it's well worthwhile. It's fairly easily picked apart in some of its detail, but is chillingly prophetic in its broader strokes and provides good food for thought.

u/Ashoka345 · 26 pointsr/Documentaries

It's just a comparison of how stories play out in American and British media.

There is academic work on this by some of the most reputable IR scholars on the planet...

http://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501

If you want peer reviewed work I wouldn't look to some guy on youtube attempting to compare and contrast news clips.

u/Gizank · 26 pointsr/WTF

Interesting timing of this post for me. I was having trouble getting to sleep last night, so I was reading Stiff, The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. (This was a mistake, but only because the book is very interesting and well written. I got through 86 pages before I gave up and turned the light off. I never got sleepy.)

There are a number of stories in the book that might relate, but this reminded me most of Thomas Holmes (The Father of Modern Embalming.) The Wikipedia entry doesn't really have much trivia about him. More can be found on this page. His info is about half-way down the page. Roach goes into more detail about his story, but the part I thought of here is in that link:

>Holmes retired to Brooklyn, New York where he sold root beer and embalming
supplies. According to Christine Quigley, author of A Corpse: a History and Mary
Roach, author of Stiff, The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Holmes shared his
Brooklyn home with samples of his Civil War era handiwork. Embalmed bodies were
stored in the closets, and preserved heads sat on tables in the parlor. Not all that
surprisingly, Holmes eventually went insane (Robert Mayer wrote that Holmes became
mentally unhinged after an accident) spending his final years in and out of institutions.
Shortly before he died he is said to have requested not to be embalmed.

By way of a little explanation: I work closely with a medical examiner's office. I was affected a good deal more, at first, than I expected since I don't go there every day and usually work at one remove from the actual place and the work done there. When I asked how people cope with that kind of work, both death investigation and pathology, along with a long and sensitive discussion about the job Mary Roach's book was recommended reading. I borrowed and returned it and eventually bought my own copy, but only last night started reading it. I'm only through 87 pages, but so far, it's a good read. If you want some perspective and maybe a different way to think about your own "final arrangements", or if you're just curious about stuff like what happens to bodies left to science or medicine, you may find it enlightening. She handles the subject with respect, humanity, and humor. It isn't nearly as gruesome as I thought it would be, but I have been exposed to a lot more death and bodies and such in the last three+ years than the average person, so YMMV.

u/dyzo-blue · 25 pointsr/EnoughTrumpSpam

When I tried to explain Fascists were historically considered the extreme right-wing, he actually sent me a link to Jonah Goldberg's book as proof that I didn't know what I was talking about.

Thanks Jonah, for making Americans even dumber than they were before you started writing.

u/WalkingDad · 25 pointsr/de

>Das Fragwürdige an Israelkritik ist mE die Singularität - die lautesten Kritiker hört man immer nur über Israel schimpfen.

Genau das gleiche Argument kommt bei USA und Trump-Kritik auch andauernd.

Erstens, ist es völlig irrelevant, da Kritik in einer bestimmten Diskussion erst mal für sich steht. Sie ist entweder berechtigt oder nicht aber sich dann, wenn man es nicht schafft die inhaltliche Kritik zu entschärfen, einfach darauf zu berufen, dass es ja auch "nordkoreanische Todeslager" gibt, ist einfach nur unehrlich. Ich muss mich mich nicht in eine Diskussion "einkaufen" in dem ich erst mal eine Liste der Top 10 autoritären Regime abarbeite um mich anschließend für eine Israel-Kritik "reingewaschen" zu haben. Würdest du dich mit dem gleichen Maßstab beurteilen, würdest du wahrscheinlich in kürzester Zeit selbst daran scheitern.

Zweitens, (und hier kommen wir wieder zur USA-Kritik zurück) ist der Grund warum man die USA und nicht den Sudan, warum man Israel und nicht Nordkorea kritisiert der, dass sich sowohl die USA als auch Israel als Teil der westlichen Wertegemeinschaft sehen. Von diesen Ländern darf man nicht nur einen höheren Standard an Menschenrechten erwarten, man kann auch hoffen, dass Kritik an diesen Ländern eine größere Wirkung hat, als der tausendste Artikel über nordkoreanische Straflager, die Kim Jong Un o.ä wohl kaum interessieren werden. Genauso wie es von Ungarn erwartet wird, sich an europäische Werte zu halten und Orban überproportional kritisiert wird, obwohl er keine buchstäblichen Todeslager in seinem Land hat.

>Meine Bitte: Schaut es euch selbst an, geht auch in die Palästinensergebiete, redet mit Leuten. Wer dann noch ernsthaft von einem rassistischen Apartheidsregime sprechen will, bitte.

Und hier redest du einfach Quatsch:

>Eine israelische Regierungskommission stellte beispielsweise 2003 fest, dass Israel sich ihnen gegenüber "gleichgültig und diskriminierend" verhält. In der Tat findet die Ungleichbehandlung israelischer Araber unter israelischen Juden viele Anhänger. Eine Umfrage vom März 2007 kam zu dem Schluss, dass 55 Prozent der israelischen Juden getrennte Freizeitangebote wünschten, während mehr als 75 Prozent sagten, sie wollten nicht im selben Haus leben wie ein israelischer Araber. Mehr als die Hälfte der Befragten meinte, wenn eine jüdische Frau einen Araber heirate, sei das Hochverrat, und 50 Prozent sagten, sie würden an ihrem Arbeitsplatz nicht arbeiten, wenn ein Vorgesetzter ein Araber wäre. Das Israel Democracy Institute berichtete im Mai 2003, dass 53 Prozent der israelischen Juden "gegen die volle Gleichberechtigung der Araber sind" während 77 Prozent der israelischen Juden glaubten, dass "es bei wichtigen politischen Entscheidungen eine jüdische Mehrheit geben sollte". Nur 31 Prozent "sind dafür, dass es arabische politische Parteien in der Regierung gibt". (...)
>
>Quelle (hier gibt's den 60-seitigen Aufsatz als PDF /edit: allerdings ohne den oben genannten Auszug, wie ich gerade gesehen habe)

u/horneraa · 24 pointsr/AskReddit

>It is difficult to discredit or ignore the accounts of many Native Americans and indigenous people that ALL have stories of this same creature whilst being so far spread and some not even interacting with one another.

Trade networks in North America reached across the entire continent. Recent evidence suggests trade all the way into South America. Pre-Colombian civilization in the America's was much more complex than you're giving it credit for. The book "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus" is a good start on this topic.

u/markevens · 24 pointsr/AskHistorians

> I don't really know much about how general people around Europe would have reacted towards Hiroshima and Nagasaki, however I can help a little with how the scientists of the German Atom Bomb project reacted.

> The scientists who had though to have been working on the German Nuclear Program had been detained during Operation Epsilon and then interned in a bugged house in England. During that time, the reaction these scientists had towards the Bombing of Hiroshima was recorded.

> Obviously, they all have differing opinions on the subject, some for example, such as Otto Hahn, who had discovered Nuclear Fission and won the Noble Prize in 1944, but otherwise had no part in the program, was glad that the Germans never achieved making the bomb (he even considered suicide, believing himself responsible.) Others however, where dismayed they had failed.

> They all seem to wonder why Germany didn't manage to build the bomb, comparing that project to the thousands of people working on the V1 and V2 rockets, as well as talking about the relationship between Germany, and the Scientists, compared with how America treated there project, because they say the Germans didn't trust the Scientists working on the project, and the project would have been difficult to push through because of this, especially as they say the German Government wanted immediate results, not having to wait a long time until the project was complete.

> They also had conversations about what went wrong with the theory behind the German Project (and Heisenberg soon worked out how to build the bomb, after hearing of the dropping of the American Bomb).

> If you want to read more about it, main source is Operation Epsilon: The Farm Hall Transcripts, which has an extract here which says which books you can read the whole transcript in.

After having read "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" (a historical work on The Bomb that won the author the Pulitzer) and seeing how many resources the USA was putting into The Bomb, I don't believe Germany could have ever done it during war time. They were making good progress on an energy producing reactor, but a deliverable bomb was far beyond their war-time means.

u/jimbo831 · 24 pointsr/Trumpgret

>My continuing complaint with the trump-a-nistas is quite simple... "Why do you continually vote against your own interests?"

Wedge social and cultural issues. People should definitely read What's the Matter With Kansas.

u/raitalin · 24 pointsr/AskHistorians

There's a couple:

In elementary school, I Love Paul Revere Whether He Rode or Not was my first introduction to the idea of history with an agenda. It's mostly a collection of interesting facts, but it does spend some time talking about why people (Americans specifically in this case) mythologize our history.

In Middle School I went totally crazy over the US Civil War, largely because of Gettysburg.

In high school came Marx & the concepts of class and progressive history. I'm not a Marxist politically (not anymore at least, but how else does a history nerd rebel in high school?), but I do think these ideas inform my personal historical narrative.

Then came the reason I finally returned to school for history: Lies My Teacher Told Me. I'd already been bothered by American politicians and citizens presentizing the opinions and actions of our founding fathers, as well as the myth of our unified national ideology, but this book illustrated how we pass that flawed narrative along, dooming people to make the same mistakes.

u/Mswizzle23 · 24 pointsr/changemyview

Thomas Sowell and a number of others have argued African American hip hop culture is basically white redneck behavior, Sowell in "Black Rednecks And White Liberals" which I'm about to begin. Colin Woodward's "American Nation's" touches on this as well, as do other authors who've penned books on the topic, although his book is more about all of the regional cultures that make up our country dating back to the groups that founded those regions and how their beliefs are still resoundingly alive and well and how politicians actively exploit these differences we have between one another. There are other academics I've heard doing research like this but I'm having trouble recall their names, I heard about them in some podcasts. But, there's definitely more reading you can do to explore this idea more.

Amazon links to check out both titles I mentioned:

https://www.amazon.com/American-Nations-History-Regional-Cultures/dp/0143122029

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Rednecks-Liberals-Thomas-Sowell/dp/1594031436/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1502125308&sr=1-1&keywords=black+rednecks+and+white+liberals

u/Always_Excited · 23 pointsr/politics

people's history of the united states by howard zinn

Not about nazism, but very relevant if you're an american trying to make sense of this country.

u/mikerhoa · 23 pointsr/PoliticalHumor

This is wrong on multiple levels, built the most galling one is that somehow you're suggesting that radical Islam is a direct result of Western involvement in Muslim countries.

That's incomplete at best and dangerously ignorant at worst.

First off, some of the biggest state sponsors of terrorism are allies with the US (re Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the UAE) and have experienced fuck all in terms of bombing and aggression. There's a lot of money to be made in warfare and chaos.

Also, the main cause of radical Islam is the religion itself above all else. You're insane if you think otherwise. This isn't a bunch of ragtag fighters battling imperialism and defending their innocent families from Western bullies. These are bloodthirsty scumbags who cross borders and slaughter civilians in an effort to spread their monstrous ideology and attain power.

And finally, if the West is so oppressive, corruptive, and murderous why do so many Islamic governments cry out when we threaten to cut off revenue streams and support?

EDIT: Here are some suggestions:

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/11/17/10-must-read-books-on-terrorism/

http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/0143034669

http://www.amazon.com/Imperial-Life-Emerald-City-Inside/dp/0307278832

http://www.amazon.com/Hatreds-Kingdom-Arabia-Supports-Terrorism/dp/0895260611

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contents_of_the_United_States_diplomatic_cables_leak_(United_Arab_Emirates)

u/lurking_quietly · 22 pointsr/TrueReddit

This is a useful companion piece to Eric Schlosser's recent "World War Three, by Mistake" in The New Yorker. (Hat-tip to /u/puck2 for posting that article to this subreddit.)

For those still not sufficiently alarmed, PBS will premiere the documentary Command and Control, based on Schlosser's book of the same name, in its American Experience series next week (Tuesday, January 10, 2017).

u/BushidoBrowne · 22 pointsr/BlackPeopleTwitter

If any of you are interested in American history (including South and Central American) , I recommend checking out

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus


Get that knowledge famo

u/MSHDigit · 22 pointsr/EarthStrike

Jane Mayer, Dark Money

Nancy MacLean, Democracy in Chains

This is well-documented and reported. Please do some reading, specifically on John Olin and the Koch Brothers and James Buchanan and the neoliberal Mont Pelerin Society hostile takeover of higher education and public discourse in general. Even the Tea Party was astroturfed.

u/TrumpRusConspiracy · 21 pointsr/conspiracy

We know all parties and countries and special interests use shills. So why wouldn't there be paid conservative shills or propagandists?

u/antonbe · 21 pointsr/books

Thanks for this... have you read "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong"?

Great book that highlights a lot of missing or flat our false information our textbooks are shoving down kids throats. Often in blatant attempts to actually change history or just ineptitude.

Going to give your book a read now. Thanks!

u/veragood · 21 pointsr/RedditForGrownups

It means that generational archetypes repeat every fourth generation, not every other generation. It's why we often get along with our grandparents... they're usually the same archetype as us ;)


Looking at the past 8 generations

--

Missionary Generation (Archetype: Prophet/Aggressive)

Lost Generation (Archetype: Nomad/Neglected)

GI/Greatest Generation (Archetype: Hero/Indulged)

Silent Generation (Archetype: Artist/Sensitive)


--

Baby Boomers (Archetype: Prophet/Aggressive)

Generation X (Archetype: Nomad/Neglected)

Millenials (Archetype: Hero/Indulged)

Meme Generation (Archetype: Artist/Sensitive)

--

Generation PleaseSaveUsOhGod (Archetype: Prophet/Aggressive)


....


In general, the overprotected and moralistic Prophet generation raises the indulged and idealistic Hero generation; and then the empowered Hero generation raises the firebrands that will comprise the new Prophet generation. Alternatively, the neglected but resourceful Nomad generation raises the Artist generation, and then the Artist generation then births and raises the next Nomad generation at a time of greater emphasis on individual autonomy and less insistence on protecting children (most recently, the 60s, the 70s, and the early 80s).

Gen X, like other Nomad generations, are underprotected as children, which makes them very resourceful and efficient adults, though it does scar them. They are neglected by culture, as well, precisely for the reason that the prima-donna generations of the Prophet and the Hero border it. Where the Hero/Greatest/Millenial generations can do no wrong, the Nomad/Lost/Xers can do no right.

This large-scale pattern repeats as you go back in time, all the way back to the War of the Roses, in fact. Whenever the Prophet/Aggressive/Moralistic generation becomes the elders of the society, the western world has experienced a profound crisis, after which the civic order is born anew. This is happening now; but it also happened 80 years ago during WWII, then ~80 years before that in the Civil War, then ~80 years before that in the Revolutionary war. In fact, this tight periodicity keeps going back, again, to the War of the Roses. You can check it all out in the excellent book (written in 1996, economic boom times in America, yet that predicted the Great Recession as well as the deranged state of the civic order and political discourse today), called The Fourth Turning.

u/lobster_johnson · 21 pointsr/AskHistorians

Another book worth mentioning: The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes. Won the Pulitzer prize, an instant classic, and perhaps one of the finest non-fiction books ever written. It paints the story of the bomb on a very broad, panoramic canvas, tracing the entire process of turning an outlandish, futuristic idea (all the way back to the musings of H. G. Well) into a real weapon with fatal and geopolitical consequences, through a complex landscape of politics, history, philosophy and psychology. Along the way it drip-feeds a course in elementary particle physics so that the technical details are easy to understand even for a layman — in fact, the first half of the book is pretty much the story of the atomic physics, from the discovery of the atom to modern quantum mechanics. The book is also superbly written; quirkily, occasionally lyrical, and very adept at making its characters come alive with plenty of juicy dramatic tension. (My only criticism about the book: Not enough Feynman!)

u/dank-nuggetz · 20 pointsr/conspiracy

>AIPAC doesnt spend that much money compared to other lobby groups

They are one of the most powerful lobbying groups in this country and by FAR the most powerful with regards to foreign policy.

Read this book.

A little about the author:

"John J. Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, where he has taught since 1982. He graduated from West Point in 1970 and then served five years as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. He then started graduate school in political science at Cornell University in 1975. He received his Ph.D. in 1980. He spent the 1979-1980 academic year as a research fellow at the Brookings Institution, and was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University's Center for International Affairs from 1980 to 1982. During the 1998-1999 academic year, he was the Whitney H. Shepardson Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York."

He's a brilliant writer and this book in particular lays a very solid groundwork for understanding just how much Israel has us on puppet strings. Oman may been an actual anti-semite, but the points she's making are not anti-semitic.

u/virtuous_d · 20 pointsr/Paleo

Nutrition is just the tip of the iceberg. Try mathematics, history and civics, literature...

u/pondiki · 20 pointsr/motogp

I am pretty sure MotoGP will race at Qatar in 2018. Unless there are some major geopolitical changes, Dorna will race there until the Qataris stop paying. The Saudis, Qataris, Emiratis, Bahrainis have had squabbles for a long time. The Saudis saying the Qataris sponsor terrorism is the pot calling the kettle black and they know it.

I recommend this article for some context on the Gulf "crisis": http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/how-can-the-qatar-crisis-be-resolved

Steve Coll is a great journalist, recommend his book Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001

u/emr1028 · 20 pointsr/booksuggestions

Quicksand, by Geoffry Wawro

Power, Faith, and Fantasy by Michael Oren

The Coming Anarchy by Robert Kaplan

The Revenge of Geography by Robert Kaplan

The Shia Revival by Vali Nasr (although to be honest I found this one a little dull)

Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran


Little America by Rajiv Chandrasekaran

Soldiers of God by Robert Kaplan


Sleeping with the Devil by Baer

Dirty Wars by Jeremey Scahill

Ghost Wars by Steve Coll


Charlie Wilson's War by George Crile

The Way of the Knife by Mark Mazzetti


Eastward to Tartary by Robert Kaplan (I actually haven't read this one yet but it's definitely on my to do list and I'm a huge fan of Kaplan's writing, observation, and analysis.)

The Ends of the Earth by Robert Kaplan

This is a partial list of some books I've read in the past couple of years. I put stars next to the ones that I think are the really really excellent ones. Some of them aren't entirely about the Middle East but the concepts in them are really important if you want to understand the region. I hope you look through the list and at the very least look at some of the books that Amazon recommends to go along with these books.

Oh, you should also check out this essay. I like to think it's decent reading if you want to understand what motivated Bin Laden and the context surrounding his life.


If you manage to read just a few of these, and also keep up with the news (I recommend a subscription to the Economist and to the New York Times) you will be a phenomenally well educated person about the Middle East.

u/Moominballs · 20 pointsr/news

If you are interested in stuff like this you should check out the book Command And Control.

It really highlights how close to utter devastation we have been during the past 60 years...

One of the top reviews from Amazon:
As a former Titan II Missile Facilities Technician, this was a page-turner for me. The author got it right in his descriptions of the attitudes and culture in the missile career field, the systems in use, even the music we listened to back then. It is rare for a military themed book written by a non-military writer to be so spot-on (IMO). The descriptions of some of the close calls we (we citizens) had with H-bombs are chilling, and the story about the Damascus Arkansas Titan II explosion was weaved in perfectly throughout the book. Time well spent.

u/JohnnyYenOnFireAgain · 20 pointsr/worldnews

Try Legacy of Ashes. Superbly researched and covers everything from OSS beginnings to Iraq.

http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Ashes-The-History-CIA/dp/0307389006

u/Xerox748 · 20 pointsr/bestof

Republicans have been pushing the idea that Nazi’s we’re liberals for over a decade now. https://www.amazon.com/Liberal-Fascism-American-Mussolini-Politics/dp/0767917189

The craziest part isn’t even that this book got written. It’s that the right wing in America today shuns the author for not supporting Trump enough. Its crazy how far removed they’ve become from reality, even in just the last decade.

u/GingerRoot96 · 19 pointsr/conspiracy

After reading The Fourth Turning and witnessing what has occurred the last 4 years and is currently happening now, yes. It was written in the 90s and predicted a great possibility of a WW2 type event sometime around 2020-2024. It posits it based on natural historical cycles and gives tons of proof and evidence, beyond conjecture. 9/11 came like being sucker punched and no one really had premonitions but now, you can feel it in the air. Heavy.

u/WNYC1139 · 19 pointsr/AskHistorians

Right (about world leaders' respect for Mussolini - don't know about Churchill arranging for his capture).

My amateur understanding is that prior to Hitler, fascism (like communism) was more acceptable in "respectable circles." Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism expands on the point, but one possibly-illuminating trivia point is that one version of the song "You're the Top" had the line "You're Mussolini" delivered as a compliment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27re_the_Top

u/drunkentune · 19 pointsr/worldnews

If you're interested in learning more about the history surrounding Operation Ajax and the overthrow of Mosadegh, I recommend reading All the Shah's Men.

u/TVpresspass · 17 pointsr/canada

Actually archaeologists are now moving past the Bering land bridge theory, and tracking 5 distinct immigration events into the pre-Columbian Americas.

I wish I had more to back it up, but I just started reading this book this week. I'm hoping I'll have more to say about that when I'm finished.

u/jasonmb17 · 17 pointsr/askscience

Read 1491 by Charles Mann - great read, and covers the Amazon (and the rest of the Pre-Columbian Americas) quite a bit.

u/metarinka · 16 pointsr/bestof

I'll give some historical context.

After WWII all our factories were still at full capacity and switched back to making personal cars, and all these returning vets on the GI bill want to college or back to good factory jobs and started buying homes and settling down.


Now the popular notion at the time was that city life was dying. Why get at best a row house or apartment in New york or philadelphia when you can build or buy a crafstmen house for the same price out in the suburbs. Also as civil rights was coming about it was convenient to cede the inner city to African Americans and poor and use things like loan restrictions to zone and price them out of the nice crime free suburbs.


So given the popular notion that the city and urban life was dying. Most city planning resources when into road construction so everyone could live out in the surburbs and take the new highways to their jobs. Entire cities were built up around this concept. In order to pay for this essentially halted Urban public works like subways and light rail. Why would you want to go on a stuffy subway with negroes when you can commute in your cadillac with radio and select-a-matic transmission?


So the results are profound and easy to verify. Any city that become major and modern after world war II has terrible public transportation: Examples include LA, Houston, Denver, Portland. Any city that was major before WWII tends to have still strong public transportation like Chicago, New york, Boston, D.C.


We basically decided as a nation that surburban life was awesome and gave up on public transportation. We even went steps further in places like LA where they actively bought out trolley lines just to close them down and pave over the tracks. Also the very way we designed our suburbs actively discourage pedestrainism and many live in places that "have no where to walk to". I'm ashamed to say that even my hometown Ann Arbor fell into that spiral and built many planned developments that have no feasible options of walking or biking to get to any retail area.


TLDR: city planners after WWII decided everyone (who was white) should live in suburbs and stopped funding public transportation.

Edit: for those who don't believe me this was covered by sociologists in the way things never were http://www.amazon.com/The-Way-Things-Never-Were/dp/0595348084

and lies my teacher told me http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1457056096&sr=1-1&keywords=lies+my+teacher+told+me both fascinating reads

u/eleask · 16 pointsr/AdviceAnimals

Well, they may not know about radiation exposure effects (even though they know something about it. The absolute madman Louis Slotin took a dive near a reactor to fix it, and his colleagues were "shocked", and Japan itself tried to start a nuclear project, failing due to the fact, well, that only the United States had the capability of invest on it: developing nuclear bomb was expensive as hell), but they surely knew that it was different. They saw just a couple of planes, and then hell broke loose, and the aftermath of the explosion was a bit worst than the one of a firestorm. Mind that a fire bombing is not meant to create a shock wave as an atomic bomb does.
And after all of this, after the bombing of Nagasaki, the emperor (I won't ever remember his name) stated:

"The enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, not only would it result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization."

"a new and most cruel bomb": average Japanese may not care about the difference between a firebomb and an atomic bomb, but I can assure you that upstairs, they were concerned about the use of the new weapon.

As an ending note, if you love to read, and if you don't care about lengthy readings, Richard Rhodes wrote a couple of very well documented books about the matter:

u/LtCmdrData · 16 pointsr/geopolitics

> didn't take you to be one who believed in this conspiracy theory

There is conspiracy theory about Jewish lobby and then there is influential Jewish Lobby. Trying to insinuate that there is only the conspiracy theory version is just clever argumentative trick, just like anti-Zionist = anti-Semite assumption.

u/FacelessBureaucrat · 16 pointsr/PoliticalDiscussion

Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer: "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" (PDF). This is the key essay that later became a book that explains how strong of an impact the Israel lobby has had on U.S. foreign policy (by both parties) and why. The essay, at least, is worth a read.

u/HaricotNoir · 16 pointsr/SandersForPresident

I agree. More can be read on the topic of Koch and Walton donations in the fairly recent book Dark Money.

Not to mention NPR actually covered said book on Morning Edition.

u/T1mac · 16 pointsr/politics

I think if Coleman and Krieger ever read "A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present" by Howard Zinn I think they would have a stroke. Or their heads would explode. One of the two.

u/Flat_prior · 16 pointsr/ShitAmericansSay

Here too. I was raised in Michigan and our history courses were a joke. I also learned we dominated the world in WWII, saved the allies, we're the reason you aren't speaking German, Reaganomics propelled capitalism to Super Saiyan level two, which killed communism, etc. Also, we gave black people rights but they haven't quite managed to get it together.

If you want to learn the things the Republicans don't want you to know, you can either read A People's History of the United States or watch it on Netflix.

u/purpleolive · 16 pointsr/CombatFootage

I haven't read too many books about the subject, but one that I really like is 'Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001', by Steve Coll. It's incredibly illuminating and a fascinating read.

Robert Pape's 'Cutting the Fuse: The Explosion of Global Suicide Terrorism and How to Stop It' is also one of my favorites.

u/arjun10 · 16 pointsr/PoliticalDiscussion

>have you not seen the persecution that our ancestors suffered under Islam?

I'm not an expert on the history of Islam in India. Some say the Mughal Empire killed 80,000,000 Hindus through the centuries, others say that this is garbage and that the Mughals had a pretty hands-off approach toward governance, others point out that there were Muslim dynasties in India who fought against the Mughals, others talk about how Islamic rulers and their methods ranged from everything from Akhbar to Aurungazeb. So I'm not sold either way.

>This is a clash of civilizations and the Neville Chamberlain routine against Islam has failed.

See, this is the simplistic and superficial "Them and Us" narrative that I cannot stand. Radical Islam is very much a product of so-called "Western civilization".

The CIA and the State Department funded radical mujahadeen in Afghanistan through the '80s, and former directors of the CIA like William Casey were Christian fundamentalists who wanted to see an alliance between Christians and Muslims against the "godless communists" of the USSR, and Saudi Arabia--the premier source of radical Islamic fundamentalism--has been a key regional ally of the West since World War 1 when the British helped the al-Saud family and the fundamentalist Wahabi clerics gain power over the peninsula. Check out Ghost Wars and Carbon Democracy for good pieces of scholarship on all of this.

Then when this came back and bit the US in the ass on 9/11 the government promptly invaded and occupied Afghanistan and then Iraq, eventually extending the war--undeclared and covert--into Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, and Somalia. Hardly a "Neville Chamberlain" routine.

And even after all this, the US government thought it was a good idea to turn around and once again start arming radical Sunni militants, in order to destabilize and counterbalance Iranian influence in Syria and Lebanon, and increase the influence of the Gulf States (which themselves are the primary source of funding for terrorist activity).

But hey I guess this is all too complicated for some people so I guess we should just stick with a black-and-white fairy tale about Good and Evil so our heads don't hurt too much, right?

u/somewhathungry333 · 16 pointsr/canada

>Is there any politician out there willing to fight for Canadians? Is that too much to ask?

Sorry to tell you the government doesn't work for you.

These links will take a while to digest, but if you want to understand what's going on in the world, you owe it to yourself to become informed about the true state of the world.

Our brains are much worse at reality and thinking than thought. Science on reasoning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYmi0DLzBdQ

Rd wolf on economics

http://www.rdwolff.com/

"Intended as an internal document. Good reading to understand the nature of rich democracies and the fact that the common people are not allowed to play a role."

Crisis of democracy

http://trilateral.org/download/doc/crisis_of_democracy.pdf

http://www.amazon.com/Crisis-Democracy-Governability-Democracies-Trilateral/dp/0814713653/

Education as ignorance

https://chomsky.info/warfare02/

Overthrowing other peoples governments

http://williamblum.org/essays/read/overthrowing-other-peoples-governments-the-master-list

Wikileaks on TTIP/TPP/ETC

https://youtu.be/ABDiHspTJww?t=17

Energy subsidies

https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2015/NEW070215A.htm

Interference in other states when the rich/corporations dont get their way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mxp_wgFWQo&feature=youtu.be&list=PLKR2GeygdHomOZeVKx3P0fqH58T3VghOj&t=724

Manufacturing consent (book)

http://www.amazon.com/Manufacturing-Consent-Political-Economy-Media/dp/0375714499/

Protectionism for the rich and big business by state intervention, radical market interference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHj2GaPuEhY#t=349

Manufacturing consent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwU56Rv0OXM

https://vimeo.com/39566117

Testing theories of representative government

https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf

Democracy Inc

http://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Incorporated-Managed- Inverted-Totalitarianism/dp/069114589X

From war is a racket:

"I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil intersts in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested."[p. 10]

"War is a racket. ...It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." [p. 23]

"The general public shoulders the bill [for war]. This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations." [p. 24]

General Butler is especially trenchant when he looks at post-war casualties. He writes with great emotion about the thousands of tramautized soldiers, many of who lose their minds and are penned like animals until they die, and he notes that in his time, returning veterans are three times more likely to die prematurely than those who stayed home.

http://www.amazon.com/War-Racket-Antiwar-Americas-Decorated/dp/0922915865/

Blum:

http://williamblum.org/aer/read/137

US distribution of wealth

https://imgur.com/a/FShfb

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

The Centre for Investigative Journalism

http://www.tcij.org/

Some history on US imperialism by us corporations.

https://kurukshetra1.wordpress.com/2015/09/27/a-brief-history-of-imperialism-and-state-violence-in-colombia/

The real news

http://www.therealnews.com

u/verblox · 15 pointsr/SubredditDrama

People also make the argument that socialists are Nazi's. I think the book was Liberal Fascism.

Edit: Here it is. Don't read the reviews without a gas mask.

u/Grounded-coffee · 15 pointsr/SubredditDrama

If this sort of thing interests you, you may also enjoy this book. It's a bit older (IIRC it came out during the Bush administration) but it looks at the same issue through a bit of a different lens.

u/Opheltes · 15 pointsr/linux

> Einstein appointed himself with plenty, including persuading the US government to develop nuclear weapons.

This is not accurate. Einstein himself had to be persuaded to write that letter by his good friend Leo Szilard. Szilard was the first person to conceive of a nuclear chain reaction that could be used to build a nuclear bomb, but he didn't have the name recognition that Einstein did. So Szilard drove over to Einstein's house and they co-wrote the letter.

Source.

u/LooksAtClouds · 15 pointsr/todayilearned

They have to. They need to calibrate the sensors on the crash test dummies.

Read more about it - and many other creative uses for dead bodies - in Mary Roach's book, Stiff.

u/FalconFlight17 · 15 pointsr/todayilearned

This sounds like another one of the Lies my Teacher Told Me

u/ReadySetJihad · 15 pointsr/WatchRedditDie

"no one gave a fuck"

Why did they have to use deception specifically saying that it was temporary and very limited to even pass it in the first place then?

No one wants to become a minority in their own country + important people with lower IQs, higher crime rates, and a higher dependency on the government (not even paying what they take) // baggage.

u/exackerly · 15 pointsr/news

Check out a book called 1491 by Charles C. Mann. It's mind-blowing, will completely change the way you think about early Americans.

u/mugrimm · 15 pointsr/ChapoTrapHouse

These should be the top recommendations hands down, both of these books were designed with your specific goal in mind:

A People's History of America - This focuses on history of the US from the perspective of the everyman rather than the 'big man' side of history where every politician is a gentle statesman. It shows just how barbaric and ghoulish those in charge often are.

Lies My Teacher Told Me. - Similar to the last one, this one shows how modern history loves to pretend all sorts of shit did not happen or ignore anything that's even slightly discomforting, like the idea that Henry Ford literally inspired Hitler, both in a model industry and anti-semitism.

These are both relatively easy reads with lots of praise.

Adam Curtis docs are always good, I recommend starting with one called "Black Power" which answers the question "What happens to African countries when they try to play ball with the west?"

u/CygnusX1 · 15 pointsr/movies

I've never heard of this. Do you have a source? I'm not doubting you, just interesting after having read Ghost Wars.

u/ssd0004 · 15 pointsr/AskSocialScience

As described in the excellent journalistic novel Ghost Wars, Saudi Arabian elites and Pakistani's ISI backed the Taliban, who followed a fundamentalist Sunni ideology known as Deobandi. Deobandi is rather similar in nature to Wahhabism, which is dominant in Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, Iran (and other regional powers like India) supported the Northern Alliance. The Northern Alliance wasn't Shia, and was mostly defined by being anti-Taliban.

The source of funding for Hamas presents an interesting case; while most of its funding came from Saudi Arabia in the early 2000s, this is no longer the case today. Shia regimes like Iran and Syria also have a significant role in funding Hamas.

In general, it is very useful to see the various conflicts between Islamic groups in the Middle East as a result of Saudi Arabia and Iran's geopolitical rivalries, and their proxy militant groups.

It's also interesting to note that the ability of Saudi elites to finance Sunni extremism around the globe is largely facilitated through their access to the world's oil markets, and their historic ability to surge or cutback oil production in order to control oil prices. In my mind, this marks Islamic fundamentalism very much as a facet of the world-capitalist system, rather than part of a "war of civilizations" that Western media so often likes to talk about.

u/PrimusPilus · 15 pointsr/AskHistorians

I don't disagree with the bulk of this, but two points:

  • Are you not perhaps underestimating the efficacy of Soviet intelligence operations against the Axis? Decisive examples might include the use of moles inside of Allied intelligence to verify German plans before Operation Citadel in 1943, as well as the activities of GRU agent Richard Sorge in Tokyo in 1941.

  • Are you not perhaps overestimating the wartime efficacy of the OSS? Tim Weiner's Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA in particular, seems to paint a fairly damning picture of Donovan & Dulles' covert ops during World War II.
u/Regina_George_Victim · 15 pointsr/politics

> Mainstream liberals and Democrats have largely been unable to...understand the behavior of the Republican Party over the last few decades

Just finished Jane Mayer's Dark Money. It's very enlightening in this regard. It's a hard read in the sense that is perpetually depressing, terrifying, and enraging, but it clearly explicates the unseen forces at work, including how the Koch network pours money into cut outs that are made to look and sound non-partisan and legitimate (which also aids in their mission to cheat campaign financing and tax laws) and pairs the cut outs' "research" with the worst elements of society (e.g., racism, poverty) to frame their messaging in an eerily similar way as Russian propaganda. That's in addition to all the shell non profits they use to skirt campaign finance laws and funnel ungodly amounts of money to politicians.

Even if I had at some point in the past said "both sides are the same" with respect to donors, I will never fucking say it again after reading this book.

u/ScienceBreather · 14 pointsr/PoliticalHumor

If anyone hasn't read/listened to Dark Money by Jane Mayer you definitely should!

It traces the history of influence by conservative billionaire donors, and it's disgusting and infuriating -- but also incredibly informative.

u/Ratonhnhaketon_K_ · 14 pointsr/politics

In simplest terms, the Koch Foundation has put a poop ton of money into George Mason University and other colleges across the US. I highly recommend you read the book but GMU has been in the news this year because of the connections to the Kochs.

The book also goes into the Bush family and a lot of the Republican guard, shit I had no idea about. The Kochs made a shit load of money selling to the Nazis and USSR.

u/Tuxis · 14 pointsr/politics

As long as we are suggesting things, People should read Dark Money by Jane Meyer

u/BravoReview · 14 pointsr/worldnews

You sound like a guy who has never done any theory-grounded reading before. Let me make a recommendation for you:

http://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501

This book is written by Waltz and Mearshimer, the latter being a Jew. They are considered, by far, to be the prominent political theorists of our time - diving into state lead conflict to a degree which will expand your mind beyond the typical "Jewish Lobby is BAD to say because I don't know why" thinking.

Their thesis falls under the notion that the Jewish lobby, aka AIPAC, is the most influential lobby in the history of the world. They have unprecedented amounts of leeway amongst our congressmen and executive branch because they rely so heavily on their campaign funding and swing-state Jewish voters. Essentially, entire careers of congressmen are held at the whim of the Jewish lobby, AIPAC. Their decisions are almost always hawkish in the sense that Jewish nationalism is the main driving focus of their policy efforts, hence why the Israeli-Palestinian situation is so fucked.

I am tired of hearing Israeli sympathizers constantly crying about extermination or hatred from others. Israels stance has always been to tolerate certain levels of terrorism to legitimize their policy efforts under the notion of 'not another genocide' and extremist protectionist attitudes. It is backwards and illegitimate at best. The worst part is that Israel is a democracy, so their entire foundation of support can be swayed by the voters. THIS is why there is so much frustration with Israeli and Jewish policy. They can change their government, but choose not to. They have education, but they rather buy into nationalism and the propaganda that their government feeds to them.

Waltz and Meirsheimer go into all of this. Alas, you will probably NOT do the reading and sit here attempting to speak volumes about how using terms such as "Jewish lobby" and "Jewish apologists" precludes to quazi-racism banter. Try again. You're out of your element.

u/rogersiii · 14 pointsr/OutOfTheLoop

It is just for show. Israel isn't going to do anything against Iran militarily, though they have been recruiting terrorists against Iran while pretending to be CIA agents because they want to start a fight between Iran and the US. http://foreignpolicy.com/2012/01/13/false-flag/

On the other hand, it also shows how the US foreign policy system is so open to manipulation and control by wealthy donors who have their own agendas. How long have we imposed sanctions on Cuba, for no goo reason other than the fact that anti-Castro cubans fund campaigns in states like Fla and NJ?



But in reality, Israel's efforts to make Iran into an issue with the US, has started to make Israel into a BIGGER issue as people are pushing back. People are starting to wonder why we should back Israel at all
Not so long ago you weren't allowed to mention the "Israel lobby" in polite company -- now there are mainstream books written about it, and NY Times editorialists refer to the US COngress as "bought and paid for" by pro-Israeli lobbyists http://mondoweiss.net/2011/12/friedman-line-congress-is-bought-and-paid-for-by-israel-lobby-is-shot-heard-round-the-world

http://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501/
Even if Israel attacks Iran, nothing will come of it. Iran will simply rebuild its nuclear program and very quickly too. It is already MASSIVELY popular amongst Iranians, and if attacked it is going to be even MORE popular as Iranians are nationalistic.

u/JoshuaIAm · 14 pointsr/ChapoTrapHouse

The two books Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer and Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? by Thomas Frank pair extremely well and are required reading for anyone that wishes to understand how US politics has been shifted so far to the right these past decades. Dark Money, while extremely informative regarding the propaganda of billionaires, largely gives a pass to the Democratic party which Listen, Liberal reveals as being undeserved.

u/luciasanchezsaornil · 14 pointsr/neoconNWO
u/mtrash · 14 pointsr/Maine

You should read 1491 and America Before. Also there a numerous journal entries that have been published about the true history of Columbus and westward expansion.


Edit: words and formatting

u/envyxd · 14 pointsr/technology

What's the matter with Kansas is a great book about that whole issue. Conservatives (Republicans) appeal to dumb people in these types of states on a lot of issues including jobs, giving them false promises and then turning an about-face when the time comes that they're in office.

Republican policies have long benefited the rich, and not the average worker.

u/mementomary · 14 pointsr/booksuggestions
  • Naked Statistics by Charles Wheelan is a great overview of the science of statistics, without being too much like a lecture. After reading it, you'll have a better understanding of what statistics are just silly (like in ads or clickbait news) and what are actually important (like in scientific studies).

  • You on a Diet by Roizen and Oz is touted as a diet book, and it kind of is. I recommend it because it's a great resource for basic understanding the science behind the gastrointestinal system, and how it links to the brain.

  • All of Mary Roach's books are excellent overviews of science currently being done, I've read Stiff (the science of human bodies, post-mortem), Spook ("science tackles the afterlife"), Packing for Mars (the science of humans in space), and Bonk (sex), and they are all very easy to understand, but scientifically appropriate. I'm sure "Gulp" is good too, although I haven't read that one yet.

  • "How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming" by Mike Brown is a great, accessible overview of exactly why Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet, told by the man who started the controversy.

  • "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking is a little denser, material-wise, but still easy to understand (as far as theoretical physics goes, at least!). Hawking explains the history of physics and the universe, as well as the future of the discipline. While there is a bit more jargon than some pop-science books, I think an entry-level scientist can still read and understand this book.
u/KaleAndChickenSalad · 14 pointsr/AskWomen

I recommend both! For Stiff, I advise getting the audiobook version. It's very well done. The book itself is not any more graphic than it needs to be and is respectful (although I did take issue with the author's apparent negative view of cosmetic surgery in an early chapter.) I found the whole thing fascinating. I was actually most fascinated though when she got to the chapter about the possibility of human head transplants. Here's the page on Amazon.

As for A Dog's Purpose, I messed up and accidentally failed to notice there was an Audible version until literally just now, so I can't attest to the quality of the reading. But the book itself (as stated, I'm only half way through) is really good. Here it is.

u/StudyingTerrorism · 14 pointsr/geopolitics

Unfortunately, the most efficient way to become knowledgable about the Middle East is to read. A lot. The Middle East is a far more complex place than most people imagine and understanding the region requires a great deal of knowledge. I have been studying the Middle East for nearly a decade and I still feel like there is so much that I do not know. I would start by reading reputable news sources every day. Places like The Economist, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, Financial Times, are the Los Angeles Times are good English language news sources that you should look at. Additionally, I have written up a suggested reading list for learning about the Middle East, though it is a bit more security-related since that's my area of expertise. I hope it helps. And feel free to ask any questions if you have them.

Books - General History of the Middle East


u/Gardengran · 14 pointsr/canada

> "nation to nation" relationship

Warning - probably sounds pedantic. sorry.

'Nation' is often confused with 'state' - with states being legal, political entities with borders. ['Nations' being cultural, political entities, but no borders.] (https://www.amazon.com/American-Nations-History-Regional-Cultures/dp/0143122029)

Add to that and the our constitution recognizes that bands have legal standing equal to the federal government, and nation to nation makes sense.

(Provinces, unlike bands, have essentially delegated authority. Even though areas of authority - health, education, etc are delegated. Municipalities have an even lower level of authority. Only the Federal government has the 'authority' to negotiate with the bands, regardless of issue.)

Being a completely separate 'nation' within a state is pretty much normal for most of North America.

u/DeathLeopard · 14 pointsr/bestof

I'd recommend reading Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong if you're curious about the accuracy of American high school history textbooks.

u/IsayLittleBuddy · 14 pointsr/PoliticalVideo

Quebec was an unstable person who needed psychiatric help. People are free to hear new ideas without being labeled fascists. Fascism requires actual force behind the ideas being consumed.

Your false equivalency no more justifies me reading Mein Kampf then blaming it for my heinous acts, after reading it. As purely an academic excercise, I am still well within my right to read or listen from a subjective standpoint so I may dissiminate truth from that medium. I'm required as an adult to operate within the framework of freedom of thought without inciting violence, something that goes over Felarca's head.

My guess is that most people will assume fascism has something to do with 'repressive conservatism,' or resembles more closely 'the right' by American standards.

Historically speaking and by definition, fascists were originally statist authoritarian leftists. The left has always been violent and historically fascist. Again, I know a lot of dictionaries may (improperly) have 'fascist' as being a 'right-wing' principle.


I think the definition of it should probably be researched by an academic, historian, or political scientist and not determined by what Meriem perceives it to be. I previously thought that also and would assume it is right-wing because we assume any system that wants to confine us is done by the right. Again, one would assume the definition is what the one you referenced is until you look at one of the primary fathers of fascism, Mussolini. He was a leftist, by the book.

This seems to be an interesting read. Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Change

Here's a link that includes a big chunk of the first chapter that includes the thesis of the author, Jonah Goldberg.

u/Zanaver · 14 pointsr/news

"his way of life" was built around the social hierarchy that was slavery. "The average Confederate soldier" didn't want slaves to be on the same class level as him. The vast majority volunteered to fight, only 12% of Confederate forces were drafted.

Ignoring that there were (and still are) racial tensions in the south and that a civil war broke out over something ambitious as "states' rights" is pretty ridiculous. Especially when the states still had their rights to establish and enforce the Jim Crow laws.

edit: anyone who disagrees with this post I made needs to read A People's History of the United States

u/Sixteenbit · 14 pointsr/history

This is something that takes a lot of practice, and many schools don't or can't teach it. Fear not, it's easier than it sounds.

First, some background:

http://www.amazon.com/Global-History-Modern-Historiography/dp/0582096065

This will introduce you to most of the historical method used today. It's quite boring, but if you're going to study history, you'll need to get used to reading some pretty dry material.

For a styleguide, use Diana Hacker's:
http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Style-Manual-Diana-Hacker/dp/0312542542/

It will teach you everything you need to know about citations.

As far as getting better at source analysis, that's something that comes with time in class and practice with primary and secondary source documents. If you're just going into college, it's something you're going to learn naturally.

However, I do have some tips.
-The main goal of a piece of historiography is to bring you to a thesis and then clearly support that argument. All REAL historiography asks a historical question of some sort. I.E. not when and where, but a more contextual why and how.

-Real historiography is produced 99.9% of the time by a university press, NOT A PRIVATE FIRM. If a celebrity wrote it, it's probably not history.

-Most, if not all real historiography is going to spell out the thesis for you almost immediately.

-A lot of historiography is quite formulaic in terms of its layout and how it's put together on paper:

A. Introduction -- thesis statement and main argument followed by a brief review of past historiography on the subject.

B Section 1 of the argument with an a,b, and c point to make in support.

C just like B

D just like B again, but reinforces A a little more

E Conclusion, ties all sections together and fully reinforces A.

Not all works are like this, but almost every piece you will write in college is or should be.

Some history books that do real history (by proper historians) and are easy to find arguments in, just off the top of my head:

http://www.amazon.com/Wages-Whiteness-American-Working-Haymarket/dp/1844671453

http://www.amazon.com/Economists-Guns-Authoritarian-Development-U-S--Indonesian/dp/0804771820/

http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Battalions-Crisis-American-Nationality/dp/0805081380

For the primer on social histories, read Howard Zinn:
http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States-Present/dp/0060838655/

What you're going to come across MORE often than books is a series of articles that make different (sometimes conflicting) points about a historical issue: (I can't really link the ones I have because of copyright [they won't load without a password], but check out google scholar until you have access to a university library)

Virtually any subject can be researched, you just have to look in the right place and keep an open mind about your thesis. Just because you've found a source that blows away your thesis doesn't mean it's invalid. If you find a wealth of that kind of stuff, you might want to rethink your position, though.


This isn't comprehensive, but I hope it helps. Get into a methods class AS FAST AS POSSIBLE and your degree program will go much, much smoother for you.









u/LeonJones · 14 pointsr/politics

Not true...this is a common misconception. The Mujahideen (which is actually just a term describing one who engages in jihad, not a name for a single group) were composed of many different groups. Bin Laden was one of the major Arab influences in Afghanistan during the soviet war and after but we never funded or trained him. He had no problem convincing wealthy Saudis to donate hundreds of millions of dollars to his causes in Afghanistan and elsewhere. The United States was heavily invested with the Northern Alliance and it's leader Ahmad Shah Massoud who arguably was Afghanistan's best chance at actual peace. Al-Qaeda assassinated him 2 days before 9/11 because they knew if the US had any chance of winning in Afghanistan, they would need Massouds leadership.

>Source : http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/0143034669/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414140900&sr=8-1&keywords=ghost+wars

u/isaidputontheglasses · 13 pointsr/conspiracy

Edit: Nevermind, it looks like 'War is a Racket' is the book for me.

Found these amazing quotes in a review.

>"I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested." [p. 10]

>"War is a racket. ...It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." [p. 23]

>"The general public shoulders the bill [for war]. This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations." [p. 24]

u/ZeusHatesTrees · 13 pointsr/history

> New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

https://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059

I need to get me a hard copy of this puppy.

u/bikerwalla · 13 pointsr/politics

Jonah Goldberg wrote a book just like that, Liberal Fascism. It said that Hitler was vegetarian and an animal rights supporter, and also the NSDAP has 'Sozialistich' in the name of the party, ergo, the Nazis were pinko commie leftists.

u/dhpye · 13 pointsr/EndlessWar

These disclosures are incomplete, and leave out some gory details - such as when the CIA sponsored a riot, then got the chief of police to fire on the protesters, all to create the impression that Iran was falling into chaos. The CIA helped design the impression of imminent Communist takeover, in order to justify their actions. They manipulated Eisenhower and Truman, as much as they did the Iranians. All the Shah's Men is a great book on the subject.

What is really sad is, prior to the coup, the US was widely adored in Iran as a non-colonial western power. All that Mosaddegh was asking for was the same partnership that the US had created with Aramco in Saudi Arabia: a 50/50 split of profits between the state and its western concessionaires. If the US had been consistent in applying its values, Iran could easily be an ally today.

As it stands, the only winners to emerge from the CIA's machinations have been the national security apparatus, and the muslim fanatics - in the long term, even the oil industry would have been better off sharing with Iran, rather than pillaging and being thrown out.



u/KaJashey · 13 pointsr/videos

There are a lot of regional cultures in the US. and they are somewhat distinct.

The Virginia Tidewater region that she talked about was very very English. Lots of second sons, lots of Episcopalians and high church english (crypto catholics), cavilers and people who sought to escape England's civil war. My family is this kind of Virginian. They are proud of a history that goes back to 1650 in the area and being related founding fathers like Washington and Jefferson. Total anglophiles as well. So they hold on to any connection to England and Wales.

There are isolated communities in the tidewater with accents that are supposed to go back to England. There are older people isolated in the backwoods I can not understand. Their accents so crazy we are not mutually intelligible.

Here is Tangier Island. An oddball even in the tidewater area. It's in no way received english like she did but it is some kind of english accent.

u/streetbum · 13 pointsr/worldnews

https://www.amazon.com/Sword-Shield-Mitrokhin-Archive-History/dp/0465003125

https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Ashes-History-Tim-Weiner/dp/0307389006

A couple of books I've read recently about the intelligence side of things. Not sure about how their conventional forces compare to ours.

u/wolfram184 · 12 pointsr/changemyview

Do you even read your "sources"?

CIA AND FBI NOT WORKING TOGETHER. CONSPIRACY!

THE US GOVERNMENT USES THINK TANKS THAT HAVE FORMER POLITICANS AND EX-MILITARY! THE CABAL GOES DEEPER THAN WE THOUGHT!

No, organizations "defending their turf" is one of the biggest management roadblocks inside and outside the government. Even units inside the CIA and FBI often don't work together. It's human nature.

And of course the government is going to use foreign policy think tanks staffed by former goverment and private foreign policy experts. (And non experts, they can certainly be incompetent). I mean duh.

I know I don't have the time to waste on reading this inane BS. All it is is a bunch of (often dubious) correlations that are supposed to advance an agenda. I'll stick with reading actual sources like The Looming Tower or Ghost Wars

u/sadtimedadtime · 12 pointsr/news

Interesting fact about the term 'Megadeath' that I just learned from a cool book I'm reading, Command and Control by Eric Schlosser: It is a unit that describes 1 million deaths resultant from a nuclear attack, and was coined in some of the initial reports assessing the potential damage from an all out nuclear war (measuring fatalities in megadeaths, e.g. 40 megadeaths = 40 million killed) during the 1950's. I guess fans of the band are probably aware of this etymology, but as someone who doesn't really listen to them, I was not.

u/uid_0 · 12 pointsr/videos

If you want to read more with some amazing technical details of the Titan silos, I highly recommend Eric Schlosser's book "Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety". It's a compelling read.

u/Fargonian · 12 pointsr/aviation

Kind of an aside, but if you like "Bridge of Spies," read Command and Control. It's a great book about the cold war and MAD theory.

u/Hypnot0ad · 12 pointsr/Foodforthought

As they say, history book are written by the winners.

If you want to see more of the ugly parts of (the US) history that the books left out, I suggest A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn.

u/makehertalk · 12 pointsr/politics

A People's History of the United States discusses the subject of manufactured racial strife extensively.
I recommend this book for this, as well as many other highly useful facts that are typically omitted from the normal discussions of US history.

u/BobbieDangerous20 · 12 pointsr/politics

FYI the Mercer Famiky was/is a major player in the Koch network that brought us the radical right and who now own the Republican Party.

Read Dark Money, buy a copy for a friend.

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0307947904

u/aspbergerinparadise · 12 pointsr/todayilearned

not exactly. When Cortes landed in Mexico in 1519 Tenochtitlan had a population larger than any city in Europe. His first attempt to sack the city he was routed and barely escaped with his life. He spent the next few years bringing smaller tribes to his side that had been at war with the Aztec empire. During those years the population of Tenochtitlan, and much of the region was ravaged by waves of small pox, hepatitis and other diseases. And then after more than 30% of the population died, widespread famine set in which further weakened the population. It's really the only reason that Cortes was able to conquer the capital city at all.

Some estimates put the population of pre-Columbus Central America at 25 million. It wasn't until the 1960s that the population reached the same levels again. Over 80% of these people were killed through disease and approximately another 15% died in the slave trade.

By 1630, the population that had once numbered 25 Million was down to 700,000.

edit: if you want to read more about the massive and sophisticated indigenous civilizations that were completely wiped out, I highly recommend the book 1491

u/peppermint-kiss · 12 pointsr/WayOfTheBern

I feel you. It can be extremely demoralizing. It's designed to feel that way.

Despite the feeling of stagnation, we are making progress. We are making huge progress in the minds of the people. I would say that we are in the eye of the storm right now, which is why it feels so eerie and stagnant. Remember that almost no one knew who Bernie Sanders was two years ago (I remember, this is around the time I discovered him myself, and nobody I talked to about him had ever heard of him). And now is the most popular politician in the country. That is BIG. Think of all the lexicon and "common sense" he's introduced into daily discourse.

Reddit and the online media are part of a huge bubble. Reddit has always skewed upper middle class, but I really think the concerted shilling efforts have had a markedly noticeable effect on the composition of its primary user base. To be explicit, I think it used to be middle-to-upper-middle-class students and commuting tech workers. Now that shills changed the focus of the discussion, you find a lot more urban professionals and media types. "Journalists", bloggers/vloggers, silicon valley, etc. Plus, I think, more wealthy international redditors (e.g. the 1% in India, China, etc.) Not that all of them are neoliberal of course, just that the ones who are have been empowered to speak their mind more, and the ones who have a progressive or libertarian streak have been pulling back and getting more dormant. The shills are still here as well, but I feel like they have less work to do now.

But the important part to remember is, like they always smugly told us, back before they were the ones who needed reminding, "Reddit is not real life". There is something big going on in the minds of the average American. It takes time for people's worldview to change. By virtue of our participation here, it's evident that we're early adopters. It feels like we've known these things forever. Take heart: I have never been a bleeding edge person. I always adopt new ideas at the cusp, right before the tipping point where it goes mainstream. It's regular enough to be predictive, imo. It happened with smartphones, it happened with Bernie, and it's going to happen with the upcoming revolution (political or otherwise) as well. We will have campaign finance reform, universal healthcare, marijuana legalization, and so on. The collapse of the traditional mainstream media. There will also be violence, and escalation, and war, but whether it's domestic or international I can't say yet. All this within the next ten years.

Read The Fourth Turning if you haven't already. I'm impatient, it's true, but there's no doubt in my mind that it's coming.

u/asiltopbr · 12 pointsr/news

It's not just the media. There's an entire industry of right-wing authors for example that write books that border on mental illness.

Historically illiterate drivel like: https://www.amazon.com/Liberal-Fascism-American-Mussolini-Politics/dp/0767917189

And here's an actual expert responding to this book:

http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/122231

And that book was a best seller, a book absolutely void of facts was a best seller.

u/echinops · 11 pointsr/IndianCountry

I have been reading Lies my Teacher Told Me by James Loewen. He does a very decent and attempted unbiased approach at describing the interactions between European colonists and the indigenous cultures.

Christopher Columbus, for example, was a greedy Spanish imperialist seeking riches for himself and the monarchy. He condoned and promoted genocide (against the Haitians), sex trafficking (of young native females), and slave trading on a vast scale. I won't go into the bucket list of his atrocities, but they were the templet used moving forward into the continental genocides (North & South America, Australia, Africa) that followed.

Yet we are told in our schools that he "sailed the ocean blue," and was a swell guy who founded America.

u/HAMMER_BT · 11 pointsr/KotakuInAction

Jonah Goldburg (of Liberal Fascism note) used to ask people that threw around the word 'Fascist' as an all Purpose insult the following question (paraphrasing from memory);

Other than the war, bigotry and genocide, what don't you like about the Nazi party platform?

Not to say that the above 3 are something to ignore in historical analysis, but as important as they are in the retrospective of the Nazi's, my suspicion is relatively few lower middle class voters were casting ballots for a war in the East. At least, as opposed to universal employment, say, or the Nazi whole grain bread initiative.

u/CVORoadGlide · 11 pointsr/todayilearned

read all about it -- and the whole CIA corruption of Planet Earth -- https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Ashes-History-Tim-Weiner/dp/0307389006 -- still ongoing running our foreign policy for the good of Banksters, Multi-national Corps, and Military Industrial Complex ... under the guise of freedom & democracy until US rules planet earth's people and natural resources

u/Hypothesis_Null · 11 pointsr/history

Happily, and I hope I didn't come off as too abrasive. As I said, you seemed to be asking the question in very good faith.

If you or anyone is interested - not so much in the political decision or if or how to use the bombs - but just in the effort of making of them: The Making of the Atomic Bomb is a massive book (often considered 'definitive') that goes through the Manhattan project in great detail. The only other project that really compares to it is the Moon Landing.

u/bowies_dead · 11 pointsr/PoliticalHumor

https://www.amazon.com/Liberal-Fascism-American-Mussolini-Politics/dp/0767917189

They've been consistently lied to for a long, long time.

u/19Kilo · 11 pointsr/politics
u/adlerchen · 11 pointsr/politics

It's actually more heart breaking when you know that basically the entire midwest once once considered the home of radical left politics in the US. As Thomas Frank notes in What's The Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America:

>I do not want to minimize the change that this represents. Certain parts of the Midwest were once so reliably leftist that the historian Walter Prescott Webb, in his classic 1931 history of the region, pointed to its persistent radicalism as one of the “Mysteries of the Great Plains.” Today the mystery is only heightened; it seems inconceivable that the Midwest was ever thought of as a “radical” place, as anything but the land of the bland, the easy snoozing flyover. Readers in the thirties, on the other hand, would have known instantly what Webb was talking about, since so many of the great political upheavals of their part of the twentieth century were launched from the territory west of the Ohio River. The region as they knew it was what gave the country Socialists like Eugene Debs, fiery progressives like Robert La Follette, and practical unionists like Walter Reuther; it spawned the anarchist IWW and the coldly calculating UAW; and it was periodically convulsed in gargantuan and often bloody industrial disputes. They might even have known that there were once Socialist newspapers in Kansas and Socialist voters in Oklahoma and Socialist mayors in Milwaukee, and that there were radical farmers across the region forever enlisting in militant agrarian organizations with names like the Farmers’ Alliance, or the Farmer-Labor Party, or the Non-Partisan League, or the Farm Holiday Association. And they would surely have been aware that Social Security, the basic element of the liberal welfare state, was largely a product of the midwestern mind.

>Almost all of these associations have evaporated today. That the region’s character has been altered so thoroughly—that so much of the Midwest now regards the welfare state as an alien imposition; that we have trouble even believing there was a time when progressives were described with adjectives like fiery, rather than snooty or bossy or wimpy—has to stand as one of the great reversals of American history.

u/shmooly · 11 pointsr/worldpolitics

Hi! I skimmed through one cherry-picked article (Senior researcher: a relation of Mr. Chertoff ) in Popular Mechanics, which is owned by The Hearst Corporation, and therefore I am an authority on the entire extremely complicated and obfuscated subject of 9/11.

*American Free Press revealed that Benjamin Chertoff, the 25-year-old senior researcher who authored the 9/11 article, is related to Michael Chertoff, the new Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Http://www.wanttoknow.info

Army General Wesley Clark: Wars are Planned RE: Memo to take out 7 countries in 5 years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RC1Mepk_Sw

US MAJOR Stubblebine exposes 9/11 cover up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0xzsbSbVUE

"War is a Racket" By Smedley D. Butler, at the time America's most decorated soldier: http://www.amazon.com/War-Racket-Antiwar-Americas-Decorated/dp/0922915865/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410494742&sr=8-1&keywords=war+is+a+racket

Testimony from Controlled Demolition Expert Danny Jowenko (recently deceased) ON WTC7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zHHvo6U4lA



What is a False Flag?

u/killchain- · 11 pointsr/EasternSunRising

>I honestly believe the US military does not defend the rights of citizens or anything of similar matter.

Here it is from the horse's mouth - a five star general admitted that America's military is the hired muscle for Western capitalists.

http://www.amazon.com/War-Racket-Antiwar-Americas-Decorated/dp/0922915865/

u/cerealdaemon · 11 pointsr/AskReddit

As regards to the Body Farm. The university of tennessee gets many, many donations every year for research, they have a giant freezer full of cadavers awaiting their turn in the Tennessee sunshine. If you donate your body to science, there is no way to be assured where it is going to go. For more reference on this, check out a book called Stiff http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393324826

u/quantumcoffeemug · 11 pointsr/math

Anti-intellectualism has been a part of American culture from its foundation. Our culture has always prided itself on its practicality and industry, and derided intellect, basic research, and arts as irrelevant. Smart people are viewed as untrustworthy and arrogant, their expertise fundamentally anti-democratic. Or, as Asimov put it, in American culture "democracy means 'my ignorance is as good as your knowledge.'"

u/Maxamillionaire · 11 pointsr/AskReddit

Almost everything mention in this book.

u/Filthy_peasant55 · 11 pointsr/minnesota

All of this is well documented.

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0307947904

Of course I might be going out on a limb thinking you'd ever even try to read a fucking book for once.

u/refriaire · 11 pointsr/worldnews

If you are from the US, check how much you give Israel in aid annually. Zero percent interest loans, grants, access to the most modern weapons, military contracts, military aid, diplomatic backing, etc. Their weapons industry is based on US contracts and access to US military technology.

  • The US pays for military research

  • Israel gets the technology for free.

  • They use the technology in their own weapons industry.

  • The US BUYS IT FROM ISRAEL

  • Profit (for them)!

    If you do not believe me, read this book.
u/GlobalClimateChange · 11 pointsr/worldnews

https://i.imgur.com/vCIawHP.png

Sadly, specific names are increasingly more difficult to pin down because they have shifted their funding to means which are not traceable. Regardless, a small number of names and insight are provided in Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right.

u/cornell256 · 10 pointsr/politics

They epitomize libertarianism. They're largely (almost solely) responsible for the rise of right wing and libertarian think tanks and ideals in the United states over the last several decades. If you ever want to be disgusted by the efforts and successes of the Koch brothers and their oligarch friends, I suggest this book: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0307947904/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1550262479&sr=8-1&keywords=dark+money. It outlines how they've infiltrated the government, academic institutions, and general society with evil intentions and great success.

u/_ferz · 10 pointsr/geopolitics

Nope, that's not what I was getting at. Feel free to argue with your own preconceived notions at this point.

I will point out one thing. There is a good academic book on lobbies, particularly Israeli. In this case, is this okay for the government to take their money that ultimately alters US policy? Are you outraged by this or these particular players get a free pass but when Russia gives out a loan it's a subversion of democracy? Are you hypocrite or perhaps you can acknowledge that there is a fundamental flaw in the system and Russians are doing nothing wrong but to play this by the "rules" that Western democracies have established for themselves?

u/Max-Ray · 10 pointsr/worldnews

I'd recommend to anyone who's interested to read "Making the Atomic Bomb". One of the aspects that I didn't know about was one of the physicists(I can't recall which one) going to both Churchill and Roosevelt pleading to tell the Russians about it, saying that by not telling them it would instigate an arms race.

It also highlights Gen. Lemay's cold, calculating process of not bombing certain targets so they could get a good reading on destruction levels when the bomb was used. By contrast it also gives much history on the international level of research going on before WW2 and the discovery of fission and decay of elements. It shows that someone was going to develop the bomb because everyone was doing research in the field.

u/ballzwette · 10 pointsr/politics

In addition to ignoring the Labor Movement.

Zinn for the win!

u/ididnotdoitever · 10 pointsr/politics

American History classes are far more focused than World History classes. That and American textbooks are whitewashed in a big way.

Everybody should read this book for a good grasp on what's happening with American History classes indoctrination.

https://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281

u/mr_illcallya · 10 pointsr/historyteachers
u/veringer · 10 pointsr/politics

This assumes America is or was one culture. Different historians classify people differently, but in the broadest sense there are at least:

  1. Yankee
  2. Southern (Dixie + Appalachian)
  3. Midland
  4. Western/Native/Frontier/Spanish

    Embedded in these groups is the idea of a founding culture (going back centuries) that informs attitudes and ideals. To your point regarding skepticism toward education, I think that's a feature primarily of the Appalachian group who were founded by one of the last waves of British immigrants. Glossing over a lot of history: they were poor, desperate, war-torn, and generally uneducated. Late to the party and culturally incompatible with many of the existing colonists, they headed for the hills and subsisted in a romantic but precarious manner. This is where we get the frontiersman and the rugged individualist myth. While tied to "southern" culture (for a number of interesting reasons that we will ignore for simplicity of this comment), they're really pretty distinct. For whatever reasons, this group has asserted itself and suggested their version of "American culture" is the correct one--and we've been living through this friction for a while.

    For a layperson, I suggest the following for further reading:

u/painahimah · 10 pointsr/trashy

This is really common - if you donate a body to science it goes where it's needed. The entire body isn't needed for research in one place so the remains can be parted out as needed.

I highly recommend the book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - it talks about the options out there for our bodies after we die, and manages to be light-hearted but respectful at the same time. It's really one of my favorite books

u/FormerDittoHead · 10 pointsr/EnoughTrumpSpam

How did we get here? Worth checking out if your library has a copy:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0394703170

u/Rosc · 10 pointsr/SubredditDrama

The editor of the National Review wrote a book call Liberal Fascism. The comparison doesn't get more explicit than that.

u/schubox63 · 10 pointsr/politics

I grew up in Kansas. It’s stupid. There’s literally been books written about it

https://www.amazon.com/dp/080507774X/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_i_lwC1DbXTQKMJP

u/beeftaster333 · 10 pointsr/philosophy

>This is both anti-historical and incredibly wrong on so many fronts.

Overthrowing other peoples governments:

http://williamblum.org/essays/read/overthrowing-other-peoples-governments-the-master-list

You are incorrect, I can tell you the facts and the figures and you won't reason to the right conclusion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYmi0DLzBdQ

The Centre for Investigative Journalism

http://www.tcij.org/

Some history on US imperialism by us corporations.

https://kurukshetra1.wordpress.com/2015/09/27/a-brief-history-of-imperialism-and-state-violence-in-colombia/

From war is a racket:

"I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested."[p. 10]
"War is a racket. ...It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." [p. 23]
"The general public shoulders the bill [for war]. This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations." [p. 24]

General Butler is especially trenchant when he looks at post-war casualties. He writes with great emotion about the thousands of tramautized soldiers, many of who lose their minds and are penned like animals until they die, and he notes that in his time, returning veterans are three times more likely to die prematurely than those who stayed home.

http://www.amazon.com/War-Racket-Antiwar-Americas-Decorated/dp/0922915865/

u/Kerguidou · 10 pointsr/canada

The book 1491 https://www.amazon.ca/1491-Second-Revelations-Americas-Columbus/dp/1400032059
should give you a basic answer to your questions. And you are welcome to dig more.

u/Thecna2 · 10 pointsr/AskHistorians

Well they had a very well organised spy ring stages deep inside the Manhattan Project. The executed people over it. Its quite well known.

Richard Rhodes: The making of the Atomic Bomb
http://www.amazon.com/The-Making-Atomic-Bomb-Anniversary/dp/1451677618

The spies...
cut/paste from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_spies
------------------------------------------

  1. Morris Cohen – American, "Thanks to Cohen, designers of the Soviet atomic bomb got piles of technical documentation straight from the secret laboratory in Los Alamos," the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda said. Morris and his wife, Lona, served eight years in prison, less than half of their sentences before being released in a prisoner swap with The Soviet Union. He died without revealing the name of the American scientist who helped pass vital information about the United States atomic bomb project.[13]


  2. Klaus Fuchs – German-born British theoretical physicist who worked with the British delegation at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project. After Fuchs' confession there was a trial that lasted less than 90 minutes, Lord Goddard sentenced him to fourteen years' imprisonment, the maximum for violating the Official Secrets Act. He escaped the charge of espionage because of the lack of independent evidence and because, at the time of the crime, the Soviet Union was not an enemy of Great Britain.[14] In December 1950 he was stripped of his British citizenship. He was released on June 23, 1959, after serving nine years and four months of his sentence at Wakefield prison. He was allowed to emigrate to Dresden, then in the German Democratic Republic.[15][16]


  3. Harry Gold – American, confessed to acting as a courier for Greenglass and Fuchs. He was sentenced in 1951 to thirty years imprisonment. He was paroled in May 1966, after serving just over half of his sentence.[17]


  4. David Greenglass – an American machinist at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project. Greenglass confessed that he gave crude schematics of lab experiments to the Russians during World War II. Some aspects of his testimony against his sister and brother-in-law (the Rosenbergs, see below) are now thought to have been fabricated in an effort to keep his own wife, Ruth, from prosecution. Greenglass was sentenced to 15 years in prison, served 10 years, and later reunited with his wife.[18]

  5. Theodore Hall – a young American physicist at Los Alamos, whose identity as a spy was not revealed until very late in the 20th century. He was never tried for his espionage work, though he seems to have admitted to it in later years to reporters and to his family.[19]
    George Koval – The American born son of a Belorussian emigrant family that returned to the Soviet Union where he was inducted into the Red Army and recruited into the GRU intelligence service. He infiltrated the US Army and became a radiation health officer in the Special Engineering Detachment. Acting under the code name DELMAR he obtained information from Oak Ridge and the Dayton Project about the Urchin (detonator) used on the Fat Man plutonium bomb. His work was not known to the west until he was posthumously recognized as a hero of the Russian Federation by Vladimir Putin in 2007.


  6. Irving Lerner – An American film director, he was caught photographing the cyclotron at the University of California, Berkeley in 1944.[20] After the war he was blacklisted.


  7. Allan Nunn May – A British citizen, he was one of the first Soviet spies uncovered during the cold war. He worked on the Manhattan Project and was betrayed by a Soviet defector in Canada. His was uncovered in 1946 and it led the United States to restrict the sharing of atomic secrets with Britain. On May 1, 1946, he was sentenced to ten years hard labour. He was released in 1952, after serving six and a half years.[21]


  8. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg – Americans who were involved in coordinating and recruiting an espionage network that included Ethel's brother, David Greenglass. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were tried for conspiracy to commit espionage, since the prosecution seemed to feel that there was not enough evidence to convict on espionage. Treason charges were not applicable, since the United States and the Soviet Union were allies at the time. The Rosenbergs denied all the charges but were convicted in a trial in which the prosecutor Roy Cohn said he was in daily secret contact with the judge, Irving Kaufman. Despite an international movement demanding clemency, and appeals to President Dwight D. Eisenhower by leading European intellectuals and the Pope, the Rosenbergs were executed at the height of the Korean War. President Eisenhower wrote to his son, serving in Korea, that if he spared Ethel (presumably for the sake of her children), then the Soviets would simply recruit their spies from among women.[22][23][24]

  9. Saville Sax – American acted as the courier for Klaus Fuchs and Theodore Hall.[19]

  10. Morton Sobell – American engineer tried and convicted along with the Rosenbergs, was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment but released from Alcatraz in 1969, after serving 17 years and 9 months.[25] After proclaiming his innocence for over half a century, Sobell admitted spying for the Soviets, and implicated Julius Rosenberg, in an interview with the New York Times published on September 11, 2008
    ---------------------------------------------

    The Soviets used to fly 'supply' missions out of somewhere in the midwest I think, they used to load up the data in that plane and fly it across weekly to Russia via Alaska/Siberia (if I recall correctly). The US intelligence services were mainly oblivious, they were allies after all.
u/anthropology_nerd · 9 pointsr/worldnews

Archaeologists are finding increasing evidence that large portions of the Amazon are, to a certain extent, man-made. 1491 discusses these finds and I highly recommend the book if you like popular history reading.

Edit: People destroy things, the only that changes is the scale of the damage.

u/Freakears · 9 pointsr/politics

What about "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything your American History Textbook Got Wrong" by James W. Loewen? I imagine they'd like the title, then get progressively more horrified as they proceeded.

u/HyprAwakeHyprAsleep · 9 pointsr/TrollXChromosomes

Whew, okay. Pulled out my actual computer to answer this.
So, a lot of what I could recommend isn't short stuff you could read in an afternoon because 1. it's depressing as fuck, and 2. it's likely heavy with the sheer volume of references wherein at least one book attempts to bludgeon you with the facts that "this was depressing as fuck." Frequent breaks or alternating history-related books with fiction/poetry/other topics is rather recommended from my experience. Can't remember if I got onto this topic through Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States or Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong or just some random book found in the library.

The very clean cut, textbook Wikipedia definition of "sundown town", aka "Don't let the sun set (down) on you here.", (Ref: BlackThen.com), is:
> sometimes known as sunset towns or gray towns, are all-white municipalities or neighborhoods in the United States that practice a form of segregation by enforcing restrictions excluding people of other races via some combination of discriminatory local laws, intimidation, and violence.

For my intro into the subject however, read Buried in the Bitter Waters: The Hidden History of Racial Cleansing in America. This is a very emotionally draining, mentally exhausting book though, frequently with lists of atrocities in paragraph form. I think it's an important read, one which frankly should've been covered my senior year of highschool or so, but it's a difficult one. Also on my reading list is The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration which is a surprising and sneakily hopeful title for such a depressing topic, so only guessing the narration may be somewhat more accessible.

Also, 'cause I totally didn't run to my kindle app to list out titles before fully reading your post, here's some below, and relisted one above, by timeline placement, best as can be figured. These might not be the best on each topic, but they're the ones available to my budget at the time and some are still on my reading list.

The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion

u/VacationAwayFromWork · 9 pointsr/politics

Fuck it. Finally ordering it now.

Really stoked to get fucking depressed about the CU decision again.

Edit: can I post a link to Amazon? I'm gonna post the link to Amazon. And here's the Smile.Amazon link.

Edit: Also, if you don't like reading and want a primer on this stuff... good documentary from HBO here.

u/nixed9 · 9 pointsr/politics

Because the current government of Israel is far-right warhawks who need constant conflict so they can always be "defending themselves" and keep political power, and they do not tolerate ANY criticism

American is a thing that can be easily moved - Benjamin Netanyahu, unaware he is being recorded.

9/11 Was good for Israel because it shifted public opinion away from arabs and towards Israel - Netanyahu

See also: Mearsheimer & Walt, The Israel lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, Published: 2007 by Farrar, Straus, Giroux. Available at:
https://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501
> "Pressure from Israel and the lobby was not the only factor behind the Bush administration's decision to attack Iraq in March 2003, but it was a critical element."

Id.

Pro-Israel Lobby caught on tape boasting that its money influences Washington (WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT Rep OMAR WAS SAYING)

Netanyahu says THERE IS NO DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION FOR GAZA as he renews calls for military action - Times of Israel, Nov 2018

Netanyahu Beating War Drums is about Politics More Than Security - Haaretz, Nov 2018

u/Autarch_Severian · 9 pointsr/tuesday

Oh dear Lord.

This looks like the same sort of hyperbolic screeching as Jane Meyer's Dark Money. Some of these muckrakers need a heavy dose of Hanlon's Razor.

u/jklap · 9 pointsr/books

A People's History Of The United States by Howard Zinn

Amazon Link

u/QuantumWannabe · 9 pointsr/The_Donald
u/dividezero · 9 pointsr/TrollXChromosomes

What's the Matter with Kansas. Not sure if that's still a popular book but it still holds up. I's like a textbook for why people vote against their own interests.

u/BunsTown · 9 pointsr/news

Welcome to the mind of a Trump voter. Where Putin and Duterte are heroes.


>Trump is simply the logical response to the Democratic Party going too far left on the political spectrum and ignoring the needs of the working class.

Trump makes all of his products in other countries. No way in hell that guy gives a shit about the middle class. He's just courting the undereducated people who will vote against their own interests. It's a GOP trade secret. Sorry dude. You are getting played again. A billionaire from new york city has no interest in helping your shitty cities. Every city that guy goes to, he dumps on.

I would recommend a book called "Whats the matter with Kansas". https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Matter-Kansas-Conservatives-America/dp/080507774X

u/omicron7e · 9 pointsr/Iowa

What's the Matter with Kansas? is a good read. Despite being more than a decade old, most of the points put forth in it are relevant today.

It's a good title, and lately I've seen "What's the Matter with Iowa?" and "What's the Matter with Trumpland?"

u/matttk · 9 pointsr/europe

Read an interesting book about the different nations/cultures in America. I don't think it's so straightforward that Americans are all the same. People in Alabama, for example, want very different things out of life and see things very differently than people in NYC, for example.

u/mhornberger · 9 pointsr/history

It predates modern politics by quite a bit, at least in my understanding. I've read Albion's Seed and American Nations, and from my understanding Appalachia and the Scots-Irish culture, plus the Deep South, have always supported war. All of them. The South is also saddled with a culture of honor, and, having been raised in Texas, I can say you lose serious face walking away from a fight.

We like to attribute the contemptuousness towards education as an outgrowth of their poverty, but I think the reverse is true. And I think the contempt for education comes from all the admiration going to "men of action," soldiers, fighters, etc. If you have to distinguish yourself with books and fancy words, you probably can't fight. Or worse, you're afraid to.

u/tombsheets · 9 pointsr/slatestarcodex

That was more likely to be in American Nations and not in Albion's Seed, which covers only British immigration and is, as I remember it, more anthropological than political.

From a summary by Woodard:

> NEW NETHERLAND. Established by the Dutch at a time when the Netherlands was the most sophisticated society in the Western world, New Netherland has always been a global commercial culture—materialistic, with a profound tolerance for ethnic and religious diversity and an unflinching commitment to the freedom of inquiry and conscience. Like seventeenth-century Amsterdam, it emerged as a center of publishing, trade, and finance, a magnet for immigrants, and a refuge for those persecuted by other regional cultures, from Sephardim in the seventeenth century to gays, feminists, and bohemians in the early twentieth. Unconcerned with great moral questions, it nonetheless has found itself in alliance with Yankeedom to defend public institutions and reject evangelical prescriptions for individual behavior.

From skimming this wiki page, it appears there were multiple rounds of immigration, and that the Dutch who live in Michigan moved 200 years after those who settled New Amsterdam.

u/Rollondger · 9 pointsr/WarshipPorn

I have a book recommendation for you: Command and Control

It's a superb read regarding a series of briefs on nuclear weapon safety in fire conditions, and how safe modern weapons are in comparison.

u/Henry_K_Faber · 9 pointsr/TopMindsOfReddit

Here are a couple of books that will get you on the right track:

The Reactionary Mind and Anti-Intellectualism in American Life.

u/TillmanResearch · 9 pointsr/AskTrumpSupporters

Great questions. I don't think there's an easy or foolproof answer to them.

>should lay people who have zero expertise in a field trust such general academic consensuses as being broadly correct?

Broadly correct? I would think that's a solid way to look at things. I'm in agreement with you.

>Are there good reasons for non-experts to be skeptical about the scientific consensus on vaccines, climate change or evolution?

"Good" reasons? Eh........I'll give a few scattered thoughts here:

  • Some people are just going to be contrarians. I don't have any sources to link at the moment, but I think we've all encountered this at some point.
  • Other people, often those who feel they have been marginalized by society (ex. white people who watched their friends go to college but couldn't go themselves—I'm referring to my own mother in this case), have a deep longing for "secret knowledge" and the sense of power it brings. Michael Barkun's A Culture of Conspiracy gives one of the breakdowns of this phenomenon while Richard Hofstadter's Anti-Intellectualism in American History (1966) shows that none of this is new. For people who usually possess traits we associate with intelligence (they are intensely curious and often willing to reading extensively) but who feel like they have been unfairly excluded from the centers of intellectual life, the idea that that everyone but them has it wrong is a bit intoxicating. Especially when a small groups of other marginalized people begin listening to them. I am not justifying this phenomenon—it probably shares some of the same social DNA as the incel movement—but I am trying to humanize it.
  • In addition to these two groups (contrarians and the intellectually marginalized), we might also add those people who have been turned off by the fervency and (please, don't throw anything at me) fundamentalist fanaticism of some popular science devotees. While 99% of modern people simply go about their days with a fairly healthy view of science and knowledge, we are all aware of the loud fringe who wants to paint anyone who disagrees with them as a "science denier" and launch social media crusades against them. Again, I'm trying to use a scalpel here and not a broad brush—it's the militant defenders of Scientism who have (like their religious counterparts) managed to turn some people off.
  • Then there are what I like to "gut thinkers." These often genuinely good and kind-hearted people often make decisions (like whether to vaccinated their kids or not) based on emotion rather than strict reason. For them, there is nothing in the world more important than their child and the idea of their child being harmed by something they chose to do terrifies them. While they might not ever realize it, they operate in a similar fashion to those people in the "Trolley Problem" who refuse to pull the lever and save some lives because then someone would be dying as a direct result of their action. These people often hear conflicting stories (vaccines are safe vs vaccines cause illnesses) and it troubles their gut to the point where, rather than sitting down to rationalize a solution, they avoid the issue or default to whatever option requires the least amount of direct action.
  • Lastly we might add those people who would otherwise accept scientific findings but who have one or two core beliefs or predispositions that can complicate things. For example, while we commonly label American fundamentalists as "anti-science," anyone working in that field knows from the work of the eminent George Marsden that they are rather ardently pro-Baconian science—meaning that they absolutely love empirical, directly observable science based on inductive reasoning. What they reject is deductive science and its long-range projections both forwards and backwards in time. I can say from experience that understanding this and acknowledging it in discussions with these people does wonders for the conversation and really disarms a lot of suspicion.
  • I don't know that there is a perfect solution here, but one possible approach would be to start affirming "folk culture" within modern society. I'm literally just tossing this one out here and I expected it to be a bit controversial, but maybe it will stimulate some discussion. In essence, we (as modern, scientific Westerners) usually don't find it problematic to acknowledge, accommodate, and affirm indigenous forms of knowledge. In fact, we often condemn those who try to "Westernize" others for being colonial or destroying culture. For those who belong to tribes or ethnic enclaves, practicing non-scientific forms of knowledge is seen as a good thing by most of the intellectual elites in the West. But for those born into Western society, there is little socially-acceptable opportunity to seek out and develop alternative forms of knowledge. Perhaps creating a safe social arena for such a "folk culture" to re-emerge could give these above groups a healthy and socially legitimate avenue for exploring and fulfilling some of their deep unmet needs without the subversiveness that presently undermines a lot of the good work that science is doing.
u/GraftonCountyGangsta · 9 pointsr/politics

This is frustrating. I agree with Maher on his point, but he really should have prepared himself to explain it. He just made a statement and didn't really bother to discuss it further... and in my opinion, that's probably part of the problem of American stupidity. Nobody has the patience to listen to further explanations or intellectual discussions.

I suggest to anyone interested in this topic to read Richard Hofstadter's Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. It was written in 1964, and won the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction that year... but it is still extremely relevant today.

u/NomadFH · 9 pointsr/army

You really have to study specific conflicts rather than generalized mid-east stuff. A lot of guys will read up on Iraq or Afghanistan before deploying there, but way fewer people will research Iran, which I actually consider the most important influence in the middle east.

All the Shah's men is a really good one. Try to look at books that aren't just "this is why this country is bad and scary" but highlight the culture of those countries and highlight the politics of everything.

u/ChagSC · 8 pointsr/AdviceAnimals

There is actually a lot of controversy on the lack of regulation for the global cadaver trade.

This is also a great read:

http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393324826

u/TinyPinkSparkles · 8 pointsr/todayilearned

There are a LOT of uses for cadavers.

Reading this book made me want to donate my body to science.

u/DanishWhoreHens · 8 pointsr/NoStupidQuestions

What we practice in the US now, embalming with airtight caskets (they have “burping coffins” like Tupperware to release gas) began during the Civil War because of the hideous condition the bodies would often arrive home in after so long. If you’re down with learning about all the different things having to with the funeral industry and as well as how industry professionals have either lobbied to make some absurd practices legal requirements or will try to convince you they are when they’re not then these are fascinating to read, Jessica Mitford’s The American Way Of Death and Mary Roach’s Stiff: The Curious Lives Of Human Cadavers. Some of the most interesting reading you’ll ever do to be sure.

u/tedistkrieg · 8 pointsr/Documentaries

This book, Stiff is partially about the body farm, among other things. It is an awesome read
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393324826/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_-7YHzbP900CXB

u/Parivill501 · 8 pointsr/politics

For anyone interested in a historical study of this, frankly, uniquely American problem I highly recommend Anti-Intellectualism in American Life by Richard Hofstadter. It pretty dated now (1968 I believe) but he does a remarkable job going through American history and examining the relationship between the experts (not merely academics) and the "common people."

u/mm242jr · 8 pointsr/politics

China is the newest hegemony. The US didn't have a choice in Germany or Japan after WWII, since it was either step in or let Stalin take over. Read this fascinating article:

> Stalin had been secretly plotting an offensive against Hitler’s Germany, and would have invaded in September 1941, or at the latest by 1942. Stalin ... wanted Hitler to destroy democracy in Europe, in the manner of an icebreaker, thereby clearing the way for world communism. The book undermined the idea that the USSR was an innocent party, dragged into the second world war. Russian liberals supported Suvorov’s thesis; it now has broad acceptance among historians

The US was founded by slaveowners using the pretext of representation, but it was all about commerce. They put in place a horrific non-democratic system, the Electoral College. The US has intervened repeatedly in democracies and put in place brutal regimes. Read All The Shah's Men, for example.

One reason you might have started with a rosy view is that republicans control how US history is taught to schools across the country; see last two chapters of this book.

As for California, your Congressional representatives are amazing. I'm counting on them to nail that fucking orange traitor.

To counter the criticism above, it was the US that finally shoved the UN aside in Bosnia and stopped the genocide with a few well-placed missiles, albeit three years and 100,000 civilians too late, and it was the US that shoved the UN aside very early when Serbia attacked Kosovo later in that same decade. Fucking Kofi Annan and his inaction in Rwanda... (The hero of that story is Canadian: Romeo Dallaire.)

u/Mr_Blonde0085 · 8 pointsr/enoughpetersonspam

The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (A Free Press Paperbacks Book) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0684824299/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_c2DtDbW5C5ZWA

u/ChicagoRex · 8 pointsr/Foodforthought

It's not simply ad hominem; his interpretation of facts has been disputed. The findings and ideas -- not just the man -- are controversial. Here are some good places to start for people who want to learn more. (The links with plus signs are books, not full texts online.)

An overview

Another overview++

A summary & review of three notable books on the subject

The Bell Curve++

The Flynn Effect++

IQ Tests

Race

u/jhib456 · 8 pointsr/samharris

Virtually all of the hyperlinks lead to bogus media outlets and some of the arguments can only be argued by giving remarkably uncharitable interpretations of things other people said. Consider the one against Ellison. In 2010, Ellison said, “The United States foreign policy in the Middle East is governed by what is good or bad through a country of seven million people. A region of 350 million all turns on a country of seven million. Does that make sense? Is that logic? Right?” The author deems this "paranoid anti-Semitic themes." Maybe, or it could be just true, given how many Middle East scholars have made similar claims.

u/fdeckert · 8 pointsr/AskThe_Donald

Because if you have money, you too can buy Senators and Congressmen and Presidential candidates and play King of the World

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/09/sheldon-adelson-is-ready-to-buy-the-presidency.html


Spend enough money, and terrorists are no longer terrorists

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/21/iran-mek-group-removed-us-terrorism-list

And money buys lobbyists and PR campaigns
https://www.catholic.org/featured/headline.php?ID=5970


Two bigtime mainstream profs of international affairs will explain it all for ten bucks on Kindle

>The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
https://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501/

Here's the shorter version -- they had to have this printed in the London Review of Books because no one in the US would print it https://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/john-mearsheimer/the-israel-lobby

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2006/06/08/the-storm-over-the-israel-lobby/

u/wo_ob · 8 pointsr/PoliticalDiscussion

Yes this! For anyone interested in learning more about how and why this whole situation came about (including right-wing media) I recommend checking out this book. I truly wish everyone in this country would give it a read (or listen) to better understand what the fuck has happened to our politics.

u/Y_pestis · 8 pointsr/biology

just some of my standard answers.


The Disappearing Spoon- yes, it's chemistry but I found it very interesting.


Abraham Lincoln's DNA- if you have a good background in genetics you might already know many of these stories. Read the table of contents first.


New Guinea Tapeworms and Jewish Grandmothers- disease based biology. There is a follow up book if it turns out you like it.


Stiff- more than you wanted to know about dead bodies.


And by the same author but space based... Packing for Mars.

I hope these help... Cheers.

u/civildefense · 8 pointsr/IAmA

have you ever read stiff by Mary Roach? its quite good.

u/coldnever · 8 pointsr/politics

> The middle class got reamed while the rich stood by and watched and placed bets on us.

The middle class doesn't understand the nature of capitalism. They believe the myth of “balance” in capitalist societies.

http://homepages.law.asu.edu/~dkarjala/OpposingCopyrightExtension/commentary/MacaulaySpeeches.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act#mediaviewer/File:Copyright_term.svg

Also the bailout:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVjz1OyBJCc

Overthrowing governments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg_-NjjnvP4

http://www.amazon.com/War-Racket-Antiwar-Americas-Decorated/dp/0922915865/

“I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil intersts in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.” [p. 10]

“War is a racket. …It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.” [p. 23] “The general public shoulders the bill [for war]. This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations.” [p. 24]

The 9 trillion dollar bank bailout

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVjz1OyBJCc

Libor scandal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libor_scandal

Rule of law is impossible under capitalism, since the kings of business (he who has the gold makes the rules) get to do whatever they want and the public gets fucked.

Important history:

http://williamblum.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcA1v2n7WW4

u/countercom2 · 8 pointsr/asianamerican

> I want more Asian Americans to volunteer in the US military because we are underrepresented

So they can participate in this? http://www.amazon.com/Kill-Anything-That-Moves-American/dp/1250045061/

Do some reading. Start with
http://www.amazon.com/War-Racket-Antiwar-Americas-Decorated/dp/0922915865/

and continue with http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Hope-C-I-Interventions-II--Updated/dp/1567512526/

u/HippyxViking · 8 pointsr/worldbuilding

Honestly I don't think you need to come up with complex religious justifications - just read 1491. There's a lot of knowledge that's been lost or purposefully destroyed, but all across the Americas there were stunningly complex civilizations that largely didn't use metals at all.

It is probable that Indigenous American civilizations had several of the most advanced agricultural systems in the world, politics, philosophy, writing, mathematics, science and astronomy, etc. Architecture and engineering were somewhat different, but still complex and advanced, and their city planning was completely different than Europe's - Tenochtitlan was literally unbelievable to the Europeans who showed up, it was so clean, organized, and beautiful.

Post contact, or if there was no contact, it's very difficult to say what trajectory they would have gone, or if you can have a 'modern' or industrial society that skips metallurgy altogether - I can't really see how that would happen. Then again what do I know.

u/FRedington · 8 pointsr/MensRights

https://www.amazon.com/Bell-Curve-Intelligence-Structure-Paperbacks/dp/0684824299/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527199813&sr=8-1&keywords=the+bell+curve

This book compares genders for IQ.
The smartest men are smarter than the smartest women.

The number of lowest IQ men is greater than the number of lowest IQ women.

This would suggest that "the glass ceiling" is just an artifact of which gender is smarter in aggregate.

Women try to redefine the problem and it does not work.

u/Static_Line_Bait · 8 pointsr/AskHistorians

I'm not sure if these necessarily meet the standard for this sub, but two layman-friendly and highly interesting books you might like are Lies My Teacher Told Me and Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches.

u/Skadwick · 8 pointsr/Atlanta

Reading my first 'techo thriller' - a non-fiction booked called Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety.

If I'd have heard of the genre independently of this book I'd likely not find it appealing, but I am really really enjoying it. Absolutely blowing through it for how dense of a book it is. Also, if I could sum up the contents of this book so far I'd say 'shit is fucked'

u/Nessunolosa · 8 pointsr/changemyview

Hiya, I am a person who lived in Korea in 2012-2013 and for six months up to April this year. I don't have a military perspective on the issue, but I can tell you a little about my experiences in Korea.

Firstly, know that this uptick in worry and hand-wringing about an imminent nuclear attack by North Korea goes in cycles. The US media get annoyed or bored with whatever it is that they are covering, and start to focus on NK again. This happens about once a year, usually in the springtime. In 2012 it was an imminent existential threat. In 2013 it was, too. As it was in 2014, 2015, 2016, and this year. You can almost set your watch by the coverage, and it is almost always as doomsday as the last time. I went on google's search engine and looked for 'north korea' as a search term for the time since 2004 and made images of each individual year here. Admittedly, 2017's graph looks a little different, but you can clearly see the cycles in the previous years. I would be willing to bet that 2017's graph is more due to POTUS tweeting and the generalized anxiety of the Left in the States than a genuine march toward war.

I'll be that you didn't know there was a genuine exchange of fire in Korea in 2010. There were tense moments of actual live fire for that whole of that year, leading to a 23 November bombardment of a South Korean island by North Korean artillery. 70+ South Korean houses were destroyed, and several were killed on both sides. Even with the tensions and the live artillery, the peninsula did not descend into open war.

In addition, you should know that the coverage of NK issues tends to be overblown in US media. I heard this story from even the likes of NPR the other day, and laughed aloud at the ridiculousness of it. It's lines like this that get the people back in the US riled up:

Defense Secretary James Mattis went within feet of the curbstone separating North and South Korea, where grim-faced North Korean troops stared across at him. It's known as one of the scariest spots on the planet.

That whole story is hyperbolic (and irresponsible reporting, imho). I went to the border at that exact place. It's part of a civilian tourist trip that runs almost every day. It wasn't exactly as the reporter made it seem, like he'd been helicoptered into an active conflict zone.

The DMZ is sad, confusing, and very absurd. But it's probably one of the safest places on Earth. You are infinitely more likely to be shot in any major United States city than at the DMZ. I'll concede that landmines are not a normal worry in US cities, but they don't tend to go off in the DMZ, either. The last time one went off was in 2015 (wounding two).

This time, admittedly, Trump is involved. But that doesn't change things too much except for making people feel more nervous. For this, I'm afraid that I have only a long-term remedy. You need to read Eric Schlosser's Command and Control. This book changed my views on nuclear weapons and greatly improved my understanding of the ways that a nuclear war could start. I don't feel comforted necessarily, but hearing about the ways that generals dealt with say, an alcoholic, depressed, borderline suicidal Nixon during the Watergate scandal made me feel a whole lot better about Trump being POTUS.

Finally, China. They are ascendant, gaining power, and working to make the region stable. They will not tolerate NK's bullshit rising to the level that the US might strike them. They'd just invade first. It wouldn't lead to massive, open conflict with the USA or South Korea. China is a player of the long game, and they will withdraw their support from the NK regime if necessary.

Hope that this helps! Please don't worry about this. Worry about more immediate problems in your own community.

u/APOC-giganova · 8 pointsr/Physics

I recomend the book Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety by Eric Schlosser, also available in audio format. It's a much better history and synopsis of the issues at hand.

u/Korgzilla · 8 pointsr/worldnews

Also, Command and Control is a good (non-fiction) read on the topic.

u/neoquixo · 8 pointsr/AskHistorians

I would like to nominate Roger Goiran, a Bronze Star winning OSS Captain. Roger was head of CIA's Tehran station in the early 1950s and in Belgium in the early 1960s. Goiran had a very promising CIA career but somewhat fell out of favor after he resigned his Tehran post in protest when the plan to depose democratically elected Iranian President Mohammad Mosaddegh came through. Goiran believed the plan to put the Shah in power compromised US principles and threw its support behind English and French colonialism.

He is mentioned in Tim Weiner's Legacy of Ashes and Meyer and Brysac's Kingmakers

u/_diacetylmorphine- · 8 pointsr/news

Dude... It was never great by any stretch of the imagination.

Good primer would be Zinn's "People's History of the United States". In the words of Matt Damon, that book will "blow your hair back".

About the only thing remotely "good" this country ever really accomplished as a whole was assisting the Allied Forces in securing a victory in WW2. And the only real significant part we played in that (as far as the European theater) was materiel. If it wasn't for Operation Barbarossa and the Soviets kicking the ever loving shit out of the German forces we would have been destroyed (or never really got involved in the first place).

Edit: I'd like to add that even the "good" done in WW2 must be tempered by the fact that even General Curtis LeMay commented "I suppose if I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal". We were most certainly guilty of horrific atrocities and violation of international standards of war (i.e. the Dresden and Tokyo fire bombings that actively targeted civilian populations) among other thing.

u/NoDakJackson · 8 pointsr/serialpodcast
u/pablo95 · 8 pointsr/politics

A Peoples History Of the United States is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in politics, history, or sociology.

u/wievid · 8 pointsr/news

Sorry, but you are sooooooo very wrong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliban#Origin

I encourage you to read Steve Coll's book Ghost Wars (Amazon) - it provides an extremely detailed look into the run-up to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the entire war itself and the aftermath leading up to 11 September 2001. I'm terribly sorry to disappoint you, but the United States had absolutely no direct hand in the Taliban's creation. Certainly there were fighters that received training and funding via the US and Saudi Arabia, but the true origins of the Taliban were with a group that the US hardly dealt with but received the full support of Pakistan's ISI in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion during the 1990s.

u/minnabruna · 8 pointsr/AskHistorians

You might like My Khyber Marriage and Valley of the Giant Buddahs. They are autobiographical reports by a Scotswoman who married a Pashtun and moved to Afghanistan in the 1920s. My Life: From Brigand to King--Autobiography of Amir Habibullah may also be of interest. It is an as-told-to autobiography of an Afghan brigand who briefly overthrew the King about ten years after the first two books were written. The Road to Oxiana is a bit clunky but offers a Western perspective on Afghanistan in the 1930s.

The more general Afghanistan of the Afghans, written by the husband of the woman mentioned above, focuses a lot of culture and cultural history, Afghanistan is a more general history and this Afghanistan claims to be more about the military history but I haven't read it myself to judge.

If you want something more contemporary, The Places In Between is a decent travelogue by an adventurer/preservationist/mercenary who walked through parts of the country. It didn't blow me away but it is interesting and most contemporary Afghan books from the West are such trash that this one shines in comparison. The author really did go to areas of Afghanistan about which most people know very little.

Ghost Wars is a popular book that focuses on the US involvement in the area during the Soviet Afghan war. Taliban is another popular book, and focuses on the Taliban in the 1990s and early 2000s. The link is to the second edition which I believe is updated.

u/res0nat0r · 8 pointsr/politics

> What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America

https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Matter-Kansas-Conservatives-America/dp/080507774X

Replace the title with any GOP controlled state.

u/Jkrup26 · 8 pointsr/todayilearned

More interesting is the book The Plot to Seize the Whitehouse a story about how the rich elite of America tried to overthrow President FDR and how General Smedley Butler refused to cooperate and saved US democracy/ Smedley also eventually authored the great book War Is A Racket. General Butler is the greatest American hero this country has ever seen, Lindbergh is a glorified hack.

u/redroguetech · 7 pointsr/nottheonion

What's the Matter with Kansas. Good book.

(Relevant, because Kansas used to be at the forefront of progressivism.)

u/graps · 7 pointsr/news

Everytime something shitty happens in Kansas(pretty often these days) I recommend this book

https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Matter-Kansas-Conservatives-America/dp/080507774X

It's an excellent run down on politicians and single issue voters were played over and over again making Kansas what it is today. If you want to know why people routinely can be counted on to vote against their own interests it's a good read

u/just_addwater · 7 pointsr/WarCollege

The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes!

Excellent Pulitzer Prize winning history of the Manhattan program.

u/AStormsABrewin · 7 pointsr/politics

Fuck AIPAC.

Suggested reading.

u/evildemonic · 7 pointsr/Israel

This book is one of the most neutral and honest takes on the subject I have read: http://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Are you familiar with it? I think most people in this thread, on both sides, should give it a read.

u/Tripplite · 7 pointsr/pics

This comment is also available in convenient book form.

http://amzn.com/0394703170

u/glasdon_pm · 7 pointsr/videos

You should read All the Shah's Men.

u/mamapycb · 7 pointsr/PoliticalDiscussion

1949: The First Israelis is a good one for Israel.

All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror This one is a good primer to understand the politics that got america so deeply involved in the middle east.

u/MRRoberts · 7 pointsr/AskReddit

Lies My Teacher Told Me is a fantastic resource for this sort of thing. He explicitly mentions Wilson's resegregation in the opening chapter.

>IMO, he makes G W Bush look like a saint.

Let's not be hasty.

u/AxelShoes · 7 pointsr/AskAnthropology

In my short time on /r/AskHistorians, it seems that 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus is consistently and almost universally recommended.

u/polynomials · 7 pointsr/worldnews

Everyone should read the book 1491 by Charles Mann! He talks about this a lot. There is actually already a significant amount of evidence that the hypothesis humans came across the Bering Strait and migrated southward during the Ice Age is not correct. There were some people that crossed the Bering Strait but some evidence in the past couple decades has been tending to show that the people that crossed tended to stay up there, and the people that made it farther south got there by other means.

For one, the speed of it is implausible because during the Ice Age most of Canada was covered in massive glaciers that early humans would not have been able to traverse. There was a melting period where it would have been traversable, but this was only for a few hundred years (if I remember the numbers correctly). It takes much longer than that for populations to permanently migrate. Archaeologically speaking, that amounts to a sprint southward, and there is no apparent reason why they would have pushed so far south so fast. There is also a curious dearth of archaeological evidence of human presence to be found along the proposed routes.

For another thing, the language evidence is consistent the Bering Strait crossers staying up north. The language of present day native peoples of the far North seem much more distantly related, or not even part of the same language family as those of more southern native peoples.

And there is also the fact that OPs post is not the first time archaelogoists have found evidence of human presence inconsistent with the Bering Strait hypothesis.

If I remembered more specifics I would say them but my friend has borrowed the book from me. But everyone should read this book!

http://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059

u/Kitworks · 7 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

Wow. Okay. Start here, it's an awesome book about Native American civilization before Europeans.

Then go further back and find literally any source talking about the way modern humans spread from Africa around the globe.

u/liltitus27 · 7 pointsr/bestof

while that is on the high end of estimates, it uses new knowledge to revise the much lower estimates you referenced. great read with methodologies, sources, and explanations of how and why the estimate is actually closer to 100 million: 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

u/Cloverhands · 7 pointsr/books

How about this?

u/kaneda33 · 7 pointsr/videos

> I believe the biggest event that led Bin Laden to set his sights on the US was the fact that during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia welcomed US troops into their border despite Bin Laden petitioning the government to leave the responsibility of defending Saudi Arabia (and Mecca/Medina etc.) to Muslims and the mujahidden.
> When the Saudi government spurned him and allowed the US to "temporarily" establish bases and put US troops on Saudi soil, he began to take serious issue with the Saudi government. And when it became clear that the "temporary" status of US troops in Saudi Arabia was bullshit, he truly began to hate the US.

Yep yep. Steve Coll goes into great detail about this in Ghost Wars.
Great read.

u/flexcabana21 · 7 pointsr/worldnews

Not the guy making the claim but you can read ghost wars, it talks about what the U.S. knew.
https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/0143034669

u/Samuel_I · 7 pointsr/worldnews

I take issue with some of the points raised here:

  1. This is not one of them, as it is certainly a reason why we stay. I'd also include the perceived PR failure of being the one to 'admit defeat.'

  2. This logic is exactly what exacerbates these supposed hotbeds of terrorism. It's a product of fully internalizing the narrative of the War on Terror, which, I would argue, has led to things like ISIS. "...we will basically see a global terror state erupt," no we already have that in the form of Saudi Arabia. Afghanistan gives them a rallying cry and a casus belli for their actions. Our continued involvement in the war breeds more militants than a 'terrorist haven' ever could.

  3. It's justifying a war by saying, "Well, we've been doing it for 20 years, why would we stop now?" which isn't exactly a great justification in and of itself. What's it matter that this is now a more conventional war? That just demonstrates that the conflict has gotten completely out of hand. The Taliban currently controls more territory than they have since the invasion. We're using the fact that nothing we're doing is working as a justification for continued involvement? Furthermore, it's not surprising that the Taliban's 2015 rise was the result of a power vacuum, since that's how they rose the first time. And guess what? We share a lot of responsibility for that conflict and vacuum too! It was a US, KSA, and Pakistani support that ratcheted up the conflict in the wake of the Soviet invasion and led to a lot of the destabilization that we've seen in Afghanistan, including the power vacuum left after the main players in the civil war were exhausted that allowed the Taliban to rise. Our actions, including attempting to stem 'terror threats' have directly contributed to a cycle that perpetuates that very terror and destabilization.

    >The british and french used to fight in these kinds of colonial hot spots for decades at a time, withdrawing troops and then sending more troops back whenever there was a flareup. Its not entirely different here.

    Typically using the logic of literal colonial powers isn't the best look in the year 2018.

    >Its important to note that this isn't entirely OUR WAR either. It is a civil war in afghanistan, that we are involved in.

    A civil war that only took the form it has because of our actions dating back decades.

    >Its important to note that this isn't entirely OUR WAR either. It is a civil war in afghanistan, that we are involved in. This isn't like Vietnam where we have hundreds of thousands of soldiers there, occupying the country. This is more just a war where we are supporting one side of it. We only have a few thousand troops there at the moment, we aren't the main fighting force. However, if we pulled out, the taliban would win and conquer the country.

    As you rightly point out, without our support the central government would possibly be overtaken by the Taliban, or, at the very least, forced to negotiate (though, they're now doing that anyway). The point here is that one cannot force a people into taking a government that they don't want without mass suppression and violence. Is that really the end game we want? If so, how exactly are we better than the Taliban? We've brought death and destruction to Afghanistan with very little to show for it, especially if we take things all the way back to 1978.

    >We simply can't have that happen, its unthinkable and the consequences would be horrific. So we will stay, for a very, very long time, if need be.

    And such a policy of perpetual war is morally abhorrent. I'd say that the War on Terror has skewed our collective moral compass, but, to be fair, it's never been oriented toward justice anyway, so we're really just seeing more of the same.

    Regardless, I'd advise we take a minute to think about how we got here, how Afghanistan became a hotbed of terror, why these terrorists do what they do, and the role we play in it all. Are we really working toward a better end for the Afghan people? Or are we just finding nails for the bloody hammer that is our military?

    Edit: For those looking for a good history of our involvement in Afghanistan from 1979 to 9/11, I would recommend Ghost Wars by Steve Coll.

    Edit 2: Changed some language with the clarification that OP was referring to US policy and not offering his own prescriptions.
u/soapdealer · 7 pointsr/AskHistorians

The best account of the US's involvement is in Afghanistan that I've read is the Pulitzer Prize winning Ghost Wars by Steve Coll.

u/jij · 7 pointsr/Christianity

For a few reasons.

  1. It would really really hard for it to not break the establishment clause because you know some teachers will take it too far... thus it's a liability.
  2. There just isn't that much factual about it to teach from a history perspective... most historians think Jesus existed (according to /r/askhistorians) , but they don't go much beyond that. The actual historical lesson on it would take like an hour.
  3. History classes in general are bland and full of fact memorizing, the whole subject is generally hollow and lifeless in order to cover massive amounts of time and things instead of actually having discussions and focusing on certain events and places. Not to mention the textbook writers try to please every group with an agenda, thus making the book absurdly neutral. A decent write-up about this last point can be read here: http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281
u/jmurphy42 · 7 pointsr/todayilearned

That's definitely a failure of your school system, though I'm not going to comment on Georgia's in general since I know nothing about it. I'm a former teacher who's had experience in several school districts, and all of them required a basic world history course that heavily covered Europe. Heck, when I was in school we covered European geography and history in 5th grade, then again in middle school, and again in high school.

Sounds like you got robbed. Luckily, there's lots of great books out there you can use to catch yourself up if you care to, and some of them are free. (I tried to only highlight affordable ones, but libraries are a great resource too!)

u/disuberence · 7 pointsr/neoliberal

This is the entire basis for the worst book ever written.

u/vipergirl · 7 pointsr/ukpolitics

> The social, cultural and linguistic differences between Oregon and North Carolina are minuscule, even though they're thousands of miles apart.

Not true whatsoever.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/American-Nations-History-Regional-Cultures/dp/0143122029/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=K526VH57QKR69R5TXQ8F

u/Sesquipedaliac · 7 pointsr/Warthunder

From my understanding of how the implosion-type device that was Fat Man worked, the explosives that would drive the uranium into the plutonium core (which would cause the reaction) might go off. Since damage would have occurred when it was hit, the timing would be off on these detonations, preventing a full nuclear reaction.

For the record, there was also a concern that lightning strikes would cause the electronics on early nuclear devices to go haywire and detonate. It's a bit of a wonder that there weren't more nuclear accidents between 1940-1970.

(Source: Command and Control, by Eric Schlosser)

u/nickiter · 7 pointsr/videos

I'm currently reading Command and Control by Eric Schlosser, which weaves together a story about a nearly catastrophic accident at a missile site and the broader history of the command and control systems that governed the US nuclear arsenal.

Contrary to the widely held belief that nuclear missiles are highly "fail-safe" and stable in adverse conditions, most of the nuclear arsenal was (and perhaps still is) quite dangerous. Armed, ready-to-detonate bombs have been dropped by accident multiple times... Missiles have caught fire in their silos, threatening to fling a cloud of plutonium across hundreds of miles of American heartland... Warheads have been in the custody of an American force so tiny that they'd have no hope of protecting against a host country's decision to seize a weapon...

The list goes on. It is terrifying. I've long been deeply skeptical of putting too much power in the hands of an unaccountable government, and this book has solidified that fear so much.

The standard by which the US government evaluated choices with regard to nuclear weapon is hideous. Generals and Presidents talked regularly of options which would result in hundreds of millions of deaths, including pre-emptive strikes against the USSR during a period without any hostilities at all.

u/Phallic_Moron · 7 pointsr/Austin

For supplemental reading, check out Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, The Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Nuclear Safety. By Eric Schlosser. A Pulitzer finalist.

https://www.amazon.com/Command-Control-Damascus-Accident-Illusion/dp/0143125788

There is also a documentary on Netflix(?) about the Damascus Accident, where a liquid fueled ICBM exploded inside the silo.

u/55tfg7879fe42e345 · 7 pointsr/worldnews

I think it might be time you do some reading. This will do: http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Ashes-History-Tim-Weiner/dp/0307389006/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1322136184&sr=8-2

Warning: Will correct your views about the capabilities of the CIA.

u/mthoody · 6 pointsr/Military

Billy's Afghan adventures are chronicled in First In by Gary Schroen. First person account of the first team into Afghanistan after 9/11 (CIA prep for SF).

Also read Jawbreaker by Gary Berntsen which picks up where First In leaves off, including the taking of Kabul. Also a first person account.

Then read the prequel that ends on Sep 10: Ghost Wars. 2005 Pulitzer Prize.

These three books are truly a trilogy in every sense.

u/antonivs · 6 pointsr/ShitAmericansSay

> Can you disagree?

Of course, because your position is false, not to mention ridiculous. The claim that the US has "yet to develop much of its own culture" is simple ignorance. I can only assume that you're merely doing what this sub criticizes Americans for doing, talking about something of which you have no direct experience or education.

> My point is that American refusal to just describe themselves as American, without all these ridiculous qualifiers, is part of why America continues to lack a distinct culture.

Your point is invalid in both premise and conclusion. You're taking anecdotes about silly behavior from a circlejerk sub, ignorantly extrapolating that to encompass an entire population of 320 million people consisting of probably hundreds of diverse cultures, to reach a conclusion that's every bit as silly as the silliest things Americans are made fun of for in this sub. Hence my original comment, this is just shityuropoorsay - you're the precise equivalent of what you're mocking.

There are many different cultures in the US, varying significantly by region. The book American Nations identifies 11 regional cultures in North America, and those are just broad regional divisions - there's significant variation within each of those. An example of an area where there's a great deal of local cultural variation is Louisiana, but there are many other similar regions throughout the US. The local culture in particular areas is often a variation of a larger regional culture, for example the Culture of Georgia is a variation of Southern US culture.

The US attitudes about ancestry and ethnicity have perfectly reasonable roots in the fact that many people in the US are in families that immigrated quite recently, often in living memory. For those families, their X-American identity is a real feeling that has to do with where they or their parents or grandparents came from, and the culture they brought with them and passed on, to some extent, to their children. It's not some sort of attempt to make themselves feel special, it's who they are.

Yes, you then also get people who try to turn their distant ancestry which is no longer actually remembered in the above sense into some sort of claim on the culture and identity of countries they've never visited. That's quite rightly made fun of here, because it's silly. But drawing broad conclusions from such behavior, while simultaneously lacking any real knowledge of what you're drawing conclusions about, leads to nonsense.

If you study cultures in the US, you'll find that the history of migration in a given area has a strong influence on the culture - the Louisiana example above is a good one. But the fact that these cultures are strongly influenced from the culture of earlier immigrants doesn't mean there's no unique local culture. Quite the opposite. When people live in a place for centuries, they develop a culture - that's just how human societies work. Your ignorance of those cultures doesn't mean they don't exist.

u/DaSilence · 6 pointsr/ProtectAndServe

>Did you even go to college?

Yep. A couple of times, in fact.

>have you ever read a book?

Just finished this one. Excellent read. I highly suggest it.

>I dont expect someone like you to be an expert at philosophy, let alone be threatened by a concept so much that the only people who believe in it MUST be juveniles.

No, I just know enough about the philosophy to see the absurdity of it. I also know enough about human nature to know it's yet another in a long line of mildly interesting intellectual exercises that have no bearing in practicality because of the very nature of humanity.

>If you could entertain a future of private law enforcement, you might be out of a job.

It's more likely that I end up being assigned to a manned mission to Mars that your absurd AnCap ideas actually be tried in any actual civilization.

u/f10101 · 6 pointsr/spacex

https://www.amazon.com/Command-Control-Damascus-Accident-Illusion/dp/0143125788

Great book on the topic, that exposes a lot of the madness that led to and surrounded the incident. There's also a film of the same name.

u/HufflePuff2xPass · 6 pointsr/AdviceAnimals

Trust me- if you're a donor, at least one part of you's gonna get used. Now, it might not be in a way you'd expect (your skin might end up in someone's ahem sausage enhancement), but the transplant lists are long as fuck. They're not gonna risk wasting even a tiny piece if they can help it

(Stiff-The Curious Life of Human Cadavers has more information on what happens to you if you're an organ donor postmortem if you're interested)

u/cochon1010 · 6 pointsr/SkincareAddiction

I cringed so hard when I was reading Stiff recently (which I actually highly recommend) and the author apparently interviewed Dr. Oz and cited him as a credible, medical source because of his work in cardiology.

The book came out in before his Oprah days and before having his own show, but it's just crazy how you can go from respected doctor at the top of your field to huge sell-out. I guess he just must be money hungry and eating up his newfound fame. I can't think of another reason why someone would make that career decision.

u/bkwyrm · 6 pointsr/Jessicamshannon

Along with Mary Roach’s Stiff, I have often recommended
Last Breath: Cautionary Tales from the Limits of Human Endurance
. The former is science writing about cadavers, albeit lighthearted, and the latter is a collections of essays-wrapped-in-fictional-example (for lack of a better term) about what the body and mind go through when dying in various ways.

u/njndirish · 6 pointsr/EnoughTrumpSpam

While I rarely shill, I recommend to all the people of /r/EnoughTrumpSpam to read Anti-Intellectualism in American Life by renowned historian Richard Hofstadter. It reminds you that this is not a new line of thought in America, but rather one that predates the establishment of the country.

u/guitar_gabe · 6 pointsr/ChapoTrapHouse

No, it’s a sub for fans of this book

u/gatowman · 6 pointsr/Truckers

Study, I dunno. I like to listen to books about nuclear science, nuclear power, weapons, accidents and the like while I'm driving. I don't do many fiction books.

While it may not be studying, learning about the world around you can help expand your mind and keep it active while you're focusing on the road. I've listened to these books a few times over by now.

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
Link 5
Link 6

u/feelslikemagic · 6 pointsr/todayilearned

Szilard is featured prominently in Richard Rhodes’s The Making of the Atomic Bomb, which is probably the best and most accessible history of the Manhattan Project ever written. It also has the greatest opening paragraph of any book, ever:

>In London, where Southampton Row passes Russell Square, across from the British Museum in Bloomsbury, Leo Szilárd waited irritably one gray Depression morning for the stoplight to change. A trace of rain had fallen during the night; Tuesday, September 12, 1933, dawned cool, humid and dull. Drizzling rain would begin again in early afternoon. When Szilárd told the story later he never mentioned his destination that morning. He may have had none; he often walked to think. In any case another destination intervened. The stoplight changed to green. Szilárd stepped off the curb. As he crossed the street time cracked open before him and he saw a way to the future, death into the world and all our woes, the shape of things to come.

u/Ibrey · 6 pointsr/Catholicism

Truman approved the bombing of Hiroshima in the erroneous belief that it was a military base and not a city with a military base in it.

Truman gave a radio address on August 9, 1945 in which he said:

> The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians. But that attack is only a warning of things to come. If Japan does not surrender, bombs will have to be dropped on her war industries and, unfortunately, thousands of civilian lives will be lost. I urge Japanese civilians to leave industrial cities immediately, and save themselves from destruction.

Truman wrote this speech himself. He tells us in a note in his handwriting dated "Aug 10 '45",

> While all this has been going on, I've been trying to get ready a radio address to the nation on the Berlin conference. Made the first draft on the ship coming back. Discussed it with Byrnes, Rosenman, Ben Cohen, Leahy and Charlie Ross. Rewrote it four times and then the Japs offered to surrender and it had to be done again. As first put up it contained 4500 words and a thousand had to be taken out. It caused me a week of headaches but finally seemed to go over all right when it was said over the radio at 10 P.M. tonight.

A photograph even shows him writing it.

In earlier drafts of this speech, Truman used even stronger language, asserting Hiroshima was "purely a military base." Truman also wrote to Sen. Russell on August 9, in response to a telegram in which Russell had urged that Tokyo be "utterly destroyed," that bombing civilians was still only something that might happen in the future:

> For myself, I certainly regret the necessity of wiping out whole populations because of the "pigheadedness’ of the leaders of a nation and for your information, I am not going to do it unless it is absolutely necessary. It is my opinion that after the Russians enter into war the Japanese will very shortly fold up.

> My object is to save as many American lives as possible but I also have a humane feeling for the women and children in Japan.

Truman was likely misled by the advice of Henry Stimson.

Stimson had a meeting with General Groves on the morning of May 30 to discuss the targets of the atomic bombs, with the target committee's leading choice being Kyoto. Kyoto was a major rail link between Tokyo and Osaka, contained factories manufacturing armaments, was a "typical Jap city" whose wooden houses would easily burn, was a highly culturally significant city whose destruction would have a great psychological impact, and was home to intellectuals who would appreciate the significance of the new bomb. Groves later recalled that Stimson told him bluntly, "I don't want Kyoto bombed." On June 1, Stimson wrote in his diary that he had told General Arnold "there was one city that they must not bomb without my permission and that was Kyoto."

Stimson took his concern for Kyoto straight to the top. On July 24, 1945, he met with Truman and wrote in his diary,

> We had a few words more about the S-1 program, and I again gave him my reasons for eliminating one of the proposed targets. He again reiterated with the utmost emphasis his own concurring belief on that subject, and he was particularly emphatic in agreeing with my suggestion that if elimination was not done, the bitterness which would be caused by such a wanton act might make it impossible during the long post-war period to reconcile the Japanese to us in that area rather than to the Russians. It might thus, I pointed out, be the means of preventing what our policy demanded, namely a sympathetic Japan to the United States in case there should be any aggression by Russia in Manchuria

What did Truman take away from this meeting? He wrote in his diary,

> This weapon is to be used against Japan between now and August 10^(th). I have told the Sec. of War, Mr Stimson to use it so that military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children. Even if the Japs are savages, ruthless, merciless and fanatic, we as the leader of the world for the common welfare cannot drop this terrible bomb on the old Capitol [Kyoto] or the new.

> He + I are in accord. The target will be a purely military one and we will issue a warning statement asking the Japs to surrender and save lives. I'm sure they will not do that but we will have given them the chance. It is certainly a good thing for the world that Hitler's crowd or Stalin's did not discover this atomic bomb. It seems to be the most terrible thing ever discovered, but it can be made the most useful.

Truman appears to have come away with the impression that Kyoto was a civilian target and the other options were military ones, when in reality every place on the target committee's list was a city inhabited primarily by civilians.

On August 10, 1945, Henry A. Wallace wrote in his diary of that morning's Cabinet meeting,

> Truman said he had given orders to stop atomic bombing. He said the thought of wiping out another 100,000 people was too horrible. He didn't like the idea of killing, as he said, "all those kids."

After that date, Truman no longer says that he has avoided killing innocent civilians with atomic bombs. Now he says that this is just what atomic bombs do. In a December 1945 speech (p. 13), he claims that when he and Stimson talked about whether the bomb should be used, "I couldn't help but think of the necessity of blotting out women and children and non-combatants." In 1948, he said, "this isn’t a military weapon. It is used to wipe out women and children and unarmed people, and not for military uses. So we have got to treat this differently from rifles and cannon and ordinary things like that."

But to get more directly to your question: by that point in the war, any true purely military target that would have been worth nuking had already been bombed. The Army Air Force had literally been ordered to suspend them bombing of certain cities just so there would be some sufficiently impressive targets left for the atomic bombs. A warning shot over an unpopulated area was also considered, but this option was never put before Truman.

u/Barnst · 6 pointsr/tuesday

I agree with your concerns for the future of the moderate left, especially when I see the likes of Sanders and Corbyn. But, honestly, the party’s are responding to the incentives given to them. The last generation of liberal politicians was the most moderate produced by either political system in a generation. And what did they have to show for it? Torn apart by both sides as out-of-touch elite technocrats, with the attack from the right feeling even more vicious for the party’s moderation.

A couple of decades of that also makes it pretty hard to muster the energy to say, “no, no, we should take the other side’s concerns seriously.”

Take Kevin Williamson. I honestly just don’t have much concern left for defending the author of this. Jonah Goldberg is another good example. I follow him on Twitter and like his dogs, but every time he says something about civility in discourse, this cover flashes through my head.

My grandparents emigrated from the bloodlands of Europe of world war 2. I was raised to be well aware of the horrors of totalitarianism from either side of the spectrum. Telling me that because I think government has a role in the solution to societal problems puts me on the slippery spectrum to Stalin and Hitler is both intellectually lazy and deeply personally infuriating. It’s better articulated and researched, but it strikes the same chord with me as old school John Birch Society crap. It’s exactly why the one point I reacted against in the first place was claiming that no one links liberalism and communism.

So what motivation do I have to come to the defense of thinkers who apparently are willing to lump my political preferences in the same camp as the 20th century’s worst monsters? Again, I understand that nothing I’m saying is particularly fair or constructive, and you could point to plenty of authors on the left guilty of similar rhetoric. But I also don’t see a groundswell of discussion insisting that those authors get a voice on Fox News or the National Review. I’m tired of being in the only camp (moderate liberals) apparently expected to take everyone’s views and preferences into account.

u/SporkOfThor · 6 pointsr/politics

This guy nails it. "A brilliant analysis-and funny to boot-What's the Matter with Kansas? is a vivid portrait of an upside-down world where blue-collar patriots recite the Pledge while they strangle their life chances; where small farmers cast their votes for a Wall Street order that will eventually push them off their land; and where a group of frat boys, lawyers, and CEOs has managed to convince the country that it speaks on behalf of the People."

u/jub-jub-bird · 6 pointsr/PoliticalDiscussion

> A Democrat will blugeon the customer over the head with moral outrage and smug superiority because their "customer" is too much of a "dumb redneck" to see the amazing wonders of the same old product they've been offering.

This could be the cover blurb for "What's the Matter with Kansas?"

u/ExileOnMyStreet · 6 pointsr/worldpolitics

He did not throw...oh, for fuck's sake, just google the background.
Then read.

An read some more.

Or watch a movie.

u/Cool_Bastard · 6 pointsr/samharris

It sounds like you have two subjects, Sam Harris on Israel and is there anything stopping them. I am no friend to Islam, in fact I am in agreement with Sam that "it's the mother load of bad ideas." However, my feelings towards Islam does not blind me to the plight of the Palestinians. It's painful to watch and the sorrow that Israel heaps upon them only fuels and legitimizes the Arab/Muslim world against the West, specifically the US for funding Israel. What is going on there is nothing short of globally accepted genocide.

I too am a huge fan of Sam Harris. For the most part, I agree with everything he so eloquently states...except for Israel. I listen to his podcast every day and find myself marveling at his use of the English language in expressing such well thought out concepts and ideas. However, I try to avoid his talks on Israel, but it's really not that hard since it doesn't come up much. I just accept him for being soft on the subject.

Regarding "nothing stopping them" I hate to submit to the idea that they are on the path to steamroll all Palestinians and nothing will stop them. As long as the US is their money-guy, they will do whatever they want and nobody can say anything. Why? Because there is a huge Israeli lobby by the name of AIPAC that will destroy any American politician that questions Israel. They are organized towards one goal and fund both right and left leaning politicians and to see that goal come true, which is to ensure Israel takes ownership of the entire country of Israel and push out the Palestinians. Zionism is alive and well and its victim is the Palestinian people. Unfortunately, to say anything about the subject turns the speaker into a bigot and antisemite; there is no room to criticize Israel.

I suggest reading two books on the subject The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy and Jimmy Carter's Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.

u/Disquestrian · 6 pointsr/The_Donald

Entirely different situation with this woman. Rahm in Chicago is a dual citizen. His loyalty is not to the US. His father was an Irgun terrorist, the group that "taught the Palestinians all they know". Many false flags ( King David Hotel, USS Liberty) and used white phophorous on Palestinians as late as 2014. Please research on actual non Mossad propaganda on the situation. Hard to find, not impossible. Start with www.Mondoweiss.net

US Politicians Who Hold Dual US/Israeli Citizenship (as of 2014... More now)
http://american3rdposition.com/?p=12767

The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy
https://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501

u/CorticoefferentCrab · 6 pointsr/ChapoTrapHouse

US imperial ambitions in the Middle East, and in particular the Levant, are themselves motivated to a large extent by Israeli "security interests." From a pure geopolitics standpoint Israel is way more trouble than it's worth. It's not antisemitic to acknowledge that the Israel lobby plays a huge role in directing US foreign policy.

u/photalysis

u/quietpheasants · 6 pointsr/politics

Yep, it's been going on since the late '70s. The Koch brothers and their billionaire friends (Richard Scaife, Rich DeVos, John M. Olin) have been slowly, systematically filling the government and academics from the bottom up with corporate-friendly lackeys.

Source: Jane Mayer's Dark Money

u/FB-22 · 6 pointsr/DebateAltRight

Similar but not the same.

Racial Differences in Crime Holding IQ Constant

Two studies have looked at what happens to racial crime differences after IQ is held constant. First, Beaver et al. (2013) looked at the degree to which racial differences in crime disappeared after controlling for self-reported life time violence and verbal IQ. Their sample consisted of  3,029 males.

African American men were 43% more likely to be arrested than White men. However, this dropped to a statistically insignificant 13% after controlling for life time violence and IQ. Before applying the controls, Black men were 56% more likely to have been incarcerated. After applying controls, this figure dropped to a statistically insignificant 18%. Finally, once arrested Black men were 50% more likely to end up incarcerated and, after applying these controls, that value dropped to a statistically insignificant 24%.

Secondly, Herrnstein and Murray (1994) analyzed a large nationally representative data set and found that the Black-White incarceration gap decreased by nearly ¾ after simply controlling for age and IQ.

Thus, racial differences in IQ probably explain a good deal of the Black-White crime gap, though not all of it.

u/LBKosmo · 6 pointsr/news
u/citizen_reddit · 6 pointsr/AdviceAnimals

If you read Lies My Teacher Told Me the author touches upon this concept. A certain cultural and societal mindset was required - for the most part (vastly simplified) the Chinese simply lacked the motivation or mindset to do what Europe did.

u/h54 · 6 pointsr/TrueAskReddit

There are tons of examples out there. American interventionism was following an upward trajectory in the late 19th century. The Philippines, Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, Russia, etc, etc were all targets of American intervention. Wilson invaded more nations than any other president in US history.

This book is a pretty good starting point:
http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281

u/rougepenguin · 6 pointsr/worldnews

Regardless of what you think about the idea of cyclical generations, Strauss & Howe do talk a lot about this in their work. It was written in 1997, but The Fourth Turning had a final section that was all about what they thought the next 20 or so years would look like if we entered a "crisis era" like that around the two World Wars.

If you don't get hung up on specifics, it's more accurate than you'd think. Like, they talk about a refocus on family values leading to a big backlash against no-fault divorce. We never really saw that, but everything they say was a dead ringer for the gay marriage debate, the reasons behind it, and how it played out. It's at least an interesting read.

u/LettersFromTheSky · 6 pointsr/politics

It is very interesting, two guys (Neil Howe and William Strauss) using their research based on generation cycles correctly predicted in 1997 that some kind of event between 2005 and 2008 would happen that would be the catalyst to fundamentally change America. Low and behold, what happened in 2008? We had a economic crash and a financial crisis. Here is a 35 min video of them on CSPAN from 1997 talking about their generational theory and research:

Neil Howe and William Strauss on The Fourth Turning in 1997 CSpan

The Fourth Turning is the first book they wrote detailing their research. (William Strauss passed away in 2007).

Strauss-Howe Generational Theory

To give you some perspective, the Millennial Generation is what they call a "Hero Generation". The most recent example of a "Hero Generation" is the generation that grew up during the Great Depression and fought in WW2 (which that generation is virtually gone now).

>Hero generations are born after an Awakening, during a time of individual pragmatism, self-reliance, and laissez faire (hmm that sounds kind of like our last 30 years). Heroes grow up as increasingly protected post-Awakening children, come of age as team-oriented young optimists during a Crisis, emerge as energetic, overly-confident midlifers, and age into politically powerful elders attacked by another Awakening. Their main societal contributions are in the area of community, affluence, and technology. Their best-known historical leaders include Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John F. Kennedy. These have been vigorous and rational institution builders. In midlife, all have been aggressive advocates of economic prosperity and public optimism, and all have maintained a reputation for civic energy and competence in old age.

If you have any interest in this kind of stuff, I highly recommend reading their book:

The Fourth Turning: What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America’s Next Rendezvous with Destiny(1997)

Neil Howe also published a book in 2000:

Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation

To quote one of the reviews:

>Still, the book is engrossing reading. It was actually recommended to me by a distinguished U.S. Army officer who suggested that the book could give military leaders insights into the wave of young people currently entering the armed services. I believe that many other professionals could also benefit from a critical reading of this book.


The recent research conducted today about the Millennial Generation largely supports Neil Howe and William Strauss generational theory.

Those two guy should be given some kind of recognition for their work.

u/shortbaldman · 6 pointsr/collapse

Further reading: "The Fourth Turning"

u/HighHorseHenryLee · 6 pointsr/The_Donald

Roosevelt was one of the first major Progressives of his day and his activism brought about the war mindset many progressive liberals have. When in war, there's no room for basic human decency, rationality, etc. Hence the left's irrational "wars" on climate change, capitalism, healthy eating. There's a good book about this subject

https://www.amazon.com/Liberal-Fascism-American-Mussolini-Politics/dp/0767917189

u/garhent · 6 pointsr/IAmA

Don't have to you proved my point.

I worked EOD. Besides cleaning up IED's, we also did post blast and safing of areas. You see enough death and you look at the consequence of politicians you tend to go you know what this is a bad idea. Ten years later, areas that were supposedly safe, have people being put in cages and melted in acid, troops we trained refused to fight and let cities get captured by ISIS because fuck them they are Sunni and we are Shia and a number of repressive type behavior came from the Iraqi government. The people had it better under Saddam.

So peace muscles, why don't you read War is a Racket.

u/thebrightsideoflife · 6 pointsr/politics

Have you read up on the Saudi support of Al queda and the taliban? Or the numerous times that the US government had knowledge of the 9/11 terrorists moving around in the US and getting trained.. and did nothing?

>What he also should have done was get us in, and get us out.

ummm.. that wasn't the point though. The point was to establish an occupation and begin a nation-building exercise that would funnel money into the hands of contractors and thieves.

... and yet you want to go "blitz" into Afghanistan after the Taliban? Neocons crack me up when they call for outrageous nation-building fiascos and at the same time call themselves "conservative", but Democrats trying to justify a failed occupation are even more funny.

u/shadowofashadow · 6 pointsr/conspiracy

> We just really wanted to get bogged down fighting for decades in Afghanistan?

Bogged down? Do you not understand that spending a decade fighting in Afghanistan lines the pockets of the people who made the decision to go there?

http://www.amazon.com/War-Racket-Antiwar-Americas-Decorated/dp/0922915865


You need to get reading.


>Building 7 was hit with a perimeter column from the collapse of the main towers which caused it to become unstable and it was "pulled" down with cables to create a safer collapse.

None of this is true. If it is please provide citations. NIST itself says the debris from the other towers had no significant role in the collapse. There is no evidence whatsoever of cables being used to pull it down.

I think the reason you don't understand this conspiracy at all is because you are not aware of the facts.

u/techumenical · 6 pointsr/books

I'd recommend 1491 by Charles Mann over Guns, Germs, and Steel. It tries to answer the same questions regarding the apparent gap in technology between new world and old world peoples without resorting to geographical determinism--which, to me at least, felt like a bit of a stretch. 1491 is a good source for learning about science/technologies that fell by the wayside as new world clashed with old world (textile technology, using fire to shape one's environment, etc.).

u/gblancag · 6 pointsr/AskWomen

I'm traditionally more into literary fiction, but I've been exploring non-fiction recently.

Currently Reading: 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

Recently Finished: The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration and Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam Trilogy

Next on the List: Either Guns Germs and Steel or Devil in the White City. Haven't decided yet

u/MattieF · 6 pointsr/Futurology

In our era carbon capture brings the greatest measurable benefit, and it's young growth that accomplishes that most effectively.

Given the degree to which Native Americans cleared brush before their populations were encumbered by European disease and predation (see: http://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059), "more trees than 1900" pretty much means more trees than at any time in human history."

Together: That means a hell of a lot.

u/secesh32 · 6 pointsr/history

Read a book called 1491 opened my eyes to a lot of ideas id never heard.
https://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059

u/Guanren · 6 pointsr/funny

The book 1491 goes into this at length.

Largely what we would call circumstantial, but convincing, although you'll probably be reluctant to be convinced (as I was) because it's so mind-numbing depressing to think about.

Note: This was just after Columbus.

u/Daaachiefs · 6 pointsr/ShitAmericansSay

Yes. You could write a book with this as a premise. in fact there is a book that everyone in this sub would like. It's called "a people's history of the United States" by Howard Zinn. It's a classic book that is a detailed criticism of the US policies over the years. Treatment of native Americans, slavery, women's rights, treatment of immigrants in the early 1900s, Vietnam, all the way to bush and Iraq. All the stuff we didn't go into much in school. We have a very biased version of history taught in our schools. Everything is spun in a way to make America good.

Link to book https://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States/dp/0060838655

u/OnionMan69 · 6 pointsr/todayilearned

You don't?

Because for a very long time in this country. In fact, for most of it's history, this country was violently racist. In fact, so many people of color were left out of opportunities that cost them their children's birthright, all to satisfy a status quo of whites first and everyone else dead.

Capice?

Live Read a little!

u/BowlOfCandy · 6 pointsr/technology

I highly recommend the book A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. RIP.

u/Wunishikan · 6 pointsr/socialism

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn is good, although it talks more about the history of labor and oppression in the US than about what socialism itself is. Still, it's quite eye-opening, and this was the book that turned me.

u/Cyhawk · 5 pointsr/TumblrInAction

The Redneck Manifesto, Jim Goad puts a good finger on why exactly people in the US confuse class with race and even predicted the rise of SJWs to some extent years ago. Other material such as Lies my Teacher Told me and A people's history of the United States help put a better perspective from a historical standpoint.

TL;DR the books: The Wealthy (read: Not rich, but wealthy) decided that after the Civil War and after the conclusion of the French Revolution, they would pit the poor against each other and fight for the scraps instead of turning their eyes upward and see who is dropping the scraps. Seems to be working well.

u/Captain_Midnight · 5 pointsr/AskReddit
u/twitchster · 5 pointsr/Firearms

Gitmo, the secret prisons in Chicago, and Stop and Frisk, are all rights violations.

I do not support any rights violations by the Fed, State, or Local Governments.

You have a choice - you may stay ignorant.

OR - you can be come educated.

I advise reading the following:

Battle of Athens:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946)

TLDR: WWII Vets remove corrupt Mayor & Sheriff from office, after inaction from the Fed.


This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed:

http://www.amazon.com/This-Nonviolent-Stuffll-Get-Killed/dp/0465033105

TLDR: Visiting Martin Luther King Jr. at the peak of the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott, journalist William Worthy almost sat on a loaded pistol. “Just for self defense,” King assured him. It was not the only weapon King kept for such a purpose; one of his advisors remembered the reverend’s Montgomery, Alabama home as “an arsenal.”

Like King, many ostensibly “nonviolent” civil rights activists embraced their constitutional right to selfprotection—yet this crucial dimension of the Afro-American freedom struggle has been long ignored by history.


A People's History of the United States

http://www.amazon.com/A-Peoples-History-United-States/dp/0060838655

TLDR: We have a 40 hour work week, weekends, the right to organize and join a Union. All purchased with bloodshed, and via the barrel of a gun.

Banning guns = Tyranny.

All forward social progress will cease if we give in to tyranny.

u/output_overload · 5 pointsr/politics

Ever heard of a history book?

The People's History of the United States.

You should read it.

u/labrutued · 5 pointsr/Anarchism

All history you learn in high school is that kind of bullshit. Unfortunately, a lot of history books will give you the propaganda dissipated at the time as fact, much as I imagine nationalistic history books written in 200 years will quote from CNN and Fox to describe Bush's great war against the terrorists who hate our freedom. People don't like questioning nationalistic mythologies. Especially when they explain that we're all great heroes of idealistic freedom.

Given that you're on /r/Anarchism, you'd probably enjoy A People's History of the United States. Or really anything by Howard Zinn. The Populist Movement by Lawrence Goodwyn is good for talking about the post-Civil War era economic bullshit. Any biographies or autobiographies of the founders (even those written from a nationalistic point of view) will be unable to hide their business dealings and positions of power before, during, and after the revolution.

Any decent US history class you take should have a good list of readings. Better than I can remember off the top of my head.

If you have a Kindle The Autobiography of Ben Franklin is free and goes into great detail about his wealth, his positions in the Pennsylvania colonial government before the revolution, and his terms as President of Pennsylvania after the revolution (before the Constitution was adopted abolishing such positions). It does, of course, completely gloss over the fact that he knocked up a prostitute at 19, or that he was constantly having affairs. But often history is about recognizing what people aren't saying.

u/PatsyTy · 5 pointsr/CombatFootage

If you're ever interested in learning about the lead up to 9/11 in full immaculate detail read Steve Coll's Ghost Wars. At around six hundred pages the book is quite long, but it is the most in depth analysis of what was happening on the ground of Afghanistan from the 70s through to 2001. Coll manages to do this in a uniquely non-partisan way, that I have found to be lacking in most books on the wars in the middle east.

u/Pardoism · 5 pointsr/videos

Stolen from here: "Al Qaeda is a global terrorist movement with the United States (including the American homeland) as a prominent, if not the primary, target. The Taliban is a Pashtun political movement with a focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan's largely Pashtun border".

Basically, the Taliban mainly cares about Afghanistan, Al Qaida cares about the whole of the Islamic world. They're active in lots of countries.

It's not that easy to explain, unfortunately. If you're really interested, I recommend the book "Ghost Wars".

u/Box_of_Rain_1776 · 5 pointsr/antifa

You don't even know what that term means.

www.amazon.com/Liberal-Fascism-American-Mussolini-Politics/dp/0767917189

u/ovoutland · 5 pointsr/politics

This.

>The largely blue collar citizens of Kansas can be counted upon to be a "red" state in any election, voting solidly Republican and possessing a deep animosity toward the left. This, according to author Thomas Frank, is a pretty self-defeating phenomenon, given that the policies of the Republican Party benefit the wealthy and powerful at the great expense of the average worker. According to Frank, the conservative establishment has tricked Kansans, playing up the emotional touchstones of conservatism and perpetuating a sense of a vast liberal empire out to crush traditional values while barely ever discussing the Republicans' actual economic policies and what they mean to the working class. Thus the pro-life Kansas factory worker who listens to Rush Limbaugh will repeatedly vote for the party that is less likely to protect his safety, less likely to protect his job, and less likely to benefit him economically.

u/Kazmarov · 5 pointsr/circlebroke2

If you look at the states with the lowest per capita income, a large chunk of which are the former Confederacy, it's a split. Mississippi has a large black population voting overwhelmingly Democratic, and a white population voting overwhelmingly Republican (now that the parties have finally switched polarities). The split is cultural/racial, despite the fact that the black and white working class in the state have far more things in common than differences.

My dad recommends What's the Matter with Kansas? as a way to show the split between the economic status of conservative voters and those that benefit from conservative policies.

u/northshore12 · 5 pointsr/politics
u/SiameseGunKiss · 5 pointsr/Frugal

If you wouldn't be weirded out by it, I high recommend reading Stiff. It's a really great read about the various ways they use cadavers for scientific research. It's actually quite helpful and important. There's a story in there about medical students at a University (I can't remember which) who would have memorial services for their cadavers at the end of the semester. Really neat stuff.

u/GunboatDiplomats · 5 pointsr/videos

I'm seriously in love with her now.

Black or white, the distain for education, learning, and "professionalism" is deep seated in our country. This.

u/fedel-constro · 5 pointsr/DebateReligion

I know I'm late to the party and there are a lot of good answers, and there are a lot of "hur der cause koran" replies...

This isn't so much on the extremism rise in Islam but more to the anti-western sentiment. This is more of a summary and lacking a lot of detail but a lot of it can be traced back to Operation Ajax in 1953 where MI6, with the help of the CIA, decided to overthrow the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and put "their guy" (the Shah) in charge because Mosaddegh wanted to nationalize Iranian oil, thus making AIOC (now part of BP) pay more taxes if they wanted to drill in Iran.

It is hard to make a TLDR to the situation in Iran between the coup and the revolution in 1979 but essentially. Shah turned out to be a dick as a ruler, people were pissed at the US and GB for helping force the pro west regime change, started gathering in mosques since the Shah banned public gatherings due to riots, anti-west / radical clerics get into the heads of people that are pissed and things start going downhill from there.

Now you have a hard anti-west sentiment growing around the region and the west essentially cock blocking any attempt at people getting back on their feet so you have a lot of poor, uneducated people that have a lot of hate toward the US. They may not be completely sure why but as is the case with most extremely uneducated people they listen to what they consider to be smart people, in this case the clerics who are telling them to hate the US even more. A lot of the terrorists in the field (the meat shields sent out to die) are illiterate and couldn't read the Koran if you put it in front of them so they only know what they are told.

It doesn't help the US when it decides to go in every few years and bomb things back to the stone age. There may be justification to some of the bombing like removing someone who is truly bad but some of the people that live there don't see it that way, obviously. All they see is the US rolling in with their tanks blowing their houses and killing their children. This doesn't justify what the terrorists are doing by any means in my opinion but it may help shed some light on why they are doing it.

The more detailed read you could start with:
1953 Iranian coup d'état - Wiki


Steven Kinzer's - All the Shah's Men and Overthrow are also pretty good.

u/LaunchThePolaris · 5 pointsr/Documentaries

Overthrowing Mossadegh was one of the greatest mistakes America ever made. This is an excellent book on the subject if you're interested.

u/HotRodLincoln · 5 pointsr/AskReddit
u/HijodelSol · 5 pointsr/AskReddit

There is short book I read to that effect. "Lies My Teacher Told Me" Good, interesting bits of history that you won't get in high school. Which is where I assume most of us stop studying history.

u/Early_Deuce · 5 pointsr/AskReddit

Also good: James Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me.

Topics that US history textbooks always get wrong (Reconstruction, settler-Native American interactions, deification of American heroes) or leave out (minorities, the Vietnam War).

u/sweetlou · 5 pointsr/politics

Also in the "conspiracy theory" category:
Ghost Wars, an enthralling piece of investigave journalism done by the Washington Post's Steve Coll about the rise of bin Laden: http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/0143034669/ref=pd_ts_b_6?ie=UTF8&s=books
Hubris, another excellent investigative book about how the Bush Administration sold the Iraq War:
http://www.amazon.com/Hubris-Inside-Story-Scandal-Selling/dp/030734682X/ref=pd_ts_b_22?ie=UTF8&s=books
Conspiracy of Fools, a book about how Enron collapsed. I guess it's not really a "conspiracy theory" book in that it describes a conspiracy that actually took place and for which people were convicted.

u/InterPunct · 5 pointsr/MapPorn

Great map, one of the best I've seen.

You may enjoy this book: American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America

https://www.amazon.com/American-Nations-History-Regional-Cultures/dp/0143122029

I'll advocate for one small change to the map, New York City and the Hudson Valley should be its own thing. Call it New Amsterdam or New Netherlands. This would range from Brooklyn (excluding Long Island) and up the east side of the Hudson River to Albany.

u/Funktapus · 5 pointsr/MapPorn

My misconception was that were common standards of decency. As in "universal". That isn't the case, and I acknowledge that now.

What Trump does is completely indecent according to myself and most people I've ever interacted with. I also find most of the behavior of Trump's supporters at his rallies, etc, to be indecent. Revolting, even.

Obviously, the communities who voted for Trump find him to be decent, and think its decent to behave as they did during and after the election.

So we clearly disagree on what constitutes decency. There is no common standard of decency. There is no consensus on "American" values. We are (at least) two peoples, and we can either acknowledge that and start coming up with a federal system that respects that, or we can devolve into chaos. I don't think we need to split into two countries, but we need to start separating the culture wars from federal governance, and that likely means decentralizing certain legislative functions.

Great book on the subject, and there's a 2016 follow-up

u/spidermonk · 5 pointsr/worldnews

Also I wouldn't be super confident about that - reading this book shows that the security and safety of nuclear weapons has historically been pretty slap dash.

u/tugs_cub · 5 pointsr/ChapoTrapHouse

anybody who is tired of not being worried about accidental nuclear annihilation should check out this book

u/fingerrockets · 5 pointsr/news

Read Command and Control it's far from the first time Airmen were getting high while working around nukes.

u/jonlucc · 5 pointsr/politics

It's a bit of a mixed bag, if you look at the Politifact tracker. Even so, we're never going to have transparency into the DoD or intelligence operations. There's a book called Legacy of Ashes that points out that the very existence of an intelligence office is counter to an open democracy. That really made it clear to me that we can't actually have everything in the open, and we elect officials to be in those dim rooms seeing what we can't and making decisions in our best interest.

u/Monkeyavelli · 5 pointsr/AskReddit

>We basically have a history of doing incredibly stupid things in foreign territory when our government has an interest in getting into a fight.

You find it easier to believe that our government is run by evil geniuses than by idiots who do stupid shit?

You should read Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner. You'll find that it's a history of complete bumbling and fuck-ups. Yes, even the Iranian coup they love to claim was success by blind luck despite their mistakes. Even JFK; not that they killed him, but that they worked overtime to hinder the investigation by the FBI to cover up their own idiot adventures in Cuba and elsewhere under JFK.

These theories just don't hold up. It's comforting to think there's a plan somewhere, even an evil one, that's guiding everything, but there really isn't.

u/DimitriRavinoff · 5 pointsr/todayilearned

From what I understand, the CIA had been running operations to assassinate Castro without Congress' consent and they thought/think that the Kennedy assassination was retaliation.

See here for a good history of the CIA and this incident in particular -- https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Ashes-History-Tim-Weiner/dp/0307389006

u/ShellOilNigeria · 5 pointsr/news

Indeed.

The CIA is responsible for some crazy shit.

I don't know if you have ever read Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner but it's a great book that talks about the agency from it's founding up to the 2000's.

http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Ashes-The-History-CIA/dp/0307389006

u/kbergstr · 5 pointsr/TrueReddit

This is pretty much the thesis of Legacy of Ashes - The History of the CIA about the history of mistakes and failures in the CIA. It's obviously biased against the intelligence community, but it makes some pretty damning claims.

u/MiG31_Foxhound · 5 pointsr/CatastrophicFailure

It's quite a lot to bite off, but everything you want is contained in these four books:

https://www.amazon.com/Making-Atomic-Bomb-25th-Anniversary/dp/1451677618/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Sun-Making-Hydrogen-Bomb-ebook/dp/B008TRUB6O/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.com/Arsenals-Folly-Richard-Rhodes-ebook/dp/B000W93DEO/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Bombs-Challenges-Dangers-Prospects-ebook/dp/B003F3PKXQ/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Rhodes is the guy for nuclear history. I've read all four, but the last two are, admittedly, somewhat forgettable. They deal with the continuing command issues surrounding nuclear arsenals and the eventual political movement to eradicate (or, as it happened, simply limit) strategic stockpiles.

That being said, the first two, Making of the Bomb and Dark Sun, are utterly indispensible. The Making of the Atomic Bomb is a Pulitzer Prize-winning, 1986 history of the scientific effort to elucidate the physical principles which led to bombs and of the miliitary-scientific-industrial effort to realize the possibility of a weapon. It discusses many interesting characters within this history, such as Ernest Lawrence, Leo Szilard, and of course, Oppenheimer.

I have to be honest with you - I've saved Dark Sun for last for a reason. This is one of the most phenomenally engaging books I've ever read. It has everything: the creation of doomsday weapons of, and I don't use this term loosely, unimaginable destructive potential and the obsessive quasi-fetishization of their refinement and testing on behalf of the United States' and Soviet militaries. Rhodes discusses the post-war split within the scientific community over whether to develop a hydrogen "Super" bomb, whether to share information relating to it with the Soviet Union, and the factional leveraging of security privileges and political favor to exclude those from research who did not take a sufficiently hard stand against cooperation with the USSR.

Dark Sun details bomb physics and the minutia of the testing program in just enough detail to remain compelling and accessible. Rhodes also does his best to humanize Soviet scientific personnel such as Igor Kurchatov, the father of the Soviet bomb, and the strained relationship they shared with their political patrons, such as the Darth Vader-esque Lavrenti Beria.

I hope this answers your question, and I hope that you enjoy these books as much as I did!

u/duhblow7 · 5 pointsr/politics

I'm gunna buy it. I need other book suggestions to make it $25 for free shipping.

Here are some of my suggestions to others:

>The U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual (Paperback)
>by John A. Nagl
>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0226841510

>Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam (Paperback)
>by John A. Nagl
>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0226567702

>War is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America's Most Decorated Soldier (Paperback)
>by Smedley D. Butler
>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0922915865

>Cultivating Exceptional Cannabis: An Expert Breeder Shares His Secrets (Marijuana Tips Series) (Paperback)
>by DJ Short
>http://www.amazon.com/Cultivating-Exceptional-Cannabis-Breeder-Marijuana/dp/0932551599

u/archaeofieldtech · 5 pointsr/AskHistorians

1491 by Charles Mann is a good read, and it gives some great population stats for the Americas.

I would also recommend searching out some peer-reviewed articles using Google Scholar and search terms like "Cahokia prehistoric population" or something. I don't have specific articles off the top of my head.

u/nikkos350 · 5 pointsr/history

PRobably the Cahokia Mounds in IL. If you are interested in learning more about this topic, check out the book "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cahokia

http://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321907090&sr=8-1

u/iponly · 5 pointsr/WhiteWolfRPG

For books, /r/askhistorians (which has a strong group of indigenous American studies academics) often recommends 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus and downplays Guns Germs and Steel, because Jared Diamond's research process was basically 1. create theory, 2. seek facts to justify theory, and the result is about as flawed as you would expect from that reversal of normal historical analysis. (Mind you, his book blew my mind as much as anyone's when I first read it...)

Or, if you're just asking for rpg books: I don't think White Wolf has anything set in Texas at all. It might be interesting to do 'banes as they lived in Texas before Pentex, and how the arrival of an organizing structure changes them' though. Especially if you take into account the difference in timing between the colonization of the east coast, central america, and texas, there could be repercussions in the spirit world long before your players see human impact. (ex: California didn't have major colonial impact until the 1800s, which is kind of crazy to think about.)

u/581-4094 · 5 pointsr/The_Donald

Please, anyone wanting to understand the Native American / colonial period better please read the books "1491" and "1493" by Charles C Mann
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus https://www.amazon.com/dp/1400032059/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_hKgrybZMMSVPF
They're the most insightful books on the reality of the European migration west and what really happened to the natives of North and South America. Whenever I hear someone opine about the plight of the Native Americans I tell them to read these books first.
I'm someone who has a big heart for their situation, it's just that there's a lot of history to understand on how we got here and it's not all what libs will spout off about.

u/CharlieKillsRats · 5 pointsr/travel

I'm a big fan of the books 1491 and 1493 by Charles C. Mann regarding the history of the Americas before and after Colombus and all of the misconceptions about it and the most up to date analysis of the american cultures.

u/DJ_Molten_Lava · 5 pointsr/politics

Please, read the book Dark Money.

u/Nemester · 5 pointsr/DarkEnlightenment

For people who are interested in more information on AIPAC, there was a book published a few years ago by a Harvard and a university of chicago professor:

http://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501

Here is the wiki on it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Israel_Lobby_and_U.S._Foreign_Policy

u/phil_1991 · 5 pointsr/Ask_Politics

Good question! This relationship has actually come under some academic scrutiny recently. In terms of realpolitik - israel is a US ally where there aren't really a great wealth of state actors who are considered us state allies, so the practical advantages of having a friendly nation state slap bang in the middle of an area that is teeming with anti American sentiment is clear ( arguably due largely to the sheer scale of US intervention in the middle east, which intensified from and after the gulf war in the 1990s, there's a book called "blowback", I forget the author but it could really contextualise the debate). The book I came on here to reccomend to you is by Miershiemer & Walt, called "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" - here's a clumsy amazon link (I'm on my phone) http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0374531501 - it was fairly influential and has been discussed at policy level. It essentially argues that the costs (favourable arms agreements, housing grants [that can't be spent in the legal minefield of Palestine, but, sort of is]) don't actually outweigh the benefits of having Israel as a dedicated ally. It's definitely worth a look because it will weigh up all the pros and cons for you and show you what America gets for its massive expense, and will set out the debate so you can get an edge on the competition, good luck!

u/seepostop · 5 pointsr/politics
u/LX_Emergency · 5 pointsr/Documentaries

You need to read a book. For instance Dark Money by Jane Mayer

Once you've done that come back and talk to me about the Kock brothers.

u/SmallFruitbat · 5 pointsr/YAwriters

I can't see it being a problem. Here's a Goodreads collection of cannibalism books if you need comps. Some appear to be YA.

For research purposes, I would recommend chapters in Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (non-fiction). Contrary to popular belief, The Sex Lives of Cannibals doesn't contain cannibalism. It is hilarious South Pacific travel writing though.

u/caramal · 5 pointsr/politics

I highly suggest you read this book. Changed my world, it did.

States rights were a secondary issue to slavery, but they have been pushed as the issue of the civil war in a campaign that began in Woodrow Wilson's day (if I remember correctly from the book) as the country's backslide back to racism gained a lot of steam.

u/lemme-explain · 5 pointsr/conspiracy

> Racism isn’t rampant. Its factually not.

You and I live in different worlds, with different facts.

> If you really believe racism is thriving, you either don’t interact with real people or you are projecting your own bigotry onto the rest of the world.

LOL. First of all, I'm not a bigot, and if I was, I can't imagine how I would "project" that onto the world and convince myself that racism was both rampant and a serious problem. Bigots do not think that way. Bigots think that the way they think is normal, that everyone agrees with them, and that they are not bigots.


And, I definitely do talk to real people, including real people of color, and I know what they have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. Look, I get where you're coming from -- I grew up in a part of the country that was heavily segregated, where the public schools taught a lot of lies about equality while papering over every bad thing that ever happened in U.S. history. Our 10th grade U.S. history teacher told us that black slaves in the antebellum South were happy to be slaves, and weren't ready for freedom. I later learned that these lies and more are rampant across the South.


And, if you know your history, it makes perfect sense! The Civil War wasn't even that long ago, and the resentment lingers. People don't want to believe that their ancestors were evil, so they tell themselves that blacks are inferior and subhuman. Hell, we get at least a post a day on this forum telling us that blacks do terrible on IQ tests and that there's a conspiracy to hide this. Racism is everywhere around us. It's woven into our culture, inextricably. I could start pointing to examples but it would never end. If you're not seeing it, that's because your eyes aren't open.

u/rabidfurby · 5 pointsr/PoliticalDiscussion

+1, definitely read as much history as you can. I'd highly recommend Lies My Teacher Told Me in addition to Zinn.

u/drewtam · 5 pointsr/TrueChristian

I believe there is a cycle nature to it. Read this book for greater detail.
.
We (America) have had religious revivals at roughly ~70 year intervals since the colony days. These revival periods sets the spiritual paradigm on a national level for each of the following 60 years. The philosophical system gets re-examined in depth during the revival period. But the latest "revival" movement of the 1960-1970's is different, in that instead of a focus on Christianity, a whole new direction was chosen. Coming out of that "new" direction, we are entering a Post-Christian America.
.
There will likely be another religious movement staring in about 15-20 years. How interesting and difficult will that be? Will we go deeper into anti-theism as /u/Croesgadwr put so well?


u/kkrev · 5 pointsr/reddit.com

> there's been surprisingly little generation-level analysis since the gen x stuff faded away.

This guy builds a case that Generation Y represents a sharp contrast to the boomers. He says the psychological profile strongly suggests a throwback to the values of the WWII generation.

This guy also has a lot to say about Generation Y.

> I don't think the generation y label ever really caught on.

It's definitely a real phenomenon and used in marketing circles, at least. It certainly exists as a demographic artifact; it's the generational echo of the boomers.

u/cbyrnesx · 5 pointsr/circlejerk

We leterally are not hitler. http://www.amazon.com/Liberal-Fascism-American-Mussolini-Politics/dp/0767917189
See? fucking libtards.

But srsly tho. I love killing jews. I am hitler.

u/TheFissureMan · 4 pointsr/classic4chan

I'm not talking specifically about war crimes.

History textbooks ignore the role that Native American had in our history. For example, for the first 2 centuries of American history, our government waged constant war against Native American tribes. Many of the democratic principles incorporated into the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were present in the Iroquois Federation. This wasn't coincidence.

When they are discussed, they are written from a one sided view, removing any controversy and often written from the archetype of the savage.

Textbooks also try to give you the impression that if only Native Americans assimilated into European culture, they would have been accepted. However the reality is that Americans did not want Native Americans to assimilate and denied them their basic rights.

Did you use one of these textbooks? These were all critiqued by James Lowen in his book.

  • The American Adventure (1975)

  • American Adventures (1987)

  • American History (1982)

  • The American Pageant (1991)

  • The American Tradition (1984)

  • The American Way (1979)

  • The Challenge of Freedom (1990)

  • Discovering American History (1974)

  • Land of Promise (1983)

  • Life and Liberty (1984)

  • Triumph of the American Nation (1986)

  • The United States: A History of the Republic (1991)

  • The American Pageant (2006)

  • The American Journey (2000)

  • The Americans (2007)

  • America: Pathways to the Present (2005)

  • A History of the United States (2005)

  • Holt American Nation (2003)
u/awesley · 4 pointsr/history

> He was a warhawk and an imperialist.

And a big racist. See Lies My Teacher Told Me

u/potatolicious · 4 pointsr/WTF

There's a really good book that I'm reading right now that goes into detail with this. The book's theme is basically ripping on common American History textbooks for gratuitously false and misleading representations of history and the dangers of it - there are several chapters dealing with race relations and how the North is far from innocent, despite the common view of American history.

u/xxruruxx · 4 pointsr/japan

I went to a top 100 high school and a top 30 university. Didn't actually learn about the destruction of the Americas until my sophomore year of college. The "Thanksgiving" myth is one of the most insulting--which public school only reinforces.

I don't think a proper account of the destruction of the Americas is school-appropriate. You know, stabbing pregnant women's bellies with spears and throwing children into pits of knives. Cutting off their hands and tying them around their necks to "go send a message" to the others. Mass executions by hanging or burning at the stake. Dismemberment. Sending the dogs to tear villagers apart from limb to limb. Entire clans hanging themselves in the woods to escape the horrors. Friendly competition on who could torture the best. Slavery. Don't really think the PTA was so keen on this rated R account.

As a matter of fact, I don't believe that any textbook I read actually acknowledges uses the term "genocide" in public education.

You should really read Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, if you actually believe that US public education adequately describes genocide in the Americas. Also, Las Casas is the source for my first paragraph.
___
Edit: Yes, I understand that Las Casas was writing about South America, but I still didn't learn about the Spanish Inquisition in any detail. We were tested more on what resources were valuable, and the names of European Kings.

u/GameMusic · 4 pointsr/Political_Revolution

Read Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong

https://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281

u/keryskerys · 4 pointsr/suggestmeabook

Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen was an eye-opener for me. I read it years ago, and haven't read the updated version, but I did find that one interesting.

Also Michio Kaku's "Hyperspace" is thoroughly entertaining and educational.

u/RushIndustries · 4 pointsr/AskMen

You should read this book, I think you might like it...

https://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281

u/stabbyrum · 4 pointsr/todayilearned

If you are interested in this, I highly recommend Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen. He covers several history books and looks how how each one addresses important events in american history. sometimes it's kinda depressing, but it's a great read.

u/KeithBlenman · 4 pointsr/booksuggestions

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James Loewen
https://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281

u/Magus_Strife · 4 pointsr/The_Donald

There's a book called The Fourth Turning that I would HIGHLY recommend reading. It's by a historian and economist that got together and looked at trends the last few centuries that have lead to our great wars. They found there is a, roughly, 80 year cycle when shit MAJORLY hits the fan, and the generation of young adults has to fix it, for better or worse.

Ex: about 80 years ago was WWII, 1860 was US Civil War, 1780 American Revolution, etc etc (and this is just the US)

If I didn't know that these guys were scientists, I would think they were prophets. They predicted a ton of major events that came to pass including the market collapse and Great Recession and the FACTORS THAT WOULD CAUSE IT... at least 10 years prior to it happening.

The book doesn't take a side (liberal or conservative), it just looks at trends in history and economic factors and calls it like it is. It also stressed the DUTY that you and I and our entire generation has to make sure the world doesn't turn to shit.

Every shits on the millenials and compares us to the "Greatest Generation" from WWII, but the old people from their time were shitting on them and accusing them of being lazy and spoiled just like people are doing to us now. It's just a cycle. Stay strong, dude, and stay positive.

u/Compuwiz85 · 4 pointsr/SandersForPresident

There's this book that was written in the 90's about our generation. It's called The 4th Turning. You might be interested in the theory that generational behaviors follow circadian rhythms and that we may in fact BE an echo of the Greatest Generation, or at least in the same position in the cycle. Check it out!

u/Pseudonymical · 4 pointsr/vexillology

You might be interested in the Shadowrun universe and how they dealt with a futuristic devolution of the US and Canada.
Theres also this book that might pique your interest.

u/Asterion7 · 4 pointsr/himynameisjay

Just got the New Joe Abercrombie book, Short stories set as prequel to the First Law Trilogy. Pretty interesting. Also going to pick up that book I recommended in the Book Club thread yesterday about the history of american politics as different nations/tribes. (http://www.amazon.com/American-Nations-History-Regional-Cultures/dp/0143122029)

u/novangla · 4 pointsr/AskAnAmerican

Different regions of America were settled by different groups with different values, and those haven't gone away. I highly recommend the book American Nations, which is an accessible overview of the differing histories of the 11 major cultural regions.

I study colonial history and even as early as the 1600s, New England cares about education and community welfare more than anywhere else, New York City is diverse and driven by finance, the Southern backcountry is violent and fiercely independent, and the Southern tidewater is driven by inequality and reputation/personal honor.

u/DocGrey187000 · 4 pointsr/JordanPeterson

This article is not written by Sowell. It's slyly written referencing Sowell ideas, by Prof. Richard Cocks (Cocks is white, so I think he [correctly?] believes that referencing the black Sowell gives him cover to express these ideas).


That being said----I think there are solid points here.

The idea that there are distinct cultures in the U.S. that bring baggage with them is interesting to me (see this book https://www.amazon.com/American-Nations-History-Regional-Cultures/dp/0143122029 ).


I think there's a lot of merit to it, and it does explain a lot of our race and culture war.


But ummmm..... a huge part of the collective culture is slavery and an extended apartheid, and it clearly kneecapped black attempts at success repeatedly. Not 200 years ago, not 100 years ago. Oprah Winfrey and Denzel Washington were born during Jim Crow. It had a real depressing effect on accumulating wealth, on strengthening inroads in various sectors, and of developing a culture that believed that effort would be fairly treated and compensated----I mean it really WAS crazy for a black person to believe they could go to medical school a few generations ago, or buy a home in any but a few segregated neighborhoods. That wasn't in their heads, they were openly excluded.


So I think these issues should be added, but not entirely take the place of, discrimination as an explanation for why black folks are struggling relative to whites in America.

u/MMurd0ck · 4 pointsr/brasil

Thanks for bring this.
This is actually a big and important point that our media didn't cover properly.

There is also an interesting theory that says America could be divided in 11 different nations. Which one with their own culture and identity.
https://www.amazon.com/American-Nations-History-Regional-Cultures/dp/0143122029?tag=bisafetynet-20

u/floodcontrol · 4 pointsr/worldnews

Not strictly about that topic but check out Command and Control, it covers the development of U.S. nuclear and nuclear safety policy from inception to present.

Does support some of what CommandoDude is saying, MAD was a U.S. invention. Doesn't cover the Russian aspect of it unfortunately.

u/fealos · 4 pointsr/worldnews

Except torture has been repeatedly shown to be less effective than other methods of interrogation. Read The Black Banners, Legacy of Ashes, or one of the numerous other books that cover the CIA's recent actions before you continue to perpetuate the lie that torture works.

u/NotYoursTruly · 4 pointsr/worldnews

I grew up during the Cold War in a military family that traveled around the world from Germany to Morocco to Japan. The Cold War was just an excuse for the military industrial complex to make a shit-ton of money.
Just like any business there's this thing called 'marketing' where you try to convince the customer they really need your fancy widget. Has worked really well for decades now.
Yes, the Soviet Union was a brutal dictatorship where Stalin murdered millions to keep power. They also lost a substantial amount of their male population during WWII and were ruined economically following the war. They were in no position to project power and if one wishes to do the research the Soviets really did little compared to the brutal dictatorships the US installed. The books listed below go into far greater detail about all of this if you chose to do some research. The Russians are human beings led by a corrupt government they don't support.
The same goes for the US. An 8% approval rating for congress, the lowest they've ever received in US history bears that out. You can't claim to have the moral high ground and be the world's policeman when your own country's people have such low regard for it's leadership.

Legacy of Ashes

http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Ashes-The-History-CIA/dp/0307389006

The Secret History of the CIA

http://www.amazon.com/The-Secret-History-Joseph-Trento/dp/B002GJU3O6

All of Chalmer's Johnson's books

https://www.google.com/search?q=chalmers+johnson&rlz=1C1AFAB_enUS450US450&oq=chalmers+johnson&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i65j0l4.2975j0j8&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8

u/Mookind · 4 pointsr/conspiracy

We do know why they're happening.

Have you ever read a history book? Generally speaking every single discussion* they ever had required a "note taker" and it's our custom to speak about these decisions a couple decades after. Obviously the whole truth isn't out there, and certainly not everyone tells the truth. But the motives behind everything I mentioned were clear as day.

I would encourage you to read books like

http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Ashes-The-History-CIA/dp/0307389006

http://www.amazon.com/Osama-Bin-Laden-Michael-Scheuer/dp/0199898391

http://www.amazon.com/One-Minute-Midnight-Kennedy-Khrushchev/dp/1400078911

These men aren't all powerful, they don't take orders from some homogenous group that always retains the same position. And most importantly the information our leaders are given is often woefully inaccurate. The president more than anyone has the information that he is presented to him manipulated. Although some certainly have been more savvy than others.

u/nusuth · 4 pointsr/TrueReddit

You should read "Legacy of Ashes" if you want to be terrified by just how incompetent the CIA is and has been.

u/FactsBeforeFiction · 4 pointsr/france

je ne connais pas cette histoire, mais l'histoire de la CIA est bien connue malheureusement, "Legacy of Ashes" est un bon bouquin sur le sujet, et ce que l'on sait fait tres peur.

u/loki_racer · 4 pointsr/JoeRogan

Mike should read Legacy of Ashes for a different perspective of the OSS and CIA.

u/mnemosyne-0002 · 4 pointsr/KotakuInAction

Archives for links in comments:

u/HTownian25 · 4 pointsr/politics

NRO was Fake News before it was cool.

Editor and Chief Johan Goldberg famously released Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning way back in 2008, when we were still debating whether Obama was a fake Muslim from Kenya and how long we have to wait for the Death Panels to kill our grandmothers.

That the article spends about eight paragraphs trying to explain how Erza Klein lied about Hillary's popular vote victory really doesn't help it along.

u/MisanthropicScott · 4 pointsr/nyc

From here, if I remember correctly, read it long ago: https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Matter-Kansas-Conservatives-America/dp/080507774X

u/mrmanager237 · 4 pointsr/neoliberal

How did we NOT tell he's a succ?

>the U.S. needs more input from sociology and less from economics

SUCCiology OUT OUT OUT

>The Democrats have been the party of the social safety net, and have long wondered why so many working-class Americans don’t seem to appreciate those benefits.

E C O N O M I C A N X I E T Y: jobs edition

u/SingleMaltWhiskonsin · 4 pointsr/wisconsin

> You were the one citing the 4 of 5 statistic. I assumed you had the data.

FTA, means From The Article. Just quoting from the article. You mentioned an assumption.

> I know several others in similar situations. I don't have data, but that's because I have life experience.

That isn't how any science works. Not even the social sciences which aren't pure or even necessarily just applied sciences, but humanities with scientific principles.

> I lived in a small town for over 20 years.

See, here is where we really need to define what is truly rural and what is urban. There are also costs associated in small towns growing so if you come to a small town, and say you build new, those houses unlike the original ones, will have impact fees built into the cost. What you might not realize is that housing over the last few decades has gotten significantly more expensive, often because of sprawl or lack of efficiency.

Any its not the point of you car breaking down. What if you have an ongoing problem, what if the mechanic is busy? The point being you can be seriously inconvenience, and since you offered it as advice of how to live cheaply why should we assume some has a brand spanking new car. It likely might be a car that needs maintenance.

> I lived in a town of 10,000 people. You don't need to leave, especially with internet access.

Well I've know plenty of people in towns of 10,000 people and they often were bored out of their minds, so they would drive to the next closest larger city for things to do.

> Yeah, but the initial water quality is what we were getting at I thought.

No, that's the thing, modern treatment plants can take literally crappy water and turn it into something pristine. I know because I have toured the facilities and know people in the field. I also have a property with a well and have been blessed with good water, yet neighbors down the road have had problems. You need to test regularly, there is just more responsibility to have to worry about.

But see you're talking about a city of 10,000, so you may not really be living all that rural. Depends on how far out you live.

> Fracking issues? Really? Please cite one of these occurrences in Wisconsin.

Does it really matter that it is Wisconsin? You held up your statement like it was a universal truth. Wisconsin honestly has been lucky but note, its not just the fracking itself, but the materials, like sand and water which can drop the water table.

Well have always had this consideration especially if local agriculture sucks the water table down and people have to re-drill to get it.

> I lived in a rural setting for 20 years. I know the situation. I don't have to "trust you" on what I lived.

There is only one fact in that sentence, and even that's sort of debatable. It sounds like you lived in a small town in a rural area that had some of the amenities that larger cities might have especially due to recent advances in technology. Trust is not an issue. Numbers, data, research is what we should seek, and we don't trust those, we verify those. Trust involves faith.

But personal anecdotes are not applicable to general situations. So if that is going to be presented as evidence it may be dismissed by everyone as such. Doesn't mean its not true, just that we have no way of knowing, nor should we trust it, for the reasons stated above.

> Many rural areas are near small towns. A rural county usually has 'the town' that serves that purpose and is only 10-15 minutes away.

That's still travel. Again we're sort picking apart just some simple examples, there could be more, still beside the point. Gas will be more because anything that isn't in immediate proximity will need to either be shipped, or you will need to travel for it. If you hang out online for entertainment and order from Amazon, then the discount rural life might be just fine, if you have good Internet access. Again, if.

> A riding mower? If you're going to have a yard that big, you should probably afford it before you buy it. That's like saying that someone's swimming pool costs are too high.

No, its not. People choose to have a pool. No only chooses the size of their yard, it is part of the parcel they buy. Or were you only talking renting?

> I was saying that people who live in rural areas make less money, many times minimum.

Well then that complicates things further. You make less money in a rural setting, and you supposedly pay less, according to you because you don't have the overhead of the city. But on the flip side the reason people are paid more in the city is because of supply and demand which is why the housing may be more, you may have some more taxes, but all services are far more economical to provide per person or per capita because of economies of scale.

So what you have to do is calculate the CoL rural and compare to CoL urban factoring in all aspects and then compare. You might, I'm not saying you won't. I'm saying its not a guarantee that you will unless you do all the math.

> It might be anecdotal, but it doesn't make it untrue. A strong farming community can support itself.

Never said it did. The problem with anecdotal evidence is that it has a very small sample size so we have no way of knowing the truth until it is no longer anecdotal. I'm saying that you have to look far more into the situation with all the data, and that still doesn't refute the OP which appears to be based on research or non-anecdotal evidence.

But, a strong farm community is harder to find. Why? Because the individual farmers that supported each other are growing scarce being replaced with industrial farming.

> Because cities tend to have liberals who want to spend that money rather than return it to the people who earned it and it's impractical to have a public bus in a town of 500.

Okay, now you are just being silly. If you check Wisconsin history, farmers used to be progressive because they were in battle with the train owners who liked to gouge them for their shipment costs. Its recent manufactured fokelore that Urban=liberal and rural=conservative.

You might actually want to read this one book, What's The Matter with Kansas which shows how of some of what you are referring to came to be.

> It also doesn't mean those problems don't exist in urban areas too.

It seems to be grasping at straws. All areas may have problems. Like I said over concentration has problem, under concentration also has problems. The OP was talking about a problem of rural poverty that any sociologist could tell you is a problem, but you, if I understand correctly, seem to be denying its existence by personal experiences.

> I disagree. I seem to recall hearing constantly during the farm bill debate about why the food stamps were included, and that was the reason I mentioned.

So you heard something once recently and that makes it a fact? You realize that is what is wrong with the current media and public, we don't challenge these ridiculous notions out of hand. Plenty of politicians on either side of the aisle support farm subsidies if it affect them or their people.

The OP topic was "The silent problem - rural poverty is rampant." Unless you have some information to say why the post is completely wrong that doesn't involve your singular personal experience coupled with a few people you know, then we'll have to go with the post having merit and needing further discussion and investigation.

> Have you lived in a rural setting? For how long if so? I get the feeling I'm trying to explain what a burger tastes like to a man with no taste buds.

Actually I know what a good grass fed burger tastes like, but we don't find them as often. Do you know why?

Actually I own a rural property that has been in the family for a couple generations. Its not farmed but it is in a rural setting. And all the problems that I cited, you know the personal anecdotes, those are all things that we contend with when were are there. Do you know why we don't live there full time? Because the city, a reasonable sized city offered many, many more choices especially employment. And grass fed burgers should I desire them.

> I disagree. Plus, if you think rural areas need the help, isn't this a good thing for them?

No. Not at all. Because the money isn't going to local areas that are desperate for tax money to maintain services like schools, another thing that doesn't scale well in the rural setting, no they stay just far enough out. It's a very deliberate tax dodge and its not simply retiring boomers, as many of them may not be well off. These are people who did not make money off the land as farmers but did so elsewhere and now flee from the city with their earnings and create paradise in the middle of nowhere.

> Not really. You can build/buy a 2006 2 million dollar house for $300,000. I know of a sale like that that just happened near my hometown.

This actually is getting to be beside the point, it was a simple observation that raises questions.

To be honest, I think it is more people who like the idea of having wealth that no one can see.

> That's a reasonable retirement mortgage if you invested wisely and are putting the sale of another house toward the purchase.

And if you didn't lose your pension, 401k, job, have a major healthcare problem or any number of circumstances. But that was just an observation. And now we're debating over budget mansions?

I'd go back and read the article itself and see if there wasn't a larger point you missed, no offense. It was never to argue against a rural way of life nor disrespect those who live in a rural setting. Quite the contrary. In fact, since it says it is the title and you said it yourself. You lived in a rural setting and even you don't it to be a problem.

So that means The Silent Poverty rampent in rural areas actually is a mystery especially if neighbors like you are unaware.

u/blindtranche · 4 pointsr/news

I blame the corrupt leaders and co-opted media. While you and I know the reasons for the Iraq war were lies, Fox is now saying we went there to plant the seeds of democracy. The media should be fact checking a excoriating those who lied in the past, but it is not happening. I really don't think that young people taking up arms know how corrupt our current government is. It is hard to believe. I don't want to believe it.

My 17 year old granddaughter, whose 4 year college tuition my wife and I have already paid for in advance, is thinking of enlisting. We are doing out best to disabuse her of the idea that military service protects and promotes freedom. I bought her "War is a Racket" by Smedley Butler She thinks she will be able to serve with her boyfriend who is enlisting and the recruiters are lying. But she thinks she is in love for life and her boyfriend buys the military hero BS hook line and sinker. My granddaughter wants to give her prepaid tuition to her younger sister. She thinks she is being noble. I don't know if you have tried talking sense to a teenager, but they think their life is novel and different from all those who have gone before and that they are the best judge of the nature of reality. She literally has no idea what she would be signing up for.

My own grandmother used to say to me, when unable to set me straight about something in life; "you can't put an old head on young shoulders" and it is true.

Maybe a few kids who enlist want to kill and be bad asses, (there are always a few of those types of people) but I honestly don't think that is the motivation for most. They are duped. It is not their fault that they are young, inexperienced and naive. There are vast forces of propaganda arrayed against them. That is, in my opinion, where the blame lies.

u/T8ert0t · 4 pointsr/worldnews
u/Hatdrop · 4 pointsr/worldnews

war's always been ugly and cruel. pick up this book by two time medal of honor recipient Marine Major General Smeadley Butler called: War is a Racket.

"War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes."

"I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents."

and this was back in the 1930s. Very little has changed. the article mentions how the farmer was working in his poppy fields. that's because we're allowing the manufacturing and distribution of drugs in Afghanistan. this situation is Vietnam and Somalia all over again.

u/TheTeachingMirror · 4 pointsr/Teachers

World History: Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. (It is also made as a documentary now)

US History: A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

In regards to being sensitive for issues like slavery and the Holocaust, I recommend Teaching Tolerance. They have some good resources.

u/heyimamaverick · 4 pointsr/politics

He may be better served by A People's History of the United States.

u/ahhdum · 4 pointsr/esist

Terrorist:

noun
1.
a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.

If you havent already, you should read 'A People's History Of The United States' by Howard Zinn.

u/railzen · 4 pointsr/korea

> I completely disagree with all your points other than the last one. I'm Korean, but I tried to write that from an international perspective. Honestly I didn't put a great deal of thought into the 'unpatriotic' implications because I think we should start moving past the 'OMG KOREA IS THE BEST OMG OMG' narrative that comes from most story concepts written by Koreans that take place in Korea.

Except it's not being written by Koreans.

> The main reason I began with a Japanese protagonist was because I wanted to open with the Sino-Japanese war. I also felt that opening with a Japanese character would be much more marketable to American (the biggest game market) audiences as they are much more familiar to Japan and then gradually introduce Korea as an independent country with significantly different culture. Having a foreign protagonist learning about the country is a tried and true method of doing so. I felt this would be a more appropriate way than to just ram gamers into a completely unfamiliar background leaving them confused.

This is also the same line of reasoning that led to the complete cast white washing of The Last Airbender, 21, Dragonball Evolution, and the upcoming Akira live action film.

It's also a very pathetic trope rooted deeply in racist colonialism.

> I also made the protagonist half-Japanese as I didn't want to drive home a narrative full of racial hate. I want the story to focus more on the evil Templars who (fictionally) took control of the Japanese government and call to attention the fact that evil is not racial, but societal, and that everyone has power to change it. Call that white-washing if you want. Personally I think it's a better way to stop this racial circlejerk bullshit.

I don't understand this line of thought. All it does is continually relegate the poor, beleaguered natives as sheep that can exist only to be controlled or freed upon the whim of the oppressor.

> I had also just finished reading Korea's Fight For Freedom by Fred McKenzie this very morning which is the main reason I was compelled to think of a story with this background. Among other things it outlines in some detail why the Japanese were so interested in the peninsula, and briefly goes into the Sino-Japanese war (which I see as the most significant event during that era).

Why can none of this be shown from a Korean perspective? I'd recommend another book: A People's History of the United States. Assassin's Creed is about freedom for those who live under oppression.

This is also why in Assassin's Creed: Liberation, most of the Assassins you encounter are actually former black slaves. You pretty much reverted this message by making your protagonist Japanese. The half Korean part doesn't do much because he never had a Korean identity to begin with.

> Also, you do realize how barebones that storyline was right? I skimped on describing Japanese atrocities as I've seen enough of that on this subreddit. Yes, my grandmother (who I currently live with) also speaks Japanese and has countless horror stories. She still uses Japanese terms for cooking ingredients. I even have a great aunt who apparently committed suicide in the 70s because of PTSD from being a comfort woman. I too feel the 한 when it comes to Korean history, but I think enough is enough. Every time Japan comes up in this subreddit I see a fuck ton of bashing. Does it really need to be mentioned in every gory detail every time?

What gory details did I mention? What was I bashing? I just thought it was surprising that in your barebones storyline, the most important details were about concubines and queens and not the injustices that were happening at the time when civil oppression is a hallmark of the franchise. AC3 devoted a lot of time to the ambiguous moral conflict between the colonists and the Indians.

It's strange that you didn't think the brutality of the Imperial regime was something worth mentioning in your stripped down storyline.

> For this fictional story, in my mind, 유관순 was more the product of love between two charismatic characters rather than a bastardization of history. In my mind she was the product of a father that had committed an unforgivable crime (the murder of Empress Myeongseoung) trying to redeem himself, and a mother that managed to overcome seeing that sin and loving the man instead, producing a daughter that could look past petty racial differences and focus on the issue of colonialism (From what I learned in public school about 유관순 she was different from a lot of her contemporaries because she didn't focus on hatred of the Japanese which was an easy narrative to sell, instead she tried to incite a hunger for actual independence of the Korean people).

Let me draw an analogy. Perhaps it will shed some light on why what you are suggesting is off base.

Imagine if Ubisoft made an AC game set during the British Raj and historically revised Gandhi's heritage so he's actually the bastard of a British noble and an Indian concubine. Does this sound like a touching commentary on overcoming petty racial hatreds to you?

> As for your last point, yeah, the 'going native' tool is common because it's a good tool for introducing an audience to an unfamiliar setting without a fuck ton of confusion. It might be overused, but it sure is effective.

Did Assassin's Creed need some English crusader to "go native" with the local Arab culture to portray what life was like in the Holy Land during the 1100s? Did Assassin's Creed 3 need to pull a Last of the Mohigans?

This trope exists because it panders to ethnic superiority fantasies, not because it allows a foreign audience to connect better to an exotic setting.

u/ReginaldLADOO · 4 pointsr/worldnews

Ghost Wars by Steve Coll Check it out, very informative.

u/PComotose · 4 pointsr/IAmA

> never smelled a dead body

In fact, I'm reading this right now. Yes, there's a description of the body breakdown and the, uh, aromas generated.

u/vurplesun · 4 pointsr/books

I've been on a non-fiction kick myself.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson is good. Very funny, very informative.

Packing for Mars and Stiff: The Curious Lives of Cadavers both by Mary Roach were also fun to read.

u/tunafan6 · 4 pointsr/morbidquestions

Books: "Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues", "10 Ways to Recycle a Corpse: and 100 More Dreadfully Distasteful Lists", check for related items on Amazon for both of these books.

Buy something from oddities/taxidermy shops. https://www.facebook.com/Csoddities - I don't know if they sell online, it's a small shop, but you get the general idea.

Take her/him to the museum of death or crime or anatomy. Many cities have them.

Go to together to St. Petersburg, Russia (Russia itself is morbid enough!) to visit this museum: http://www.saint-petersburg.com/museums/kunstkammer-museum-antropology-ethnography/

If you don't have much money, buy a (fake) shrunken and from Amazon, take it out of box and say it's real :)))

This website might be also a good start to find something close to you: http://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/anatomy-museums

Edit: also this book: http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393324826

u/ifonly12 · 4 pointsr/books

Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why? by Laurence Gonzales

Swimming to Antarctica : Tales of Long Distance Swimming by Lynne Cox

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

I was home for a holiday, and found these laying around my mother's book stash. She recommended all of them and I thoroughly enjoy each one. Although, usually I read fiction. All of these books are intriguing, well-written, and educational. If you never read non-fiction a good place to start is reading Mary Roach. Here is her TED talk about orgasms.

u/homsar96 · 4 pointsr/worldnews
u/jwmida · 4 pointsr/AskHistorians

I recommend Lies My Teacher Told Me or Bryson's Short History of Nearly Everything. If you are looking for something a little more scholarly and drier then I suggest A History of Knowledge by Van Doren. As a world history teacher myself, I loved all of these books.

u/BLORTH · 4 pointsr/AskReddit

Howard Zinn is one of the best writers when it comes to history and if you let him, he'll change your concept of history.

Check out Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen, we used it alongside some of Zinn's material when I was still beginning my college career. :)

u/Will_Power · 4 pointsr/collapse

Thank you very much for expounding on that. So much of what you say rings with truth.

>That was probably more than you wanted to know? :)

No, you reply was wonderful, and I appreciate you taking the time to write it.

Now that I understand the terms a bit better, I understand that I broke away from the blank slate model about a decade ago when I read The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life. It discussed the evidence that IQ is both largely heritable (and less environmental) and affects life outcome in almost every way. I thought the book was compelling. What surprised me was the outcry from academia. I realized then that they had some sort of egalitarian agenda that they didn't want disturbed.

u/bullcitytarheel · 4 pointsr/worldnews

Haha - my girlfriend keeps telling me to start a YouTube channel. Personally, I think she just wants me to rant around the house less lol. But I've been thinking about putting something together - the lovely response from Redditors when I post comments like this make me think it might have a chance to be a successful way of getting the message out.

But if you're interested in reading about this stuff here are a few books by the people with real talent who did all the investigative legwork that I'm just repeating:

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307947904/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_V2.xDbT0G7T9Q

Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America https://www.amazon.com/dp/1101980966/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_23.xDbQ9EHJR5

u/williamsates · 4 pointsr/conspiracy

What gives the dynamic a particular look is the large population of Evangelical Christians. Now what you have to understand, is while the professed rates of religiosity are extremely high, the general population simply does not know anything about the Bible, or Judaism nor Islam. This goes for the evangelical crowd as well. There are a set of cliches that they all know, you know, 'Jesus saves," type of knowledge. So you end up with stuff like you see in this very thread, with 'we have a Judeo-Christian' background level of rhetoric.

The fact is that people just don't know anything about Judaism or Christianity.

On top of this you had a conscious Zionist political project, to make sure that culturally pro-Israel views dominate the news, academy and churches.

There are two academics who wrote a paper that eventually became a book concerning the influence of the Israel lobby. The book is a must read, but you should give the shorter paper a try for sure.

THE
ISRAEL
LOBBY
AND
U.S.
FOREIGN
POLICY

http://mearsheimer.uchicago.edu/pdfs/A0040.pdf

The book:

https://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501

Pew study on religious knowledge.

http://www.pewforum.org/2010/09/28/u-s-religious-knowledge-survey/

u/Puzzleheaded_Match · 4 pointsr/lebanon

>every single one of your sources are megaphones of IDF

John Merscheimer wrote an entire book against Israel. If The National Review is a "Megaphone for the Israeli Army" then why did they invite John Merscheimer to write new articles ? It's completely illogical.

The Economist is the most respected magazine in Britain. It was founded in the 1840. Bill Gates says "I read every issue of The Economist, from cover to cover, it makes me think critically"


You claim that the targets were not Iranians. When I give you sources explaining a proxy war is happening, you falsely accuse the sources of helping the Israeli Army. While still refusing to answer about your claim

I have a very hard time following you.

u/mst3kcrow · 4 pointsr/worldnews

I also forgot to mention AIPAC. They're one of the big reasons you see overwhelming support for Israel in the US Congress. Just keep in mind the US government does not always represent the citizens; hell, just look what happened over the past 10 years. As well, it's important to note that the aid we give to Israel is military aid which is used to support the MIC. I don't mean to keep replying but I'll put it this way: there is a lot to know about Israeli/American affairs. If you want to know more than the typical American does about the situation, I recommend skimming the Israel Lobby (fairly dense), Finkelstein, and Chomsky.

u/landrybennett · 4 pointsr/AdvancedRunning
u/ScotiaTide · 4 pointsr/CanadaPolitics

This here is just bursting at the seems with real life examples of the state doing its best to save small property owners from the predation of the ultra wealthy. Can't imagine how "please don't dump mercury into the river that waters my farm" would go over without the state there to back that up.

u/ManOfLaBook · 4 pointsr/PoliticalDiscussion

“from 2005 to 2008, a single source, the Kochs, poured almost $25 million into dozens of different organizations fighting climate reform . . . Charles and David had outspent what was then the world’s largest public oil company, ExxonMobil, by a factor of three.”



Source: Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer

u/RockyColtTum · 4 pointsr/CFBOffTopic
u/pantherwest · 4 pointsr/booksuggestions

One of my all time favorites is Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, about a climbing season on Mount Everest where a lot of things went wrong.

I also enjoy Mary Roach - she has a great gift of being able to convey information while being really entertaining in the process. Stiff is my favorite of hers, but I also really enjoyed Packing For Mars.

u/Wohowudothat · 4 pointsr/medicine

>there are also surgical anatomy electives you can take later that involve surgeons (and aspiring surgeons) doing specific operations on one or more parts of your body.

This is also mentioned in the book "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers."

u/SnowblindAlbino · 4 pointsr/AskHistorians

On this topic I always recommend people read Richard Rhodes' The Making of the Atomic Bomb. It's really more a history of science/technology but it does cover the German and Japanese bomb programs as they relate to the Manhattan Project.

What I recall is that the general story of the Germans is that they lost some key physicists early on (many of them Jews who emigrated) and that Werner Heisenberg and his crew made an ill-advised decision to pursue a bomb design that required deuterium. Their deuterium came from a single source, a hydroelectric facility in Norway, and the French, Brits, and Norwegians were able to sabotage it often enough to keep the supply limited.

Add to this Hitler's fascination with some other projects-- and late in the war the better salesmanship from the rocket developers --and the German project really never had the resources necessary to win the race against the US.

The Japanese bomb project was really quite modest and probably doomed to failure as their scientists-- unlike the Germans --were isolated from the global community of theoretical physicists and thus lacked the necessary background to develop a bomb. They too lacked support from military/civilian leadership so their program was years behind the Germans, which itself was at least a couple of years behind the Manhattan Project.

All those factors considered, the US also had the tremendous advantage of not being a war zone. We could simply fence off a chunk of eastern Washington to develop uranium concentrating processes in secret. Ditto Oak Ridge in TN and of course Los Alamos in NM. No bomber raids and Oppie always had enough vodka on hand to make a Moscow Mule for his guests-- a far cry from trying to develop a weapon in an underground lab with unskilled slave labor, a la the German rocket program.

u/Lmaoboobs · 4 pointsr/WarCollege

Currently: The Twilight War: The Secret History of America's Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran

After this I will probably read

The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan

On War

Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS

The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11

Illusions of Victory: The Anbar Awakening and the Rise of the Islamic State

On Grand Strategy

A fellow on the combined defense discord layed out his recommendations for books on nukes, so I'll list them here.

On Thermonuclear War By Herman Kahn

On Limited Nuclear War in the 21st Century by Jeffrey Larsen and Kerry Kartchner

The Evolution of Nuclear Strategy, Third Edition by Lawrence Freedman

Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces by Pavel Podvig

Nuclear Statecraft: History and Strategy in America's Atomic Age by Francis J. Gavin

Eating Grass: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb by Feroz Khan

Prevention, Pre-emption and the Nuclear Option: From Bush to Obama by Aiden Warren

Nuclear Deterrence in the 21st Century: Lessons from the Cold War for a New Era of Strategic Piracy by Thérèse Delpech

Analyzing Strategic Nuclear Policy by Charles L. Glaser

Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes

Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb by Richard Rhodes

Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Era: Regional Powers and International Conflict by Vipin Narang

Building the H Bomb: A Personal History By Kenneth W Ford

The Logic of American Nuclear Strategy by Matthew Kroenig

Paper Tigers: china's Nuclear Posture by Jeffery Lewis

Arms and Influence by Thomas Schelling

u/mrkurtz · 4 pointsr/science

i guess it depends on the extent of the collapse.

i'm reading 1491, and estimates are that 90% of the native populations of the americas was wiped out very early on. and due to this, they lost everyone who knew their science, history, math, language, etc. which led to the perception that they were a backwards people, as some people continue to try to use their written language, but they no longer understood what the language meant...

that sort of catastrophic loss could mean no "recovery", though given enough time, i think people will continue to progress.

i mean, i'm a smart guy, but i couldn't run over to the nuclear (or any other) power station and make sure operations continue in a safe and efficient manner.

i couldn't continue food processing or production on a massive scale.

i couldn't perform the most basic types of surgery.

i think the guarantee is that you're fucked in the short term.

and there's at least good odds that you're fucked in the long term.

u/PhilR8 · 4 pointsr/books

Africa: A Biography of the Continent by John Reader

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann

Both cover some of the same concepts as GG&S, but in a much more rigorous fashion. Both are better reads with a less self-congratulatory tone and much more interesting information. GG&S is a kids book compared to these works, which is fine because GG&S is a great introduction to these sorts of concepts. Now you can get down to reading the good stuff.

u/Shovelbum26 · 4 pointsr/AskHistorians

Especially considering the major population centers were, depending on the time period, mostly in Central America and the North American Mid-west. All of those cultures were definitely sedentary.

For good information on this I'd check out Mann's flawed but interesting 1491. I (and many archaeologists) feel he overestimates the size of pre-Columbian populations, but it's as exhaustive a look at demographics in the Americas just before contact as you will find, and it's very approachable for the layperson.

The upshot is, per capita, by European Contact, absolutely most Native Americans lived in sedentary, agriculture based state or chiefdom level societies. Maybe by geographic area nomadic hunter-gatherers might win out, but certainly not by population.

u/Vermillionbird · 4 pointsr/TrueReddit

Comparing invasive species to GMO crops is a false equivalence. Also, your entire post rests on an outdated and bullshit view of the natural world as existing in this pristine state upon which modern man has recklessly trampled. I highly recommend reading the book 1491, which does a good job unraveling the thesis that 'nature=pristine, man's interference=bad'.

Also, we aren't talking about zebra mussels or rabbits in Australia, we're talking about domesticated crop species that are the result of thousands of years of breeding and cultivation, and generally don't thrive in the wild without human intervention. I'm not talking GMO, I'm talking your 'heirloom' varieties. Inserting a gene which codes for a vitamin A synthesis is nothing like releasing birds because we think they'd be pretty. The rice plant already grows in the Philippines. The fundamental biological method by which the plant grows and reproduces has not changed. If we accept farming as part of the natural tableau of the area, then we're changing nothing in the status quo, aside from providing more rounded nutrition to the population

u/pipocaQuemada · 4 pointsr/AskHistorians

> Armchair generals can argue over and over about what the English 'should have done', but the fact remains that the decline in archery training led to the downfall of the longbow.

To be honest, half the reason for my asking this question was because I've been reading 1491, rather than trying to be an armchair general for the English. The book mentioned that guns weren't all that much better than bows (in terms of accuracy, etc.), so I was wondering how long that would have been true for.

u/ninja_zombie · 4 pointsr/Economics

>Also, you seem to buy into the the impoverished savage theory, which can be remedied by even a cursory overview of the journals of the Spanish who landed in Haiti -- it was the wealthiest place on Earth, and there was no capitalism there.

You seem to be buying into the racist theory that native americans were a bunch of "naked savages" (1). In fact, they had highly complex societies, trade, and many areas (New England in particular) had personal and economic freedom unrivaled in Europe.

Capitalism/Trade:

>By at least 2,500 years ago, trade networks brought copper from the Great Lakes region, mica from the Appalachian Mountains, shells from the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and obsidian from the Rockies into the Tennessee region. During the Mississippian period, traders may have come from as far away as the Aztec cities of Mexico.

I also can't recommend the book 1491 highly enough.

(1) The modern PC type will describe Native Americans as peaceful natives living in perfect balance with nature. It's no less racist, but at least sounds prettier.

u/harlows_monkeys · 4 pointsr/science

Your picture of Pre-European Native American Life is not as bad as that Pocahontas DVD, but it is still way off. For a good look at what it was actually like in the New World pre-European, see the book 1491 by Charles Mann. This has been generally well recommended on /r/AskHistorians and /r/askscience.

For example, they made extensive use of fire to convert dense forests to less dense forests, open woodlands, or grasslands which lead to huge population increases in the kind of herbivores they liked to hunt, and made it much easier to hunt them. They did not just passively live at the mercy of Nature.

u/beancan332 · 3 pointsr/truegaming

>Am I missing something

You are, in the 90's, pc games you had entire control of the game software and files, you could mod things for free and people could make levels and share stuff for free. Ever since mmo's and steam, the corporate world has been doing a full court press against software ownership.

Pre mass high speed internet penetration they had to give you the entire game to run on your PC. Ever since they discovered the average gamer is tech illiterate and not very bright, they've been doing horrible stuff to the game files like encrypting stuff and making them difficult to mod.

Paid mods is further erosion of control of game software so they can remove your rights completely to own anything you are paying for. They are basically theives at this point and it would take a long discussion of intellectual property law and the mass corruption of capitalist society to fully flesh out.

Your post speaks to your political and historical ignorance of how corrupt the world really is, you don't really understand how evil the companies around you really are.

IP law is corrupt and is never going to be non corrupt, capitalism is not compatable with rule of law. You do not live in a democracy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYFxtNgOeiI

Book:

http://trilateral.org/download/doc/crisis_of_democracy.pdf

Before I begin your brain does not reason nor see reality as it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYmi0DLzBdQ

Protectionism for the rich and big business by state intervention, radical market interference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHj2GaPuEhY#t=349

Manufacturing consent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwU56Rv0OXM

https://vimeo.com/39566117

Testing theories of representative government

https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf

US distribution of wealth

https://imgur.com/a/FShfb

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

What goes down in the US goes down in all capitalist western states, they all follow the same model of "politics as show" where the public has no input if you look at the research.

From war is a racket:

"I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil intersts in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested."[p. 10]

"War is a racket. ...It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." [p. 23]

"The general public shoulders the bill [for war]. This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations." [p. 24]

General Butler is especially trenchant when he looks at post-war casualties. He writes with great emotion about the thousands of traumatised soldiers, many of who lose their minds and are penned like animals until they die, and he notes that in his time, returning veterans are three times more likely to die prematurely than those who stayed home.

http://www.amazon.com/War-Racket-Antiwar-Americas-Decorated/dp/0922915865

u/Telionis · 3 pointsr/AskReddit

I think most of us Americans feel shame over slavery and the Amerindian genocide, plus the numerous smaller abuses (railroad coolies, abuse of Irish, Japanese internment of WWII, etc.). Also those who have read our history recognize that our foreign policy has been nasty and exploitative since a few years after our founding (we exploited the hell out of the Caribbean and Latin America since the early 1800s, I highly recommend this).

That said, we've also done some wonderful things! Despite the propaganda and televised jingoism, most Americans are good-hearted and generous folks. I would even argue that we're the most benign and beneficent of the superpowers in history (compare us to Victorian British Empire or Colonial Spanish Empire or Holy Roman Empire or Rome itself, etc.).

I am proud to be an American, but also recognize that [like nearly ever people] we've done some horrible things. It is far more shameful to pretend we never did evil (Japan & Nanking, Turkey & Armenian genocide) than to recognize and admit our mistakes.

u/Edward_the_Penitent · 3 pointsr/travel

> Peru. I want to learn more about the history of that place, and visit machu pichu. Very interested.

I've read and recommend:

u/cavehobbit · 3 pointsr/worldpolitics

Good point. That was an apocalypse.

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

u/the-mormonbatman · 3 pointsr/latterdaysaints

>So where are they or their civilizations today?

Lehite successor states were ground to pieces by a combination of disease epidemic, climate change, and European aggression like the rest of America's endemic nations.

If you haven't read them, I highly recommend 1491 and 1493.

>Where were they when they were at their peak?

That's a great question that is not answered by modern revelation. John Clark thinks Joseph Smith believed that Book of Mormon events occurred around the Yucatan peninsula. I agree with him but I'm happy to cede ground if future evidences don't support that.

> Based on DNA and archaeology, it's a tough case, no?

Not really. This is an article you may (or may not) enjoy:

https://www.lds.org/topics/book-of-mormon-and-dna-studies?lang=eng

I found that its cautions were very prescient.

u/siberian · 3 pointsr/IAmA

And before that the indigenous population was highly managing the forests. The lie of The Pristine Myth is so interesting to study.

https://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/03/the-pristine-myth/303062/

> When John Smith visited Massachusetts in 1614, he wrote that the land was "so planted with Gardens and Corne fields, and so well inhabited with a goodly, strong and well proportioned people ... [that] I would rather live here than any where." But by the time the colonists reached Plymouth in the Mayflower six years later, they found one deserted village after another—the Indians had been felled by European diseases to which they had little resistance.

u/krustyarmor · 3 pointsr/NativeAmericans

1491 by Charles C. Mann

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse by Peter Matthiesson

Custer Died For Your Sins by Vine Deloria Jr.

Those are the three that I always answer this question with.

u/sirbirdface · 3 pointsr/PoliticalHumor
u/talkingwires · 3 pointsr/books

1491 was a great read that examined the technology and cultural developments of the Native Americans before the arrival of Europeans. One of its main conceits is to tear down the myth that they were simple people in touch with nature, when they actually actively worked to alter the landscape to fit their needs. It was one of the first history books I found so engrossing that I couldn't put down.

Collapse has a wider scope; it examines dozens of societies that have existed throughout history that for one reason or another "collapsed". It shows how combinations a society's choices and external forces caused the failure of Viking settlements in Greenland, the extinction of the people of Easter Island, to the failure of modern countries, like Rwanda. Each chapter is about seventy or eighty pages and fairly self-contained, so you can pick it up and jump in where ever you like.

u/stayshhhh · 3 pointsr/BlackPeopleTwitter

I'm talking about the Inkans, based on this well received book.
https://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&me=
Check it out, it's good.

u/Spiketwo89 · 3 pointsr/Mexicana

Yea I haven't really ever seen any documentary about the Mexica or other mesoamerican groups that wasn't built around the older conquest myths like Cortez was mistaken for a god or the spaniards single handily beat them, but that doesn't mean that those old ideas aren't changing. There's a few pbs ones I've seen about the Aztecs and new discoveries of the teotihucan culture. Watching a documentary is easy but if you can reading is your best bet. Conquest by Hugh Thomas is an extremely detailed and well researched account of the rise and fall of the Aztecs, buried Mirror by Carlos Fuentes is an examination of the rise of a unified Spanish nation state and the parrels with the cultures of the new world and shows that the two groups had more in common than one would think. 1491 by Charles C. Mann has some stuff on the Aztecs, but looks at different new world cultures and shows that overall they were more sophisticated than generally thought of


https://www.amazon.com/Conquest-Cortes-Montezuma-Fall-Mexico/dp/0671511041


https://www.amazon.com/Buried-Mirror-Reflections-Spain-World/dp/0395924995


https://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059

u/Me-Here-Now · 3 pointsr/exmormon

If you are interested, you might like to read the book "1491". It is an actual history of north and south America. The author spend decades researching everything he could about the pre-Columbian Americas. Very interesting book, but it makes no mention of the book of mormon, or anything that lines up with the book of mormon.

http://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377622534&sr=8-1&keywords=1491

u/x6hld2 · 3 pointsr/MapPorn

You may be interested in https://smile.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059.

Population of the Mississippi valley was quite high, farming was ubiquitous amongst East Coast tribes. Land bore signs of alteration due to agriculture.

Most of them did die during the Contact Plagues though.

u/mechtonia · 3 pointsr/AskEngineers

Pick up a book on American labor history. A People's History of the United States is a good one.

If we built an automated port, the unions would strike at all the non-automated ports. All shipping would grind to a halt.

u/uncomfortablyhigh · 3 pointsr/LonghornNation

So it took a year of on-and-off reading, but I finally finished Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.

Anybody here ever give it a read? I think the salient takeaway I had was that almost all of the social issues discussed via old and new media today (racism, economic freedom, war, politics) have occurred and been solved -- to an extent -- with relative frequency over the history of the US. There's a lot to take away from our history that grants perspective regarding modern struggle, which in turns has a calming effect.

Time is a flat circle, I guess. Everything we have done or will do we will do over and over, forever. Something comforting in knowing that.

u/captain_craptain · 3 pointsr/pics

I would recommend this but there are a lot of good sources out there that will give you an honest narrative on the war. The book I recommended covers just about everything so just chapter 9 is what you would want. A book specifically on the Civil war may be a better tool.

u/Borimi · 3 pointsr/history

I'm assuming here that you haven't really studied any history since high school, and at the time you likely found it dreadfully boring (don't we all). If this is correct, take solace in the fact that you were being taught history in likely the worst way possible, and the system almost seems designed to bore you and the rest of the students to death.

One tactic, then, would be for you to work on thinking about history more as it is: seeking answers to the fundamental "why" questions that tell what it means, collectively, to be us. It's a study of choices and struggles and understanding the challenging, horrible, daunting circumstances they faced. High school curriculum drives out such notions of struggle and difficulty because they invite controversial questions, like why the rich manipulated the poor or why the white mistreated and killed the black/Native American. In doing so they deny any of the historical actors, whether oppressed or oppressor, their humanity, and without that who cares about studying them?

I would hope that once you get more exposed to actual history and not names and dates, that you'll grow more of a natural interest for the subject. As such, I have two books to recommend you:

  1. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. This book, initially controversial, will turn your initially learned narrative of American history on its head. The good people are usually bad and the quiet people are loud. Be careful, though. It's a new, highly useful angle from which to view American history but its not some gospel of truth either, just because it has a forbidden fruit feel, like you're learning what they don't want you to know.

  2. Lies my Teacher Told Me by James Loewen. This book says in better words that I mentioned already, how school textbooks water down American history into nothing so that everyone swallows it without complaint. It'll also shake up a bunch of assumptions and, hopefully, leave you wanting more.

    These books won't give you a complete view of American history but my hope is that they'll introduce you to a form of history that's interesting while also exposing you to a wide array of American history topics. From there you can see what you actually enjoy learning about and pick better books from there.
u/jddrummond · 3 pointsr/booksuggestions

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

This is a natural follow up to Lies My Teacher Told Me and a classic among "woke" books.

u/Thurkagord · 3 pointsr/Libertarian

I did actually, back when I didn't pay attention to how the real world worked, and just thought that the general, vague concept of "more freedom" sounded good. Maybe I didn't go full tilt into internet Libertarian where the closest thing to a structural critique comes down to "taxation is theft!!" and "Dale gets it!" and all real analysis is predicated on thought experiments, hypothetical fantasy worlds, and have no real foundation in the reality in which we live. Like honestly, if you do any actual examination of how society is structured, and you STILL think that government and taxation, as a concept, are the most oppressive forces in the world keeping you from success rather than the moneyed interests that manipulate and fuel legislative policy, then your vicious meme takedowns are going to contribute nothing to discussion or understanding beyond giving yourself a temporary right-wing dopamine rush of 0wn1ng the l1bz.

If you'd like a chance to broaden your understanding of some of the structural concepts I am referring to, rather than just a general title of "liberal" or whatever, here are just a couple pretty basic reading options to get you started.

​

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn (1980)

The Revolution of Everyday Life by Raoul Vaneigem (1968)

The Shock Doctrine: Rise of Disaster Capitalism, by Naomi Klein (2006)

​

​

u/prinzplagueorange · 3 pointsr/PoliticalDiscussion

Becoming politically literate is not like learning how to fix a car. There is no "unbiased" how-to manual. The reason for this is that political discussions consist of claims about: a) what the facts are, b) which facts matter and how they matter, c) whose claims about the facts are trustworthy, and d) what justice consists of. Most of these disputes are ideological, and so you will not find an ideologically netural ("unbiased") account of politics.

I would suggest immersing yourself in different political media and then see which points of view tend to best account for the facts and to best correspond to your sense of justice. Spend some time watching Fox news (hard-right), skimming through the NY Times (center-right), and and then listen to FAIR's Counterspin (hard-left).

Here are some books I would recommend. (These are all written from a hard-left to center-left perspective, but their authors are all serious scholars/intellectuals, and you will learn a lot from them.)

-Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States

-Vijay Prashad's The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World

-Joseph Stiglitz's The Great Divide: Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them

-Doug Henwood's After the New Economy

u/Fenzir · 3 pointsr/infj

Is it truly the duty of the conquered and oppressed to bend to the conquerer?

Gitchu some of this, then get back to me.

There are only so many cheeks to be turned.

u/jerrymatthewmorris · 3 pointsr/funny
  1. There is a lot of reason to think the Nazi party would not rise to power without Hitler. http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/timeline/nazirise.htm

  2. Columbus was also one man. Take him away, and the colonization of America by Europe still happens (at least, by logic equal to what you're using).

  3. If Columbus never came to America, European Americans would simply be Europeans (except those with Native American genetics). Arguing that we'd be different people goes back to the snowball effect that you say you're not trying to argue.

  4. The first to resort to personal attacks is usually the one losing the argument. (ref: "OMG...Seriously you cannot be this stupid.")

    Give this a read:
    http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinncol1.html

    Alternatively, just buy the book:
    http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States-Present/dp/0060838655

    It was part of our required history reading in high school.

    Excerpt from Columbus's writing:
    >As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts.
u/MagicWishMonkey · 3 pointsr/AskReddit

Check out A People's History of the United States: http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States-Present/dp/0060838655/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279572161&sr=8-1

Our history is pretty fucked up, prepare for a depressing read.

u/from_the_tubes · 3 pointsr/politics

This whole post is arguing against a point no one made. Unprecedented is not synonymous with the worst thing ever done, and that's not even what WhenWillILearn was saying. He/she said unprecedented authoritarianism could be synonymous with that, and that's a pretty big difference.

Besides, far worse authoritarianism has existed in this country's history. The genocide of the native population, enslavement of African-Americans, and use of deadly force against striking workers are a few that come to mind. Shit, during the civil war the government shut down newspapers and imprisoned people for even speaking out against them.

Instead of a dictionary though, might I suggest reading a history book? start with this one.

u/macosxsealion · 3 pointsr/politics

Let's not ignore what really happens to people:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0060838655/

Also. Let's not ignore that not many liberals are against capitalism. (though that doesn't make for interesting Talk Radio and Fox news analysis.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism

u/LetoFeydThufirSiona · 3 pointsr/worldnews

> I would highly recommend the book ghost wars if you want to know more

Yeah, absolutely, thank very much for the recommendation; I've always been really curious about this time and place.

For others interested, didn't know of him, but the author seems wholly legit and here's the link to the book's Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/0143034669

u/jamillian · 3 pointsr/books

Ghost Wars by Steve Coll is a very interesting explanation of the roots of the current conflict in Afghanistan

u/RebootTheServer · 3 pointsr/worldnews

Yeah I have been reading this and it talks about that. They didn't start getting roads until the 50s! Like what the fuck

u/SqoishMaloish · 3 pointsr/CFBOffTopic

Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa is a phenomenal book about postcolonial central Africa, the Rwandan genocide, and the two Congo wars. If you've ever wondered what drives conflicts in the world this book is a great place to learn.


The next one on my tap is: Ghost Wars: the CIAs Secret History in Afghanistan from the Soviet Invasion to 9/11

u/chipvd · 3 pointsr/worldnews

Reading this thread makes me want to recommend [Ghost Wars] (http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/0143034669) to anyone interested in this topic.

u/chinese___throwaway3 · 3 pointsr/aznidentity

Democrats vs Republicans is largely a conflict between liberal and conservative whites, who are very culturally different. They use minorities as a pawn. I read a book called American Nations that discussed this.

u/hammersklavier · 3 pointsr/geography

Check out Joel Garreau's Nine Nations of North America, Colin Woodward's American Nations, and Dante Chinni's Our Patchwork Nation -- these are excellent primary sources for such a project.

u/bserum · 3 pointsr/imaginarymaps

If you're not already familiar with it, you might be interested in Colin Woodard's American Nations.

Here's his version of the map.

u/GeeJimmy · 3 pointsr/MapPorn

American Nations, by Colin Woodard. It's a good book, with a fascinating take on why, e.g., people in New England and the Pacific Northwest are liberal and why people in Appalachia hate the government. He basically boils it all down to the reasons why the white people who settled those places left their respective European homelands, and how those attitudes persist to this day.

u/w3woody · 3 pointsr/history

Honestly I would start with the U.S. Civil War.

Then work your way backwards in time from the Civil War, tracing the events (cultural and political) that led to the Civil War. This will eventually include the 3/5ths compromise in the Constitution, as well as a discussion of the cultural differences between the different original colonies, such as those outlined in Up in Arms, a review of American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America. Deep diving into the Antebellum period also will take you by the history of everything from how the US was formed, the revolutionary war (which slammed multiple very different cultures together against a common foe), to the impact of slavery, the economics of the North's industry and the South's plantations, and how things like the Cotton Gin gave southern slavery a second life.

Antebellum compromises even shaped the northern and southern borders of the United States. The South didn't want the North to push upwards into Canada (and add more free states, upsetting the balance between Free and Slave states), just as the North stopped a Southern push into Mexico and central America for the same reason.

Also, working your way forward from the Civil War, you can trace the threads from a shortened southern Reconstruction period, as well as an increased impetus towards westward expansion driven by an economy left in ruins. (Interesting fact: in terms of absolute numbers more American died during the Civil War than in all other wars America was involved with, including World Wars I and II--combined.)

Tracing forward from the Civil War you can see the effects of a failed Reconstruction on racism, eventually leading to the Civil Rights Movement 100 years later, as well as subtexts of racism on everything from the how we handled the Great Depression to our involvement in World Wars I and II.

If you also look at the U.S.'s approach to military affairs, you can also see it sharply echoed in how we fought the Civil War. And that warrior culture has painted U.S. attitudes towards foreign wars and even underlies the irony of a population that, as soon as the shooting starts, becomes extremely patriotic.

tl;dr: I really think the U.S. Civil War is an extremely important event in U.S. history, and a lot of U.S. history prior to the Civil War and afterwards can be framed in terms of the Civil War itself.

Edit: stupid typos.

u/EsquilaxHortensis · 3 pointsr/TrueReddit

For more, check out Woodard's American Nations, which expands the conversation to eleven regional cultures, including those mentioned in Albion's Seed, and fills in a lot of the gaps Scott Alexander wonders about.

u/mikeflys1 · 3 pointsr/suggestmeabook

Command & Control if you never want to sleep again. Its more related to the controls systems/procedures than overall development though.

u/somnambulist80 · 3 pointsr/AskHistorians

> Now, Fat Man and Little Boy? Those were different stories. Apparently they were just kept under heavy guard before being loaded onto the planes, and actually arming them was as easy as pulling a pin (imagine a big hand grenade), setting the burst altitude, and dropping them out of the plane.

That lack of security control on nuclear weapons was allowed to persist for a shockingly long time. Some in SAC considered the lack of control a positive, arguing that the weapons wouldn't be rendered useless in the case of a decapitation attack.

Eric Schlosser's Command and Control is a great and easily accessible history on nuclear weapon safety.

u/Theia123 · 3 pointsr/thenetherlands

Niet alleen daar, fouten zijn vrij vaak voorkomend. Lees dit boek: https://www.amazon.com/Command-Control-Damascus-Accident-Illusion/dp/0143125788

u/BurtGummer938 · 3 pointsr/dataisbeautiful

This is an entertaining book on the history of nuclear weapon incidents.

They also go over the Damascus incident, where a Titan Missile silo in Arkansas exploded in an accident. Apparently they made a film about it.

u/Vaeon · 3 pointsr/worldnews

> and paying them to efficiently and cheaply extract and sell local resources.

For your consideration.

https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Ashes-History-Tim-Weiner/dp/0307389006

Skp to the section about how the CIA overthrew the government of Guatemala so the United Fruit Company got a sweet deal with the new government.

u/Cozret · 3 pointsr/suggestmeabook

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner won the National Book Award for Nonfiction for 2007 and is based on >50,000 documents(mostly from from the CIA archives), and hundreds of interviews with CIA veterans (including ten Directors of Central Intelligence).

u/Uhhhhdel · 3 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

I think the biggest reasons people hate the US is because of the CIA and how destructive its history has been. http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Ashes-The-History-CIA/dp/0307389006 is a great read. It explains why the world thinks we are meddlesome. And by we, I mean the US government, not its people. As a whole, the US population doesn't really get how destructive the CIA has been and the repercussions because of that.

u/TheHobbitryInArms · 3 pointsr/politics

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA

Not our first misadventure. Sure as hell will not be the last.

u/scarlet_stormTrooper · 3 pointsr/StrangerThings

one of my Criminal Justice professors recommended this book: legacy of ashes
Not entirely focused on the MK Ultra but good nonetheless.
It's a very good read.

Also the Men Who stare at Goats a good cinematic example.

It's very intriguing to see how they added the program into the show. Very cool way to introduce 11 (messed up) but cool.

u/tcatlicious · 3 pointsr/worldnews

The CIA is the one who said that Iraq had WMD's to begin with. They also had the war plan already drawn up and in place. I thought this was common knowledge. There have been several investigative books written about this.

The CIA is a rogue organization that is the cause for much of the chaos around the world. "Legacy of Ashes" by Tim Weiner has the best book (best sourced and footnoted) on how the CIA actually operates.

https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Ashes-History-Tim-Weiner/dp/0307389006/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482114137&sr=8-1&keywords=cia

u/SpuckFez · 3 pointsr/WikiLeaks

> A legacy of ashes

Some of the reviews here are useful: https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Ashes-History-Tim-Weiner/dp/0307389006

u/jinkyjormpjomp · 3 pointsr/Documentaries

This is why there is such dissonance between the actual CIA and the one presented to us by Hollywood.

I'll just leave this here for those interested int he history of the CIA:

http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Ashes-The-History-CIA/dp/0307389006

u/lappath · 3 pointsr/Anarcho_Capitalism

> suggesting color or race is any indication of intelligence

You don't know how foolish you look when you say that.

u/justinmchase · 3 pointsr/politics
u/Total_Denomination · 3 pointsr/facepalm

Everyone should read Lies My Teacher Told me.

u/the_bigger_jerk · 3 pointsr/teaching

Acting classes, plural! I took a few as electives in college because it was fun and I am so very grateful I did! Now, as a "seasoned" teacher, I recommend them to the student teachers and practicum students I deal with daily. You HAVE to know how to improvise for more reasons than I could explain here.

As far as books I would base my recommendations on the population you want to serve, and you have to WANT to serve. As a general rule I would start with Educating Esme, A Kind and Just Parent, Lies My Teacher Told Me, and a lot of kid and young adult books. If you want specifics just let me know. I teach banned books!

u/spiceydog · 3 pointsr/suggestmeabook

You might also enjoy Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me which was very popular some years ago. My husband was in college learning to be a history teacher and absolutely loved it.

u/white_crust_delivery · 3 pointsr/booksuggestions

What about Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong ? It's a bit above his age group (high school level I'd say) but if he's the type of kid who wants to read books about American history then he's probably above his reading level. This will also allow him to be obnoxiously pedantic and quite possibly correct his teachers in school, which I feel like a good amount of 13 year old boys would enjoy. I also think it's perfect for his age, considering he's probably starting to question authority, and this book pushes back against some of the whitewashing and blind optimism that you see in some American history textbooks.

u/fingolfin_was_nuts · 3 pointsr/books

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong is a great book. Importantly, to the study of history, it goes beyond debunking and setting the record straight and stresses history is not cut-and-try but a series of possibilities, arguments, and evidence. Very readable, too.

u/jaythebrb · 3 pointsr/history

Lies My Teacher Told Me was a good read, but kinda the opposite of textbook.

u/JoeSki42 · 3 pointsr/AskReddit

Lies my Teacher Taught Me: Everything your American History Textbook got Wrong by James Loewen. Fascinating book about what, and why, much of what is taught in Us history textbooks is inaccurate and why most of it is written in a manner that makes the subject boring as sin. Amazing read.

http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

Gig: Americans Talk about Their Jobs. Over 120 masterfully conducted interviews with american workers; ranging from crime scene cleaners to lawn mowing men to transvestite prostitutes. Each interivew is about 4-5 pages long so there's no need to read it in order or in a long sitting. One of my most favorite books and one that helped me decide what I wanted to do for a living. Criminally overlooked and incredibly eye opening.

http://www.amazon.com/Gig-Americans-Talk-About-Their/dp/0609807072/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261780756&sr=1-1

u/youreillusive · 3 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

SO MANY!

["Lies my Teacher Told Me"] (http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281) by James Loewen. This is about how the world really works, basically. It's all about history and politics and economics and how world powers interact with each other and their own population. It's incredibly eye-opening and will make you understand why everything is the way it is today! It's also ridiculously fun to read :D

["The Quantum and the Lotus by"] (http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Lotus-Journey-Frontiers-Buddhism/dp/1400080797/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383171898&sr=1-1&keywords=the+quantum+and+the+lotus) by Matthieu Ricard and Trinh Xuan Thuan. This is a super fascinating read! It's actually a transcribed conversation between a Buddhist who became a quantum physicist and a physicist who left science and became a Buddhist! It's this AMAZING look into complicated science and it's explained in such simple terms anyone can understand it. But beyond that, it's this really fascinating glimpse into a world where science and spirituality can co-exist. It's like science explaining spirituality, or spirituality giving a wholesome quality to science. It's just so unique and amazing!

["The Power of Myth"] (http://www.amazon.com/Power-Myth-Joseph-Campbell/dp/0385418868/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383172215&sr=1-3&keywords=joseph+campbell) by Joseph Campbell. If you can, read EVERYTHING by this guy that you can get your hands on! This book is especially poignant because it's addressing all of the aspects of our modern day society, from religion to gangs to marriage, even education. It is incredibly powerful and eye-opening and explains so much about the way we work as humans and the way the individual interacts with society. Plus, you'll learn a shit ton about mythology that you never knew before! And you'll be looking at mythology from a ridiculously profound perspective that I've never seen anyone else address before.

I can give you more if you tell me what you're interested in learning more about :)

EDIT: Typos.

u/Balrog_of_Morgoth · 3 pointsr/movies

James Loewen gives a convincing argument in Lies My Teacher Told Me that slavery was indeed the primary cause of the Civil War. He also directs the reader to South Carolina's Declaration of Secession, in which the string "slave" appears 18 times.

u/Commander_Shepard_ · 3 pointsr/videos

And it's been going on for quite a while. American Textbooks are biased, uninformative, and often filled with outright lies designed solely to promote the American Mythos (the idea that certain historical figures were almost godlike or otherwise infallible and filled with pro-american spirit and viewpoints.)

And you can read more about it. Lies my Teacher Told Me is an excellent book on the subject. The author went through dozens of textbooks paragraph by paragraph and counted the inconsistencies, errors, and outright lies he found.

u/freezoneandproud · 3 pointsr/scientology

I think you misunderstand me, or at least you're using a different definition of "hero" than I am.

My point is that a hero is someone who does the right thing at the right time, despite his fears or weaknesses. Someone who runs into a burning building to save a child is not necessarily a wonderful human being in every way possible; he might be an embezzler who cheat on his wife. For the moment in which he committed the heroic act, however, he is a hero. The moment of heroism (and its effects) is admirable, even though the other behavior is not.

There's a marvelous book called Lies My Teacher Told Me, which is about the way American History is taught in high school. In it, the author goes to great lengths to describe how we're taught a whitewashed history in which the people we're expected to admire (such as presidents and the founding fathers) were all wholly admirable. Yet, as the author points out, it's not the human weaknesses of these people that is notable but that they rose above them. Flawed human beings managed to work together to create a Declaration of Independence that is somehow a reflection of the best of our ideals, and gives us something to work towards.

I see scientology the way I do the vision of the founding fathers. We start with the premise that the ideals are attainable, and we work towards attaining them -- even if we do not reach any kind of perfection.

I don't think that LRH was any kind of saint. I think he could be an asshat, and worse. I think he could have done far better with scientology if he let it continue to be okay for others to contribute to it, both technically and in leadership ways, and if he had acknowledged the contributions others did make. But he did devote most of his life to finding ways to get us all out of the mess -- including himself, even if he did not succeed.

u/keithb7862 · 3 pointsr/Kossacks_for_Sanders

I wrote about this over on that other site that shall remain nameless and got a few comments, but also some not-so-good ones. Perhaps the community here might be more understanding and less critical, because this makes perfect sense to me.

Strauss & Howe co-authored a book published in 1997 entitled The Fourth Turning that I could not put down. While researching another topic, they discovered something odd, so they switched gears and researched in depth. They discovered that truly, history repeats itself, with quite distinctive and repeating patterns, going all the way back to the 1100s.

Their premise is simple. Each "turning" is comprised of approximately four 20-year periods similar to regular seasons of spring, summer, fall and winter. Each period lasts the time an average person is born till when we start having children. Four of these equal 80 years, an average lifespan.

The best way to envision this is to put yourself in the shoes of a person born in London England around 1904. Speaking in general, Zeitgeist terms, what would their life experiences be? That period was one of great technological advancement. Trains had been around for quite a while. Automobiles were new and were gaining in popularity. Next, what would be the life experiences of someone born in London in 1924? This time became known as "The roaring twenties" due to industrialization.

Lastly, what was the experience of a Londoner born in 1944? Starkly different. And to finish, envision the life experiences of 1964 London.

Strauss & Howe found the same repeating pattern over and over and over again, all the way back to the Dark Ages. The "turning" prior to and analogous to WWII included the Civil War. The one before that included the Revolutionary War. See where I'm going with this?

Each period corresponds to a season. "Spring" for us during this turning was just after WWII where we all rebuilt and put things back together. "Summer" was in the 1960s and everyone here knows what that was like. "Fall" was the 1980s. This is a period where things reach a zenith and begin to show signs of dying, just as during a regular fall the weather turns colder and trees lose their leaves. And then there's "Winter".

Guess where we are today?

Those born during each season also exhibit repeating patterns. We Boomers were born to buck the system, to challenge the conventionality of society, and that we did. The authors gave our archetype the name of "Patriots". Our job during the winter cycle is to help the "hero" generation, our present-day millennials.

And here is where I get to the reason for this long post. We are in this turning's "Crisis" period, which will end in approximately 2020 to 2025. Just as WWII's Dough Boys fought in the trenches during the last Crisis period, it will be the Millennials this time fighting the great fight. They will need our help, fellow Boomers. That's our job. We offer direction, but they are the one's who get it done.

And this makes me so proud and gives me hope. They are almost speaking in one voice: Enough of the madness, we want progressive policies. They are the ones who are to change the world. So your initial post is spot-on in that our systems and structures are becoming more and more dysfunctional, which will worsen until there's a single event, a tipping point if you will, that will bring everyone together. We have not reached the tipping point yet, but we can all feel and see it coming.

I just hope this time around we don't have a WWIII.

u/CamperZero · 3 pointsr/thedavidpakmanshow

From what I've read and watched it does seem like he believes in the pseudoscience touted in The Fourth Turning, which is what I'm referring to. This is a separate concern from whatever he's peddling over at Breitbart.

u/AltRightChan · 3 pointsr/AsianMasculinity

The intellectual framework that explains many of the questions brought up in the podcast about the current state of American politics can be summed up
in two seminal books, A Conflict of Visions and
The Fourth Turning. After completing these two
volumes, Fox News will suddenly start making sense to you, since some of the language and terms used by the right wing are quite literally incomprehensible (what's "unconstrained vision"?) without these guides.

 

The first book in particular, about the distinction between people and processes, is very relevant today. Why does America tolerate a racist, misogynist, xenophobe? Because one won the election fair and square, while the other stole the
primary nomination from Bernie. So the right wingers are focused on the election process (regardless of candidate), and the left wingers are focused on the candidates (regardless of process). We are literally talking past each other when we don't
grasp this fundamental difference; no communication can take place.

 

About the creation of an Asian-American political voice, the right wing view is that more identity politics is NOT the answer. Again, the distinction between people and processes. We don't want to focus on Asian people (or Black people, or Green people...), instead we want to focus
on the process. BLM is an anger that exists because Obama didn't really make black peoples lives significantly better. Having a hypothetical Asian-American man in the White House wouldn't make our lives significantly better either. And having a racist, misogynist, xenophobe there won't make our lives
significantly worse either, and that's what processes are all about. Checks and balances built-in the system, as opposed to having a god-like dictator who's above the law.

 

If you are short on time, at least glance over the first 100 pages of A Conflict of Visions. The explanatory power of his thesis is profound, and reveals why we should fear the left much more (think 18th century French Revolution, which is what today's not-my-president protesters want).

u/garyp714 · 3 pointsr/politics

Might help to also explore the incredible repetitive and circular cycles of American politics. Amazing how we repeat ourselves so regularly. A good one I liked from the perspective of the President and how a good one governs with the tenor of the American political lean in mind:

Presidential Leadership in Political Time

I'd also check out:

The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy

Despite it getting a bad wrap due to Steve Bannon using it to explain away his idiotic end of time accelerationism bullshit, it's an excellent book towards understanding how frighteningly repetitive we are.

u/Sektor7g · 3 pointsr/politics

From the article AlterNate linked, quoting what the Authors of The Fourth Turning said in 1997:
>Based on historical patterns, America will hit a once-in-a-century national crisis within the decade...'like winter,' the crisis or 'fourth turning' cannot be averted. It will last 20 years or so and bring hardship and upheavals similar to previous fourth turnings, such as the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Great Depression and World War II. The fourth turning is a perilous time because the result could be a new 'golden age' for America or the beginning of the end. It all will begin with a 'sudden spark' that catalyzes a crisis mood around the year 2005.

So, according to them, we're looking at a massive crisis that would be triggered around 2005, and be in full force no later than 2007.

From Wikipedia:
>The subprime crisis impact timeline lists dates relevant to the creation of a United States housing bubble and the 2005 housing bubble burst (or market correction) and the subprime mortgage crisis which developed during 2007 and 2008.



edit: realized that I needed more exposition.

u/bigbishounen · 3 pointsr/The_Donald

Liberal Fascism is also an excellent book. Well footnoted and referenced, written by Jonah Goldberg: https://www.amazon.com/Liberal-Fascism-American-Mussolini-Politics/dp/0767917189

u/pontificate38 · 3 pointsr/Conservative

I've been hooked on Jonah Goldberg since Liberal Fascism. I don't think i've ever found something to disagree about with him.

u/childoftherion · 3 pointsr/news

I don't think that has anything to do with fascism. I think they word you are looking for is Authoritarian.

Technically speaking we already live in a de facto-fascist state.
Fascism is the combining of corporate (private business) and government entities to form one power that controls the state and Means of Production for the economy.

Fascism forming in the United States (and maybe the world) has not come over night, but slowly thru the passing of laws and restricting individual liberties.

Giving businesses the right to own property, have rights as People (including the right to vote) and the Citizens United case was a large turning point in my opinion.


---

Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg

u/abudabu · 3 pointsr/progressive

He's famous for writing "What's the matter with Kansas?"

u/tdk2fe · 3 pointsr/obama

I'm about to read What's the Matter with Kansas? It's supposed to answer this very question.

u/ALoudMouthBaby · 3 pointsr/circlebroke

Do you have any data to support these assertions? Im curious, but hard numbers really are important here.

> http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Matter-Kansas-Conservatives-America/dp/080507774X

This seems as relevant as ever. Im adding it to my "to read" list, sadly itll be a while till I get to it though.

u/VanceAstrooooooovic · 3 pointsr/Trumpgret
u/ImpressiveFood · 3 pointsr/AskThe_Donald

Look, I don't even know where to begin. That was a lot of assumptions. I'm sorry you have this view of the left. I don't believe at all that leftists dislike rural people, nor dislike them simply because they are rural. The hatred that many on the left is not directed at rural people, but conservative ideology.

The left does see conservative ideology as a major barrier to making the world better, for both economic reasons and reasons of social justice. But the left doesn't see the rural, white working class as the cause of this ideology. The ideology is perpetuated by the wealthy and powerful. But for me personally, I don't blame anyone personally for believing in this ideology. I don't think conservatives or even the wealthy are bad, evil people, I simply think they are wrong.

Liberals are more likely to pity rural folk, if anything (which granted is condescending), because we feel that they've been duped by the wealthy into supporting politics that simply make the wealthy wealthier, allowing them to exploit the working class further and destroy the environment for their own profit.

I know I can't convince you of anything here or even force you to see another perspective on your politics.

But I would like you start making an attempt to learn more about liberals, and get to know some personally. Liberals are people, and I feel like you've forgotten that. You've really managed to demonize them, because you sincerely believe that they have demonized you and the people you care about, but I don't believe that's largely true. You can cherry pick examples of anything. I'd really appreciate it if you would make an effort to talk to more liberals. Maybe asks some questions on /r/askaliberal, or expand your media diet. Especially try to talk to some in person.

This is a classic book which claims that conservatives, in the 90s, came to see politics as no longer a matter of rich vs. poor, but a matter of NASCAR vs Starbucks, as a cultural matter rather than an economic matter, which works out really well for the rich. https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Matter-Kansas-Conservatives-America/dp/080507774X

​

​

​

u/Sanderswersky · 3 pointsr/SandersForPresident

What's the Matter With Kansas by Thomas Frank. 2005.

u/GirlNumber20 · 3 pointsr/politics

Yeah, it's that whole "What's The Matter With Kansas?" phenomenon.

u/vincentvertuccio · 3 pointsr/BlueMidterm2018
u/particle409 · 3 pointsr/AdviceAnimals

"What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America" is a great book on this subject. It talks a lot about how rural conservatives have been convinced into voting for harmful measures against small town America.

https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Matter-Kansas-Conservatives-America/dp/080507774X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478737100&sr=8-1&keywords=what%27s+the+matter+with+kansas

u/signmyup · 3 pointsr/politics

http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Matter-Kansas-Conservatives-America/dp/080507774X

As relevant 10 years ago as it is today, but i think people are beginning to catch on.

u/category5 · 3 pointsr/politics

"What's The Matter With Kansas" is actually the title of a pretty interesting book. http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Matter-Kansas-Conservatives-America/dp/080507774X

u/vonMars · 3 pointsr/todayilearned

Eisenhower warned about the military-industrial complex. And now it's well rooted into the US...and perhaps the Global...economy. Exploitation of war for profit hasn't gone away. Good read: http://www.amazon.com/War-Racket-Antiwar-Americas-Decorated/dp/0922915865/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300005423&sr=8-1

u/euThohl3 · 3 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

Einstein wasn't really involved in the project, though he played a significant role in warning the US government that it was possible and how bad an idea it would have been to let the Nazis get it first. Even though he wasn't involved, he had the name recognition that the president would read something that he sent.

Oppenheimer was basically in charge of all the science during the project.

Feynman did work on it, but he was pretty young at the time, so he wasn't one of the senior people.

There's a really excellent Pulitzer Prize winning book by Richard Rhodes that describes everything, if you're interested.

u/QuiteAffable · 3 pointsr/todayilearned
u/LieselMeminger · 3 pointsr/AskReddit

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. The writing is so good you won't care about the squeamish content.

The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum. A perfect blend of a historical retelling and science.

A Treasury of Deception by Michael Farguhar.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks. Short stories of the mentally abnormal patients of Sacks.

My Stroke of Insight by Jill Taylor. Very good insight on what it is like to live with, and recover from brain damage. Also talks science about parts of the brain as a nice intro to the subject.

Mutants: On Genetic Variety in the Human Body by Armand Leroi.

And of course,
Cosmos by Carl Sagan.

u/vishuno · 3 pointsr/movies

Written by Mary Roach who is hilarious and has other great books! I recommend these in particular:

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

u/hibryd · 3 pointsr/IAmA

I read in Stiff that plastic surgeons practice on cadavers. Is that more or less gross than working on a live person?

u/PaperParakeet · 3 pointsr/todayilearned

And if you're intrigued about the decomposition of the human body, or what might happen after you donate your corpse to silence, here's a good read!

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393324826/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_-lE.yb3TNHSXQ

It's one of my long time favorites. It's the first place I read about this skin slippage, termed "gloving."

u/soapydansk · 3 pointsr/Gore

I'm a lady! I started on rotten.com a long time ago, too. I've always been a little morbid I guess, but I am also just fascinated by the things we don't see that (a) we used to or (b) other cultures still do. My mom worked around a lot of medical illustrators for most of my life, too, so I grew up seeing random fetuses in jars and understood the importance of cadavers.

Also, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers is one of my favorite books.

But I'd add, as other meta posts have before, that I learned way more than I expected when I started coming here.

u/eklektech · 3 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

you would probably get into this book, parts of it talk about the body farm https://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393324826

u/barnosaur · 3 pointsr/pics

This book is all about the different ways human cadavers are used and it really is fascinating.

u/Groty · 3 pointsr/WTF

The interesting thing about rapid deceleration deaths is that it's rarely the pavement, tree, water, whatever that kills a person. Most of the body is pretty good at taking severe impacts. Hit most places with an object at the same speed and it's not immediate death.

However, there is one MAJOR weak spot. The aorta! It tears from the rapid deceleration. Immediate blood lose and you're a goner.

Here's a great book that talks about it. I was actually reading the falling death/aorta tearing chapter 32,000 feet over the east coast on my way to vacation. Nodded off, had one of those dreams where I could see through the floor of the airplane and weird falling sensation. Jumped, felt bad for the person next to me!

http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393324826

u/mtalbot · 3 pointsr/IAmA
u/PerNihilAdNihil · 3 pointsr/books

it's not 'taking over'

anti-intellectualism has been a 'thing' in mrrka for many years

hell, this pulitzer-prize winning book dealt with this very issue in the 1960s

u/fourcrew · 3 pointsr/askphilosophy

I don't think this is exclusively an American phenomenon. However you may be onto something given how anti-intellectual American discourse can be and how averse Americans seem to be towards disciplines that they don't see as practical. A whole conversation on American anti-intellectualism seems to be what you're looking for. http://www.amazon.com/Anti-Intellectualism-American-Life-Richard-Hofstadter/dp/0394703170

u/kanooker · 3 pointsr/Economics

If you watch Jersey shore then it's probably still for fags. It's been around far longer then mass media though. Check out

Anti-Intellectualism in American Life

u/uep · 3 pointsr/politics

It's funny that you call it self-imposed, but let me ask you... where did you learn the majority of your history? Did you research it yourself, or did you learn it in school?

If you learned it in school... is it the student or the teacher that is to be blamed? Come on, there are books written on the inaccuracy of the American Textbooks!

u/BTfromSunlight · 3 pointsr/politics

I teach college courses on writing, social justice, and activism. My students read the intro and the chapter on Columbus every Columbus day.

I'd also recommend Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen. http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0684818868

u/cuberail · 3 pointsr/AskReddit
u/GhostOnWheels · 3 pointsr/Mr_Trump

Important reading: The Bell Curve: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0684824299

u/NothingsShocking · 3 pointsr/AdviceAnimals

an actual study : The Bell Curve

u/be_vigilant_ · 3 pointsr/ActiveMeasures

This is a good question.

I would like to echo that sentiment.

While the Koch brothers have had an aggressive political agenda for some time, applying their billions of dollars to influence a radical agenda onto US politics Dark Money, by Jane Mayer ...

The bigger issue here is:

  • Do you trust the site?
  • Do you trust the author?
  • Do you trust the content?
  • Do you trust the OP? reddit-user-analyser

    Be skeptical.

    Some of us are misanthropes, some of us are a bit kooky, some of us might actually be reasonable normal human beings; but some among us are bad actors which have commercial, corporate or political agendas. some of us are bots, trolls, manipulators.

    Again, this is a good question.
u/20000RadsUnderTheSea · 3 pointsr/moderatepolitics

I've actually been really disappointed to read into the history and current usage of most modern non-profits (charities) and realized that they are basically a tax dodge for the super-rich. For instance, think of the tax breaks for donating to various non-profits. They don't disappear if you own the charity, allowing you to create charities, place your own money in them to reduce your tax burden, and spend it how you like.

And almost none has to be directed towards your stated goal, similar to how non-profits like The Wounded Warriors Project use less than 10% of the donated money to actually help veterans.

Even worse, depending on the type of 501 non-profit it is, you can usually use that money politically. Recent-ish court cases have determined that, even ones that were originally designed to not permit political spending, the word "primarily" allows for up to 49% of money to be spend on political issues directly. And obfuscation can allow for plenty more to indirectly support political issues.

A final piece of the puzzle is how you can set up tax-free trusts for your kids to avoid estate taxes. They sound good: the rich get no taxes to transfer money to their kids because the interest that accrues on the trust for a decade or two goes to charities. But when own the charity you are giving the interest to, it's just a tax dodge.

If you are interested in reading more, the book Dark Money is a fascinating read. It is a bit left of center, though. Provides a lot of background on non-profits and their inception though... they used to be illegal and thought of as thoroughly un-American. And now, they are used to take billions of dollars from the wealthy, while reducing their tax burden, to fund their political causes with no limits, thanks to cases like Citizen's United.

Sorry if this was all a little off topic.

u/not-moses · 3 pointsr/cults

Keep digging:

Look up Jane Mayer and Nancy MacLean.

Look into the Koch, Scaife, Olin, De Vos, Bradley, and Coors families, as well as Sheldon Adelson.

Look into the economics departments at the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech and George Mason University since the 1950s.

Follow the money.

And look at the use of neurolinguistic programming in the higher levels of the fundraising, voter registration and get-out-the-vote schemes in both of our major political parties.

And once you've done all that, go volunteer to work for your county or state party political organization to see how the pyramid works and whether or not I'm talking out the side of my neck.

cc: u/Lamont-Cranston, u/troublesomefaux

u/BelligerentBenny · 3 pointsr/samharris

Yea because if you're not a white christian or jew it's obvious

We're fighting Muslims over sand no one should care about

Do you not understand our foreign policy?

Here is the most famous book on the topic

https://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501

Written by a harvard and a u chicago professor.

I'll say it again. You have no fucking idea waht you're talking about. White nationalists love Israel. You are so unbelievably ignorant. Fucking Hitler loved Israel

If you think we would have invaded Iraq without our relationship with Israel you're fucking delusional. And again proving your ignorance. Stay out of politics. Clearly you know nothing about anyone politics or American policy.

u/Al_Shakir · 3 pointsr/DebateAltRight

It is not exactly what you are asking for, but if you have not read it, you must read The Israel Lobby: https://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501/

u/FartfullyYours · 3 pointsr/conspiracy

That was the same conclusion reached in The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.

u/send_nasty_stuff · 3 pointsr/SubforWhitePeopleOnly

/r/911truth and r/holocaust has source driven stuff. The ron unz site is good.

Starter, source driven, articles.

https://www.unz.com/runz/our-american-pravda/

http://www.unz.com/runz/american-pravda-holocaust-denial/

http://www.unz.com/runz/american-pravda-911-conspiracy-theories/

Source driven full texts.

Jews and sexual 'freedom' agenda

http://www.culturewars.com/CultureWars/1999/libido_ad.html

Jews as revolutionaries and subversionaries through history all the way up to the neo con movement.

http://www.culturewars.com/Reviews/RevolutionaryReviews.html

https://www.bookdepository.com/Culture-Critique-Kevin-Macdonald/9780759672222

If you don't have the time to read 800 and 1200 page books here are two documentaries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCkc-ZF_TSY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiGYtQ1EWZw

this doc covers lots of the issues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJl0bH8ey-M

The late Emeritus Professor Dr. Tony Martin covers jews and the slave trade. WITH SOURCES

https://www.amazon.com/Jewish-Onslaught-Despatches-Wellesley-Battlefront/dp/0912469307

Here's a shorter read on jews and the slave trade.

https://wethoughttheywerewhite.tumblr.com/WhoAreTheJews

Those sources should cover 90% of /u/translate4mepls post. Please let me know if you have questions.

and if you need jews and bolshevism the Juri Lina books and documentaries are good and of course Solzenitzyn.

edit. if you are VERY short on time this is a compact documentary (20 minutes) yet still data/source driven.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljMPafQpfDU

edit 2. sorry I left out more specific israel lobbying books.

https://www.amazon.com/Big-Israel-Israels-Lobby-America/dp/0982775717

https://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=2AP6DCM7502FT8F0FNZZ

https://www.amazon.com/Where-Right-Went-Wrong-Neoconservatives-ebook/dp/B003J56502/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=neo+conservatives+pat+buchanene&qid=1553479646&s=books&sr=1-1-spell

Need more sources?

https://imgur.com/a/RI1lA1j

https://imgur.com/a/IOSTDYs

https://imgur.com/a/rMMHiQv

https://imgur.com/a/mx4KK9X

https://imgur.com/a/oxPYWCc

https://imgur.com/a/sBtcAEh

https://imgur.com/a/XPosuJ6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJl0bH8ey-M

Also read the Hooton Plan and Kalergi plan. Here are two funny animations about this topic as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKDeyuM0-Og

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faNge-o0V-k

need more?

Quick history on the last 200 years of jews.

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateAltRight/comments/a8u6rp/the_cuck_and_based_map_of_white_countries/eced3ar/

Small collection of jpgs on the jews

https://old.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/a9qw2y/the_rothschilds_started_the_civil_war/ecln6kd/?context=3

Thread on Study resources

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateAltRight/comments/a56b51/jewish_study_resources/

Step by step guide on Jews

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateAltRight/comments/a13foq/how_to_explain_the_jq_in_a_simple_stepbystep_guide/eamjm9n/

Jews and Communism

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateAltRight/comments/a1bf7q/debunking_jewish_communism/eaodfbt/

Why the JQ is important to white identitarianism movements

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateAltRight/comments/9wxv0m/what_is_the_specific_importance_of_the_jq/e9o46qe/

Jews and Pedophillia

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateAltRight/comments/9t18cm/ok_im_sold_now_what/e8vtgmp/

The JQ simplified in plain language.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SubOfPeace/comments/9n7iin/2_am_schitzopost/e7krwez/

Thread on THE Epic Unz Article

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateAltRight/comments/9bi1rv/the_holocaust_did_not_happen/

Jew in their own words

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateAltRight/comments/93gzrj/can_anybody_here_just_admit_that_the_jq_is_dumb/e3d92gg/

A redpill story and some JQ info from /u/certifiedrabbi

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateAltRight/comments/8szqmz/is_the_altright_environmentalistwhat_altrights/e14rdzd/

Jews vs the Parsi

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateAltRight/comments/91cejs/the_reason_you_fight_for_an_open_society_is/e2xqyvz/

Jewish Tricks: driving cognitive overload to overwhelm enemies

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateAltRight/comments/8zmix9/cognitive_load_is_the_driver_of_pilpul_and/

Example of how jews first stigmatize, isolate and destroy enemies.

https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/8xbmrs/the_social_shaming_of_racists_is_working/e22bb07/

Examples of jewish subversion in the west

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateAltRight/comments/8wisse/frequently_among_the_altright_i_see_posts_talking/e1vuaif/

Understanding Jewish motives

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateAltRight/comments/8o4fmt/what_are_some_altright_beliefs_you_dont_100_agree/e00p9fx/

Understanding why whites ignore the JQ

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateAltRight/comments/8o4fmt/what_are_some_altright_beliefs_you_dont_100_agree/e0125ba/

Do jews really want to genocide whites?

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateAltRight/comments/8jfaao/i_need_some_clarification_on_white_genocide/dyzei69/

Data on broken social cohesion

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateAltRight/comments/8jee6p/does_the_altright_want_nonwhite_americans_to_leave/dyzflru/

u/avogadros_number · 3 pointsr/worldnews

Yes, it was a Princeton study iirc... a short summary can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tu32CCA_Ig

If you're interested in a detailed and quite focused historical review of how the US went from democracy to oligarchy I would recommend Jane Mayer's, "Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right"

u/ee4m · 3 pointsr/MensRights

>A tinge of anti-government rhetoric is justified and healthy given government's role as the primary enforcer of feminist injustice against men.

This anti government rhetoric isn't grass roots. The right wing of the mrm has been astroturfed. Its not really for mens interests, its for the interests of billionaires.

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0385535597

u/rukestisak · 3 pointsr/serbia

Dosta ljetno štivo: http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393324826/ref=zg_bs_689737011_1/191-4977981-9015808

Šala, ali ova knjiga je ful zanimljiva ako imaš jak želudac.

u/rattlesnarks · 3 pointsr/exmormon

Someone once told me that the parts left over after med school assignments sometimes end up in art projects. Is this true?

Asking because I'm 1,000,000% donating my body if I get to be science AND art.

Also: Stiff by Mary Roach made me want to donate myself to the body farm.

https://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393324826

u/woodycanuck · 3 pointsr/IAmA
u/myhusbandsrepublican · 3 pointsr/books

Stiff by Mary Roach. It deals with cadavers, which most humans don't like to think about, but the author writes it in a way that balances heavy content with humor.

u/theheartofgold · 3 pointsr/booksuggestions

Mary Roach! Mary Roach Mary Roach!

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex

Packing of Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void

I can't recommend these highly enough. Mary Roach is the most engaging, funny science writer I've read.

Also [A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman]http://www.amazon.com/Natural-History-Senses-Diane-Ackerman/dp/0679735666/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323874194&sr=1-1

u/generalT · 2 pointsr/Futurology

the root cause is billonaire dirty energy magnates spreading their anti-science agenda through their donation networks. check out dark money, chapter eight. i'm not sure how basic science literacy will help a sprawling, well-funded anti-science propaganda campaign.

the kochs, scaifes, and their ilk are enemies of mankind and should be treated as such.

u/MrHoneycrisp · 2 pointsr/neoliberal

here

​

also if you got the time

u/ziddina · 2 pointsr/exjw

Maybe this?

From: https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/kochland-examines-how-the-koch-brothers-made-their-fortune-and-the-influence-it-bought

>If there is any lingering uncertainty that the Koch brothers are the primary sponsors of climate-change doubt in the United States, it ought to be put to rest by the publication of “Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America,” by the business reporter Christopher Leonard. This seven-hundred-and-four-page tome doesn’t break much new political ground, but it shows the extraordinary behind-the-scenes influence that Charles and David Koch have exerted to cripple government action on climate change.
>
>Leonard, who has written for Bloomberg Businessweek and the Wall Street Journal, devotes most of the book to an even-handed telling of how the two brothers from Wichita, Kansas, built up Koch Industries, a privately owned business so profitable that together they have amassed some hundred and twenty billion dollars, a fortune larger than that of Amazon’s C.E.O., Jeff Bezos, or the Microsoft founder Bill Gates. The project took Leonard more than six years to finish and it draws on hundreds of hours of interviews, including with Charles Koch, the C.E.O. and force without equal atop the sprawling corporate enterprise. (David Koch retired from the firm last year.)
>
>While “Kochland” is more focused on business than on politics, in line with Leonard’s “The Meat Racket: The Secret Takeover of America’s Food Business,” from 2014, it nonetheless adds new details about the ways in which the brothers have leveraged their fortune to capture American politics. Leonard shows that the Kochs’ political motives are both ideological, as hardcore free-market libertarians, and self-interested, serving their fossil-fuel-enriched bottom line. The Kochs’ secret sauce, as Leonard describes it, has been a penchant for long-term planning, patience, and flexibility; a relentless pursuit of profit; and the control that comes from owning some eighty per cent of their business empire themselves, without interference from stockholders or virtually anyone else.
>
>Saying anything new about the Kochs isn’t easy. The two brothers have been extensively covered: they are the subject of Daniel Schulman’s excellent biography “Sons of Wichita,” from 2014, and the focus of much in-depth investigative reporting, including a piece I wrote for The New Yorker, from 2010, and my book “Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right,” from 2016.
>
>Leonard, nonetheless, manages to dig up valuable new material, including evidence of the Kochs’ role in perhaps the earliest known organized conference of climate-change deniers, which gathered just as the scientific consensus on the issue was beginning to gel. The meeting, in 1991, was sponsored by the Cato Institute, a Washington-based libertarian think tank, which the Kochs founded and heavily funded for years. As Leonard describes it, Charles Koch and other fossil-fuel magnates sprang into action that year, after President George H. W. Bush announced that he would support a treaty limiting carbon emissions, a move that posed a potentially devastating threat to the profits of Koch Industries. At the time, Bush was not an outlier in the Republican Party. Like the Democrats, the Republicans largely accepted the scientific consensus on climate change, reflected in the findings of expert groups such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which had formed in 1988, under the auspices of the United Nations.

u/Mauricium_M26 · 2 pointsr/Anarchism

Here's a big list.

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-researcher-dupont-helped-nazi-germany-out-of-ideology-1.7186636

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ibm-holocaust_b_1301691

https://www.amazon.com/IBM-Holocaust-Strategic-Alliance-Corporation/dp/0914153277

https://www.amazon.com/War-Against-Weak-Eugenics-Americas/dp/0914153293/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PD3S20TYT0CRAFMCV31W

https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/1796

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/25/usa.secondworldwar

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/books/review/the-brothers-by-stephen-kinzer.html

https://www.amazon.com/Brothers-Foster-Dulles-Allen-Secret/dp/0805094970

https://www.democracynow.org/2016/1/20/the_kochs_the_nazis_book_reveals

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0307947904/ref=asc_df_0307947904/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312669563714&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5810486821632951259&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9021356&hvtargid=pla-432540147973&psc=1

https://www.thenation.com/article/hitlers-willing-executioners/

https://www.thenation.com/article/kodaks-nazi-connections/

https://www.academia.edu/21745112/The_Myth_of_the_Good_War_America_in_the_Second_World_War

https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Good-War-USA-World/dp/1550287710

https://libcom.org/files/How%20the%20Allied%20multinationals%20supplied%20Nazi%20Germany%20throughout%20World%20War%20II.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaWz42tmxug

https://www.amazon.com/Trading-Enemy-Charles-Higham/dp/044019055X

u/thehillsaredead · 2 pointsr/politics

Here's a good place to start. Dark Money goes into the history of these shadowy megadonors and surprise! They're racist!
[Here's a link]
(https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0307947904)

u/TerminalGrog · 2 pointsr/thedavidpakmanshow

Read Dark Money, strongly recommend reading that along with Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century.

u/ejoso_ · 2 pointsr/BasicIncome

Read Dark Money. Billionaire “donations” are powerful tools.


https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0307947904

u/Youmonsterr · 2 pointsr/worldnews

Unfortunately, I don't think it can be said with full context. But I'll try. You can get what the book is about here:
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0307947904/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506716249&sr=8-1&keywords=dark+money

Basically, the trust fund kids (koch brothers and other billionaires) are creating/funding think tanks that focuses on whatever means to add to their bottom line. They are willing to skewer education in the way that teaches limited government is good for business. However, when the bailout idea came, they gladly took it. So they're not really taking on any ideological side, but whatever is easy for them to gain more money.

The reason for this is because the Koch brothers were brought up in a very militaristic style parenting by their father.. who teaches you must do whatever means to win. They were pitted against each other in fights, games, etc. so they carry that determination in business as well, and it's causing harm in our political system and society because they have so much control of wealth and thus influence.


There's a lot more to this obviously, the book is really a must read.

u/BanMikePantsNow · 2 pointsr/conspiracy

> It's patently obvious, at least in this sub, that the overwhelming majority of anti-Israel/ anti-Zionist statements come from people who are bigoted against Jews as a people.

It's like a broken record. You really need some new tactics, as the word antisemitic has lost all meaning due to overuse.

>I have no patience for that, especially from losers who can't either see the real problem in their society (still the military-industrial complex) or take ownership of their actions (being deluded by jingoism and xenophobia).

Israel was complicit in 9/11 and is responsible for the destruction of Iraq, Syria, Libya and soon Iran. These are facts that you should have no patience for.

>There is no foreign boogeyman.

Read a book.


u/friendship_n_karate · 2 pointsr/politics

Secretly? I assume this is just one big work if antisemitism?

u/rodmclaughlin · 2 pointsr/ukpolitics

No, a conspiracy is where a group of people get together in secret to do something illegal. When Alan Dershowitz attacked Omar Barghouti as the second Hitler or something, he didn't get together in secret with anyone else, and didn't break the law. But he's a smart guy, and I think he knows what he's doing. He doesn't believe a wuss like Barghouti is an actual threat to Jewish power.

Chomsky did describe himself as a Zionist, but his definition of it is different to today's. He certainly doesn't challenge Jewish power. He explicitly rejects the conclusions of The Israel Lobby. He tries to persuade people it's all America's fault, and strongly rejects the view that the the tail wags the dog.

u/vigorous · 2 pointsr/worldpolitics

Mearsheimer and Walt wrote up the Iraq war substantiating that claim They are among the few recognizable and respected US commentators with good credentials to have done so.

u/LorTolk · 2 pointsr/AskSocialScience

I would also recommend The Globalization of World Politics as an introductory text to the field. It's an absolutely phenomenal textbook, while summaries you've posted are indeed comprehensive and succinct.

To elaborate, with more comprehensive texts (should the OP choose to read them), IR is a broad field. But specifically regarding International Politics, I would recommend Nye's The Future of Power, as a current perspective on international power (and the fairly recent differentiation in power resources, eg. "hard" and "soft" power). Focusing specifically on International Politics (as opposed to other IR subfields like development), the seminal works for the current theories on international politics include:


Theory of International Politics by Kenneth N. Waltz (1979), which serves as the foundation for structural realist (or neorealist) school. Neorealists are generally split between offensive realists (like Mearsheimer) and defensive realists (Waltz and Walt) as general categorizations, and you can find related works from these scholars for a focused view from either on the issues they disagree upon.

After Hegemony (1984) by Robert Keohane is the neoliberal institutionalist response to Waltz (Power and Interdependence by Keohane & Nye (1977) is probably its founding text), and one of the leading works of the theoretical field itself.

Finally, Social Theory of International Politics by Alexander Wendt (1999) is the comprehensive overview of the social constructivist school.

These largely cover all the major theoretical branches of current International Political theory (without diverging too heavily into IR subfields), though I do emphasize that these classifications are fairly fluid, given the readiness of offensive realists like Mearsheimer to look into the "black box" of domestic politics in the (highly controversial) piece, The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy. Again, these are the main theoretical works in these respective schools, and it is not necessary for you (the OP) to read through all of them to understand the subject.

While not exclusively International Politics focused, World Systems Theory is highly influential critical theory for IR studies, and understanding it (and Marxist-influenced dependency theory) as well as game theory (Nash Equilibrium etc) are both integral to modern IR methodologies and theories. By in large, Hobbes and the Leviathan (and a bit of Rousseau) is the only political theory that you need to start delving into IR theory, so you should be good on that front.

There are also specialized and diversified IR fields such as Development, Peace and Conflict Resolution, and Human Rights, but those are most likely not necessary given the scope of your conference (by the sounds of it, predominantly focused on state-centric International Politics).

u/CanuckPanda · 2 pointsr/worldnews

https://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501

Highly recommend you give this a read, mate.

Lobbies give to people who will support them, that's why the money is useful. They're not going to help fund those who go against their interests. Help elect the friendly people, and then quietly remind them you helped them and they owe you.

u/agfa12 · 2 pointsr/politics

Eli Lake can "raises questions" all he wants but All of NIAC'S budget, is about $1.5 million. Less than what AIPAC spends on shoeshines, and if that amount only %20 can be used for lobbying.

Pretending that Israel does not have a pernicious and unbalanced influence on US foreign policy is just being a flat earthen when even the most distinguished mainstream US experts say it does:
http://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501

What other FOREIGN GOVT gets the special treatment given to Osrael? Our congressional and presidential candidates and office holders regularly appear before AIPAC and swear never ending fealty to a foreign govt. We don't do that for the Germans, Poles, Japaneae...just Israel.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SVLELDY90-E

u/prider · 2 pointsr/politics

You're probably right... One of those books on this subject matter: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0385535597

u/sonorangoose · 2 pointsr/politics

Jane Meyer wrote a interesting book about the Kochs and Dark Money

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0385535597

Whatever your persuasion, this should concern you.

u/ricard_anise · 2 pointsr/news

People ought to read Dark Money.

This thing may just well be a long con, well thought out on a timeline that exceeds the intelligence and collective memory of most US citizens.

u/SomethingInThatVein · 2 pointsr/Documentaries

Your assertion that there is absolutely no state-sponsored influence on any facets of American media, and that there are no power players who involve themselves in advertising, is obviously, categorically false. Your argument is founded solely on either naivety or misinformation. I'd recommend to everybody seeing this read The Dictator's Handbook, NY Times best-selling Dark Money, and maybe even Pulitzer-prize winning Black Flag for a more in-depth study on the complicated issue of how exactly we're manipulated and exploited.

u/anomoly · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

> ... and totally not known even remotely enough in general.

I think this is one of the reasons I'm so open about recommending his work. He seems to have the ability to take topics that most people may not be exposed to and make them comprehensible. It's similar to the way I feel about Mary Roach in books like Stiff, Bonk, and Gulp.

Along with that, Bryson has some purely entertaining works like A Walk in the Woods, Notes From a Small Island, and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir that are just a joy to read. I guess I'll stop now because I'm starting to feel like shill.

Edit: spelling is hard.

u/SlothMold · 2 pointsr/suggestmeabook

Mary Roach's science books may as well be shelved in the humor section. I'd start with Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, which is a personal favorite. She also writes about scientific studies about sex in Bonk, food science in Gulp, and astronauts in Packing for Mars.

Freakonomics is not as humorous, but it's still easy science reading about economics and odd correlations in history.

u/aphrodite-walking · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

I would start off with Stiff and then Bonk. I liked Spook but on amazon it doesn't have as good of reviews as the others so I'd read that one later if you aren't as interested in it. I've yet to read packing for mars but if it's anything like her other books, it's wonderful.

u/imafishyfish · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

For some interesting material on organ donation, I suggest Stiff by Mary Roach.

u/irregodless · 2 pointsr/IAmA

I recommend you read Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

They go over this in the first chapter. Fascinating and surprisingly entertaining book.

u/washer · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

I'm just speaking for myself here, but if you want to get a factbook, I'd go Uncle John's Bathroom Reader over a book of random facts. With a book of random facts, there's little incentive to do anything but glance at it occasionally. The Bathroom Reader contains longer anecdotes in addition to traditional factoid tidbits, so it's good if you've got a minute or a half-hour.

Also, if you want to get interesting science-type books, one that I haven't read but have heard good things about is Stiff. Hope that helps!

u/geekgirlpartier · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

Gifted Hands was an awesome book.

Also Stiff was a great book about Cadavers.

u/Zanyion · 2 pointsr/DebateAltRight

I appreciate you taking the time.

Biological determinism is a very scary notion in our society. Everything is build on equality, "tabula rasa". This undermines everything.

This is what we are up against. It can not be talked out.

>institutional factors

I don't have any studies on hand. I have seen one done in the 70s comparing twins, which proved the point. I can't find it though. This video does go into this.

Here is also a famous scientific book on the matter
>Once upon a time eugenics and race theory was the leading school of thought but has been largely discredited due to lack of evidence or data.

Straw man. Red herring.

>Make sure you're belief in these theories doesn't come from any of your own preconceived biases but instead from hard scientific fact.

It's very limiting to rely solely on this. Truth can not only be represented by empiricism. What if there is theory but no one wants to study it. It may be clear it's the truth but no one want to study or fund it and therefore it's not the Truth.

This is the issue with taboo science, which critical theory(Cultural Marxism) hinders. It can't be Truthed yet people may still have a piece of the truth.

This is the case here. This information supports notions people have had for a long time. This is what is commonly called a redpill. A tough piece of information to swallow which destroys ones world view, which completely makes sense, based on past suppressed "anecdotes".

It's not out of malice these things are finally accepted. It just explains all past information and interactions, where you always felt you were missing something. Like why are there no "successful" society made up of all blacks, when other people too have endured similar fates yet are fully functional societies. Why have all black people I encountered behaved so differently from Asians and whites? Why are most successful blacks half white? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Obama etc?

And this

I wouldn't care if whites were the dumbest ones. I still would like my society made up of my people.

If this was 100% proved wrong, my views politically wouldn't change one bit.

u/fingerthemoon · 2 pointsr/TheRedPill

I've been coming across information lately about scientists who bring up controversial topics and how much shit they have to deal with afterwards. Often their careers are ruined, they have to face angry mobs and their lives are threatened.

In Steven Pinkers The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature he devotes chapter 7 to this topic. There are many examples but off the top of my head I remember one guy who did some studies on left-handed people and discovered they are prone to birth defects and some other genetic disorders. He was sued, attacked and eventually the University he worked for made the topic illegal to study.

Another example is Charles Murray's The
Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life
. He has one chapter about IQ tests and race. He talks about the repercussions in this video Charles Murray -- The Bell Curve Revisited. But basically he was labeled a raciest for simply talking about the data.

I don't know if you're familiar with Richard Dawkins but he has also faced extreme criticism for his world changing book The Selfish Gene.

There are many examples and I can't list them all, but suffice it to say, people will take your words out of context, flat out miss quote you and spin your words in order to discredit what you say and have you labeled negatively. Just look at Trump and how they've done this to him. He is compared to Hitler and seen as the epitome of evil itself.

I'm finding that most people are immune to logic. Many people believe that race and sex are social constructs. 40% of Americans deny evolution. Libertarians are demonized and dismissed as idiots all over the place....

I've come to the conclusion that the information I've acquired pertaining to politics, social science, anthropology, evolution, religion, and sexuality, however much it is backed by science and reason, is very, very unpopular, and it's wiser for me to pretend to be and think like others. Getting tingles from some women at a party because you challenge their beliefs is not worth the very real possibility of having your character slandered and your carrier ruined.

You might be more intelligent than I and able to pull it off but I'm probably older, and I've been around long enough to see just how shitty and back-stabbing people can be, even those you considered friends. So I'm playing it safe and keeping my thoughts on controversial topics to myself.

u/SicilianSal · 2 pointsr/barstoolsports

Thanks. You still might want to read it just because Diamond's thesis is pretty unique so it's enjoyable to read.

It's quite a controversial book but if you want the opposite perspective of Diamond, Wade's "A Troublesome Inheritance" is among the best: https://www.amazon.com/Troublesome-Inheritance-Genes-Human-History/dp/1594204462. The other obvious contender is Charles Murray's The Bell Curve, though there's basically only chapter that's relevant to this discussion, and unsurprisingly it's the chapter that has gotten him the most praise and the most criticism: https://www.amazon.com/Bell-Curve-Intelligence-Structure-Paperbacks/dp/0684824299

For criticism of Diamond from someone opposed to Wade/Murray, try Wertheim's review in the Nation (it's short): http://www.columbia.edu/~saw2156/HunterBlatherer.pdf in which he argues that even Diamond is too deterministic.

u/ZephirAWT · 2 pointsr/ScienceUncensored

Work of renowned UK psychologist Hans Eysenck ruled ‘unsafe’ Is this “one of the worst scientific scandals of all time”?

Eysenck’s ‘cancer-prone’ personality theory had come under criticism for decades. But a 2002 paper published in the journal Review of General Psychology, ranking the 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century, saw him come in at number 1. Regarding the citations, ahead of him was Jean Piaget in second place and Sigmund Freud in first, making Eysenck, at the time of his death in 1997, the most cited living psychologist. ...WTF?

He long maintained the hereditability of IQ and personality traits and was a supporter of the work of people like Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein, the somewhat infamous authors of The Bell Curve, a book that amongst other things makes correlations between race and IQ in the US. This was a strange course to take for a refugee from a Nazi Germany he vehemently despised and whose own Jewish grandmother died in a concentration camp.

Whereas one would consider it as a remarkable case of scientific integrity instead. I'm afraid, this is where the smell actually comes from. The contemporary progressive ideology of Academia organizes witch hunting to all proponents of diversity, by attacking various aspects of personal life and/or the weakest and controversial parts of their research. See also:

u/raxical · 2 pointsr/videos

ACTUALLY! This is something that I have recently becoming intrigued about as well.

So, basically, everyone that is born will fall somewhere on the bell curve. Obviously someone like this will fall somewhere on the far right, so, high IQ.

Ok, but that's a really incomplete answer, of course he's got a high IQ. What causes this high IQ is what you're asking.
IQ is driven in large part by genes and is highly heritable (something on the order of 0.4 or 0.5). So, odds are his parents are above average intelligence as well.

read this book, it will blow your mind http://www.amazon.com/The-Blank-Slate-Modern-Denial/dp/1501264338

Because IQ is driven in large part by genes, his race plays an important factor as well. This book goes over that http://www.amazon.com/Bell-Curve-Intelligence-Structure-Paperbacks/dp/0684824299

Then, there's a good chance that he has some level of Asperger's. They don't call it "the engineer's disease" for nothing. People make jokes about this but it really does have an effect on how an individual spends their waking hours. Google about aspergers and engineering and you'll find articles like this

http://www.wired.com/2001/12/aspergers/

There's a pbs documentary and some really good articles out there, but I don't care to track them down right now.

Basically, people with some level of Asperger's become obsessed or display a high level of interest to some thing that they latch on to https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=aspergers+obsession. This is important because it allows the individual to put abnormal and significant amounts of time toward a particular interest. This usually tends to come at a cost to other brain functions necessary for social functioning.

So, when you combine all those factors, you get an individual that is highly intelligent and able to spend abnormal amounts of time and energy on a particular interest.

Surprisingly, the "push from the parents" and the environment don't really matter that much. Obviously the individual will be able to achieve more with a good environment and resources, but, this won't really change how intelligent the individual is. Basically... they're born that way and there's really not much you can do to change them.

u/kubrick66 · 2 pointsr/politics

These guys did a study and wrote a book about that subject

It's interesting. I read it back when I was taking statistics in college.

u/oprahsbuttplug · 2 pointsr/conspiracy

I was thinking of a different book but heres a link to it. I'm sure you can find a PDF somewhere.

The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (A Free Press Paperbacks Book) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0684824299/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ZrnRCbPT7ENAX

I'll give you the cliff notes though.

The short version is that if you compare average Iq scores and look at the state of western society vs African society, there is a massive disparity between the two locations. When you factor in how resource rich Africa as a continent is, it leaves a lot of unanswered questions as to why they have the massive amount of problems that they do when compared to every other group of people.

The implication is not "black people are dumb" it's "black people on the aggregate are not as adaptable as other racial groups."

It's worth the read in my opinion if for no other reason than to arm yourself with ammunition to fire back at people who would argue with you about different racial groups superiority.

As an aside, I think white supremacists are retarded because they tend to blame the Jews for everything from diabetes to modern sexual norms. So just from a logical point of view, you can't say "whites are the superior race" and then proceed to blame all of your social problems on the Jews. Those two ideas cannot coexist simultaneously.

u/iamtotalcrap · 2 pointsr/atheism

Unfortunately you'll have to be careful with finding accurate historical perspectives... especially for "celebrity figures" like the founding fathers, Einstein, etc. There's a lot of crap about that... David Barton, for instance, makes a career writing lies about American history and Christianity. American history is especially bad... some interesting books exist about such things, though not directly about religion:

e.g. http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281

u/Moriartis · 2 pointsr/politics

You mean the same textbooks that taught me that Columbus discovered America and that the Native Americans attacked the colonists first? History =/= Science. Science has to be demonstrated, history cannot be demonstrated, which makes it far less reliable. Rejecting historical claims is not the same thing as rejecting scientific claims.

Forgive me if I don't expect information funded and regulated by the government to be honest about what the government has done. If you don't mind, I won't be getting my information about cancer from the Tobacco industry studies either.

Oh, and if you still believe everything in your history textbook, here's a good reason not to.

u/yourbathroom · 2 pointsr/Marijuana

Too true and so sad. I'm in the process of reading James W. Loewen's "Lies my teacher told me". It is making me think that government run education, at least when it comes to social topics and history, is a SERIOUS conflict of interest. Generation after generation entering society just to become slaves.

u/Peter_Principle_ · 2 pointsr/Showerthoughts

OP, you should definitely read "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James Loewen (if you haven't already). This very subject is one of the major themes of this book.

u/McGrude · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

Non-Fiction:

Life as We Do Not Know It


Rogue Asteroids and Doomsday Comets

Lies my Teacher Told Me

Fiction :

Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

The Ender's Game series of books.


u/batmanismyconstant · 2 pointsr/booksuggestions

If you like A People's History, you'll probably like Lies My Teacher Told Me. It talks about how mainstream U.S. history ignores the contributions of racial minorities. A really different perspective on what I just assumed was the "truth."

u/efisher · 2 pointsr/AskHistorians

I'm not a historian, but a passionate student of history. I decided to pursue it as an academic discipline (and possibly as a career) when I read Lies My Teacher Told Me when I was 16. It's a fantastic introduction into the way history is taught in the US (so it might not be that relevant if you didn't grow up in America), and probes into the politics of the textbook system. And you get to find out that most of our nation's presidents were horrible racists, that we fought secret wars in Finland/Russia, and that J. Edgar Hoover tried to blackmail Martin Luther King, Jr. The essential story is that, as agentdcf so eloquently put it, history is by no means one-sided, and it's pivotal that we consider historical figures as people you could know in everyday life. No one's perfectly good or perfectly evil, but a lot of standard history curricula tend to present it otherwise.

u/cptnrandy · 2 pointsr/AskMen

Lies Told To Me By My Teacher

Read, develop a healthy skepticism, and then begin asking hard questions about everything you know, believe, and are told.

That's a path that will set you on really improving yourself.

u/auryn0151 · 2 pointsr/changemyview

>What other things have you said that support your claim that the U.S. somehow was responsible for WWII?

I made statements concerning present day conflicts in the preceding paragraph.

>I'm going to believe what I've been thought since grade school.

I'm sorry to hear that. The history we in the US are taught in grade school is often inaccurate on many important topics. Migh find this interesting.

http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412719114&sr=1-1&keywords=lies+my+teacher+told+me

u/Supercoolguy7 · 2 pointsr/TrollXChromosomes





Oh yeah no problem here's a a link to the amazon. Yeah it's pretty awful especially considering how interesting history is to most adults, once they have had some time away from highschool. It could be one of the subjects students get excited about just for the subject matter, instead it's entirely up to the teacher to go out of their way to make it interesting.

u/kandoras · 2 pointsr/books

A History of the World in 6 Glasses.

It's describes how beer (Hey! Drinking this doesn't give us the runs!), wine, spirits, coffee (apparently the British Empires version of the NYSE had the stuff on IV drip), tea (Opium Wars), and soft drinks have affected history.

The best thing I remember from it is learning how similar baking bread and brewing beer are. At it's most basic level, beer is just really, really, wet bread, and bread is just beer that you didn't add enough water to.

u/IndependentRoad5 · 2 pointsr/pics

This is patently false

Read Lies My Teacher Told Me.

Columbus spearheaded the intentional culling of the native population. He literally used cut off native ear's as currency. He was a genocidal sociopath.

​

>Up to 90% of natives died from disease spread almost entirely accidentally. That's not genocide its plague. Its epidemic.

Those were spread intentionally. It was methodical and purposeful.

Also lol

>Columbus explicitly wanted to bring natives under spanish rule, that's not genocide, that's conquest.

u/Flux05 · 2 pointsr/atheism

Also, the idea of universal education was made possible with industrialization and the printing press. It just so happened that Europe was the first one to get it, and accelerated greatly ahead, while exploiting the remaining world. The fucked over people in the Americas, Australia, Africa, Middle Ease, China, Japan. Please read your history. Europeans had this whole Enlightenment, but a lot of them were barbarians. Read about who Columbus actually was. Stop circlejerking with an ethnocentric viewpoint. good book (http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281)

u/HungarianHoney · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

Here is a great way to learn more about the lies your teachers told you...

u/ItsPronouncedMo-BEEL · 2 pointsr/AskAnAmerican

> Because most US history textbooks will gladly omit facts they don't find pertinent.

Recommended reading on that very subject.

Edit: I never would have expected a link to a book whose premise is "American history textbooks suck, and here's why" to be so controversial.

u/Coridimus · 2 pointsr/politics

One thing that really grinds my gears about primary and secondary is the devolved method we have of textbook selection. If you have ever read Lies my Teacher Told Me then you will know what I am talking about. One of the best things that I think can happen for textbooks is for input on their adoption to be utterly removed from the School District and State School Board level. FAR too prone to fallow feel-good flag-waving instead of actual education. History is the most tragic example of this.

u/dropkickpuppy · 2 pointsr/AskHistorians

The Annenberg Foundation has an excellent online course in world history. It's challenging, but it'll give you a pretty thorough grounding in the major themes.

For American history, Lies My Teacher Told Me is one of the more entertaining reads.

But for Quiz Bowl, you're probably better off playing the History Channel's Quiz game. There are a few thousand questions.

u/Imsomniland · 2 pointsr/conspiracy

> It feels like everybody is talking about equality and kindness and all that...but it feels off. It feels artificial.

There was a peak of this sort of trend with the baby boomers this trend in the 60s (Y'know, tune and drop out/peace n' love). The elder generation called us spoiled brats who'd gone soft...I remember at the beginning of the Vietnam war when there was some support, some of the older conservative demographics felt that the war might even straighten some of the hippies out.

The anxieties you feel about generational shifts are natural. I'd highly suggest checking out the books:

https://www.amazon.com/Generations-History-Americas-Future-1584/dp/0688119123

as well as their follow ups

https://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Turning-American-Prophecy-Rendezvous/dp/0767900464/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MPQAM9KQZ6HTVQ78QBZM

u/Joey_Scotch · 2 pointsr/conspiracy

For anyone interested in inter-generational dynamics and how they have played out in the history of this country I seriously recommend The Fourth Turning. It was written in 1997 and becomes more relevant everyday.

u/paniq · 2 pointsr/AdviceAnimals

Behold, the fourth turning is nigh! William Strauss & Neil Howe apparently did a good job making us hate them (both Boomers ;)

Seriously though, this 1994 Book does a great job at foretelling why we're in the situation we are in right now. Basically, all this is inevitable. It has to get worse before it gets better.

u/buscoamigos · 2 pointsr/politics

The Fourth Turning is reaching its apex.

u/GuruOfReason · 2 pointsr/politics

Very good post. I would recommend that everyone on here read The Fourth Turning.

u/lettersfrommybottom · 2 pointsr/AskReddit
u/RockyMtnSprings · 2 pointsr/dankmemes

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0767900464/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525871125&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=fourth+turning+book&dpPl=1&dpID=51oa9hiy5nL&ref=plSrch

The understanding of generations can be useful. Its not a predictor on your individual choices, but of society as a whole. Baby boomers and millennials are larger demographically than gen x. The wants and needs of a generation differ from each other. You have different needs from you parents and grandparents. Just like your children will have different wants and needs from you. The size and scope of the generation, plus events in their lifetime, gives information about their choices and decisions, generally speaking.

u/ralala · 2 pointsr/politics

> Is it just that liberals call people they don't like "Hitler"?

Oh yeah, liberals are the ones guilty of overusing the Hitler comparison. Gimme a break.

u/Rvb321 · 2 pointsr/SandersForPresident

I'm a big fan of the economist Richard Wolff and his podcast, Economic Update.

Some organizations to consider joining or supporting are
Democratic Socialists of America and Socialist Alternative.

I also encourage everyone to read Bernie's book, if you haven't already.

I would also highly recommend everyone read A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn.

Finally, I encourage everyone to watch the Noam Chomsky documentary, Requiem for The American Dream, on Netflix.

u/watrenu · 2 pointsr/BernItDown

> it's about what we want and if people wanted socialism, we'd have it.

https://www.amazon.ca/Peoples-History-United-States/dp/0060838655

u/WoWAdoree · 2 pointsr/homeschool

I like Big History Project. I modify the work for my younger kids. It's free and covers from when the Earth was formed (not by God) to the present. It's free. There's also Crash Course. It has History and Science (and tons of other) videos that are very short and to the point. There's also CK-12 that has free textbooks, worksheets you can modify, and a ton of other stuff as well. The History of US is great too. My kids hated Story of the World. There is also A People's History of the United States. There's also some great podccasts like American History Tellers, and Forever Ago.

​

I always tried to give my kids a big overview of history, and then we followed what they were interested in. At one point we did aAdd a Century Timeline and wrote out the most important dates in Roller Coaster and theme park history. Then they looked up what was going on historically and figured out if it effected what was going on in theme park history. It made it a lot more meaningful to them, I hope. We also visited as many historical places as we could.

u/yourelying999 · 2 pointsr/AskALiberal

The vast majority of capital and assets are in the hands of white people. That is an obstacle.

Further explanation gets into history, as today's world is necessarily a product of the history leading to it, and the answer a liberal is giving you is: ask a professor. Their literal job is to study and explain these things. You can keep posting your question, but I gave you the tools to get your answer. Are you actually looking to broaden your knowledge of a subject or is this an exercise in argument for you?

E: here are some books that will answer at least some aspects of your very broad and complex question:

The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein

A People's History of The United States by Howard Zinn

Systematic Racism by Joe Feagin

For a more humanistic account of the black experience, try anything by James Baldwin.

u/kitchen_clinton · 2 pointsr/worldnews

The rapaciousness of the USA has been well documented.


http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States-Present/dp/0060838655.

u/SickSalamander · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

A People's History of the United States is a much more enlightening history book.

Guns, Germs and Steel is thoroughly "blah." The official unofficial history. Moderate and wishy washy. Stuck up and biased while claiming to be the most neutral thing ever.

u/ekofromlost · 2 pointsr/pearljam

This one intrigued me for so long because I only had it in Audio. It was just after Nothingman, in NY-2010.
Nothingman has a very cool "Into the sun...Into the sun...." part, and Eddie tells the story when he sang it in Germany kind of doing the Heil Hitler move, you know, arms stretched, palms of hands facing down, and then he saw that big crowd of germans doing it and he went "oh fuck".

Then he went on a typical Eddie talk...even talking about Howard Zinn (I read his books because of that Eddie talk, go figure. He's awesome)

I suggest starting from the beginning and listening to the song, too.



u/Cargobiker530 · 2 pointsr/PoliticalHumor

Or.......... ClusterJones is 18, just moved to somewhere his parents doesn't control the internet and is reading beyond his home-skoolin. (Good job dude) Because somebody's post and comment history says that all over the dang place.

Try "A People's History of The United States" first. It's a good read and far more relevant to modern politics than Marx. Or Iain M. Banks Culture novels if you want to read what Elon Musk reads. If you want to know what the Google founders were thinking read "Snow Crash" and "The Diamond Age" by Stephenson. These are far more relevant to the world you live in today than Marx.

u/Ordinate1 · 2 pointsr/POLITIC

> Trump Voters and history!

That's from Howard Zinn you fascist asshole!

https://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States/dp/0060838655

u/lukasmn · 2 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

Here ya go - not that watered down shit you get in school: http://www.amazon.com/A-Peoples-History-United-States/dp/0060838655

u/desvel · 2 pointsr/atheism

But how would you know? You might be interested in these books [1 2 3]

u/american_apartheid · 2 pointsr/worldnews

oh, my sweet summer child

eugenics isn't unique to nazi germany. Nazi Germany actually got their ideas from the United States.

The US, Canada, and Mexico committed genocides of the native population far larger than the Holocaust.

Hell, slavery in various forms (from penal to chattel) still exists in the US, and several big-name politicians have even leased house slaves.

There is a lot we are not taught about our countries in primary school. I only learned about these things in grad school, and most people are not lucky enough to have gone to grad school. If you want to learn about history from the perspective of the working class, the disabled, and the subaltern, etc., I recommend this book. It is a very good introduction to history from the perspective of those who have been ruled, rather than those who have done the ruling.

If you want to learn more about the dystopian history of these countries, I can direct you to further resources in DMs.

And while you're going through the histories of these nations, just remember to stick to scholarly sources. Evidence-based reasoning is key. There's enough messed up stuff out there that we don't need to jump to conclusions about things that might have happened. A lot of people will try to peddle bullshit about Jews or migrants being the cause of all our ills, but these things are a distraction from the real, systemic, often economic problems at the root of all of this.

u/strike2867 · 2 pointsr/worldnews

I don't think you have any clue about American history. I recommend A People's History of the United States.

u/anticapitalist · 2 pointsr/DebateaCommunist

> istory class which I can see is unaccurate now.

Yes, very.

> Would you know a good source to learn up non biased good history?

I don't think there's non-biased history. Everyone is biased.

If you're interested in US history, this is great:

http://www.amazon.com/A-Peoples-History-United-States/dp/0060838655

As for Russian history, most of the stuff that's different (from Western TV) is in Russian.

u/Mordisquitos · 2 pointsr/books

The inverted bell curve is also pretty common for controversial and polarising issues, for example A People's History of the US, God Is Not Great and 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism.

The way I see it, the inverted bell curve is a warning sign for novels (especially best-sellers) and technical books, but not necessarily for opinionated non-fiction where it may just indicate that many jimmies were rustled.

u/ExtremsTivianne · 2 pointsr/politics

I took APUSH to and there's actually a number of pitfalls to it. Remember that APUSH is focused towards the AP test, so while everyone else will be starting from the Civil War/WWI to the present, you'll be racing through American History from Columbus to Bush Jr all about a month before you have to take the test. The teachers that take AP responsibilities are good, but the knowledge is still incomplete. If you want to get more knowledge (going through my history BA right now) check out a couple of these resources:

A Peoples History of the United States by Howard Zinn: https://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States/dp/0060838655

In the interest of impartiality, I'll mention the more right leaning version of the People's History, A Patriot's History of the United States: https://www.amazon.com/Patriots-History-United-States-Columbuss/dp/1595230327 Note that a large amount of it was written not by the centrist historian Michael Allen, but the more politically motivated Larry Schweikart. Regardless, both of these books are used by APUSH classes throughout the country. I'd just pick one.

Also (this is going to sound really stupid) but a series of documentaries entitled A Walk Through the 20th Century with Bill Moyers where LBJs press secretary Bill Moyers talks about history from a perspective that helps us understand what (in general) people were thinking at the time. Here's one episode on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7eg5TBwJ-Y

Finally, if you want to have some entertaining yet deep history, check out Dan Carlin. He has plenty of extremely informative (if slightly editorialized for entertainment purposes) podcasts. His Blueprint for Armageddon series is one of the most intriguing narratives of World War One I've ever seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFMT_BVBBsA

u/narfarnst · 2 pointsr/Drugs
u/daretoeatapeach · 2 pointsr/education

Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto

The opening essay of this short read is a condemnation of traditional schooling techniques---and it's also the speech he delivered when he (again) won the NY Teacher of the Year award. Gatto gets at the heart of why public schools consistently produce pencil pushers, not leaders. Every teacher should read this book.

How to Survive in Your Native Land by James Herndon

If Dumbing Us Down is the manifesto in favor of a more liberal pedagogy, Herdon's book is a memoir of someone trying to put that pedagogy in action. It's also a simple, beautiful easy to read book, the kind that is so good it reminds us just how good a book can be. I've read the teaching memoir that made Jonahton Kozol famous, this one is better.

The Montessori Method by Maria Montessori

In the early 1900s, Maria Montessori taught literacy to children that society had otherwise assumed were unreachable. She did this by using the scientific method to study each child's learning style. Some of what she introduced has been widely incorporated (like child-sized furniture) and some of it seems great but unworkable in overcrowded schools. The bottom line is that the Montessori method was one of the first pedagogical techniques that was backed by real results: both in test scores and in growing kids that thrive on learning and participation.

"Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?": A Psychologist Explains the Development of Racial Identity by Beverly Daniel Tatum

While not precisely a book on how to teach, this book is incredibly helpful to any teacher working with a diverse student population, or one where the race they are teaching differs from their own. It explains the process that white, black, and children of other races go through in identifying themselves as part of a particular race. In the US, race is possibly the most taboo subject, so it is rare to find a book this honest and straightforward on a subject most educators try not to talk about at all. I highly recommend this book.

If there is any chance you will be teaching history, definitely read:

Lies My Teacher Told Me and A People's History of the United States (the latter book is a classic and, personally, changed my life).

Also recommend: The Multi-player Classroom by Lee Sheldon and Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov

Finally, anyone who plans to teach math should read this essay, "Lockhart's Lament" [PDF at the bottom of the page].

PS, I was tempted to use Amazon affiliate links, but my conscious wouldn't let me.

u/chadillac83 · 2 pointsr/SocialEngineering

Do you find it a little odd that we illegally bombed ISIS inside of Syria without Assad's approval for months while they slowly grew in size and power. Suddenly Russia shows up and starts dropping bombs and ISIS starts losing ground? Do you find it a little odd that the news as reported in the US often paints the anti-Assad fighters as the good guys while Assad is battling against ISIS. So if we're supporting the fight against Assad's army, but not supporting ISIS, but Assad is fighting with ISIS to keep his country... then who exactly are we supporting? Do you find it at all odd that as Assad started their assault on Alleppo that the news portrayed the killing of fleeing civilians as if it was Assad who was doing the killing, when in reality it was the "freedom fighters" (read ISIS) who was killing them as the fled town.

I am by no means pro-Assad, and if anyone is they should look into the wholesale massacre he participated in during the initial uprisings... I'm not convinced that those uprisings weren't covert operations organized by our Government riding the revolutionary wave of the Arab Spring. Just like we did in Libya.

You show me the line in the sand that differentiates being pro-terror vs simply arming and supporting groups that promote terror.

edit: downvotes, huh? Here, have some links.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/08/politics/amnesty-international-isis-weapons-u-s-/

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/12/russia-turkey-syria-161228050019245.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-wagner/dark-side-free-syrian_b_2380399.html

edit2: here, read a book on how we roll, you might learn something.

https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/0143034669

u/Daveeatworld · 2 pointsr/worldnews

I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in how we botched Afghanistan as a whole up to 9/11. I'm currently reading it now and its very interesting and well researched. The Saudi Intelligence Agency is a major player along with the Pakistanis.:

https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/0143034669

u/dpointer · 2 pointsr/worldnews

Sounds Familiar. I'm sure it will probably work out fine.

u/mattman59 · 2 pointsr/conspiracy

I got 2 minutes into this and turned it off because of the weakness of it. Why would the CIA rely on a single source for the information about UBL when dozens existed? I bet very few of you realize Ali Mohamed was a US trained special forces instructor and just so happened to set up most of bin laden's security. The videos also fails to mention the merging of al-Qaeda and Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the single biggest event in bringing al-Qaeda into the forefront. Even Israel see the CIA has having the best grasp on the interconnectedness of the various global jihadi movement.

Educate yourself, I promise books won't bite

The Bin Ladens
Ghost Wars
*Inside the Jihad

u/PranicEther · 2 pointsr/politics

You can start by finding out who your representatives are here.

Learn about what each office does and what they are responsible for.

What issues are you most concerned with? Taxes? Healthcare? Unemployment? etc. How has your represented responded to these issues (i.e. voting record)?

If you're a student in university, it may be helpful to take an intro political science class. If not, hopefully, some redditors can suggest some good reading for you.

Some websites or news programs that I find helpful in getting some info are NPR, BBC Worldnews, Al-Jazeera and Euronews. I'm not a fan of local news programming. I read a lot online for the local stuff.

You may enjoy The Daily Show with Jon Stewart or The Colbert Report. They're comedy shows but they tend to show the absurdities of it all. You can a learn a lot too. Sometimes, I enjoy the roundtable discussions on Real Time with Bill Maher. I've gone as far as to purchase some books based on the discussions they've had.

I can't recommend books for "getting to know politics" per se, but a few in my collection include that I found informative:

The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria


The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein


Ghost Wars by Steve Coll


The Boys on the Bus by Timothy Crouse


Politics of the Veil by Joan Wallach Scott


Voices of Freedom vol. 1 & 2 by Eric Foner


Lies And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken




The Parliament of Man by Paul Kennedy

I found them enlightening and some gave me a clearer look at the workings of government and politics in America. Some stuff you have to take with a grain of salt. Checking the references from anything you read is helpful imo. Hope this helps a little.


u/Spam-Monkey · 2 pointsr/movies

Again most of that money was funneled through Pakistan central intelligence.

http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/0143034669

Give it a read. Helped me understand how the we fucked ourselves a little better.

u/PIK_Toggle · 2 pointsr/IAmA

I'll add a few more that don't deal directly with overall ME history:

​

  1. Ghost Wars - It's really two stories: 1) The USA's involvement in Afghanistan in the 1980s. and 2) The aftermath of the war (i.e., the rise of the Taliban and AQ). There's a second volume called "Directorate S" which I have not read yet (I plan on reading it soon).

    ​

  2. This one is covers recent events in Egypt

    ​

  3. I read a book review of this one and it is on my list.

    ​

  4. The Looming Tower This will overlap nicely with "Ghost Wars"

    ​

    ​

    ​

    ​
u/mothballette · 2 pointsr/PoliticalDiscussion

Must have had another tab open. Sorry.

It's been a decades-long policy. Here's a short timeline of our involvement up until 9/11 to get your bearings, but it is still going on in places like Syria. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard had to submit a bill to congress to ask that we stop supporting terrorists. I'm not sure they ever did.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2006/01/americas-devils-game-extremist-islam/

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook had stated:

>Bin Laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by western security agencies. Throughout the 80s he was armed by the CIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. Al-Qaida, literally "the database", was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians. Inexplicably, and with disastrous consequences, it never appears to have occurred to Washington that once Russia was out of the way, Bin Laden's organisation would turn its attention to the west."

Nat'l Security Advisor to Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski, admits that the U.S. provoked the USSR to invade Afghanistan. Their war only lasted 10 years. We're on 15:

How Jimmy Carter and I Started the Mujahideen, by Zbigniew Brzezinski:

https://www.counterpunch.org/1998/01/15/how-jimmy-carter-and-i-started-the-mujahideen/

Because of our documented history of stirring up trouble and using it as an excuse for regime change, I am deeply skeptical of any "organic" insurgency against any country in our crosshairs.

Hillary Clinton admitting it on tape:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqn0bm4E9yw

Books:
Ghost Wars, by Steve Coll:

https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/0143034669/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=JTD71FPS7CBJZXMW6PPQ

I used to get many of my books on the Middle East here:

https://www.middleeastbooks.com/collections/books/u-s-foreign-policy

There is so much more. It's a complicated history.

u/WarrenSmalls · 2 pointsr/politics

Operation Cyclone

Lots of info on Soviet Afghan war

Really thorough book on the history of the war and US involvement - Ghost Wars

u/Linkbytes · 2 pointsr/army

I also recommend reading this

http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/0143034669

It's a very in depth book about the history of Afghanistan, US, an Pakistan relations. It's not really a light read but it's also not a light subject.

u/ZIBANG · 2 pointsr/socialism

I don't identify as any particular brand of ideology, just a moral person who's come to certain conclusions about capitalism and mankind.

War won't be gotten rid of as long as capitalism exists, war is for profit. A good read would be smedley butlers "War is a racket".

http://www.amazon.com/War-Racket-Antiwar-Americas-Decorated/dp/0922915865/

I don't think anyone can study the history of war and come out with a positive view of the for profit model of society. Current societies act like recessions and wars are like 'the weather'. They are expected, planned and artificially induced by powerful people with money. The whole stock market and law is rigged.

You simply cannot dislodge or correct the system. I'll give you an example from the videogame industry and copyright in general.

Why can't gamers own their own games? because corporations have absolute authoritarian control of the law. All new AAA games for the PC are going F2P/MMO. Especially after the massive sales of diablo 3, everyone wants to lock down software to the internet. The just released path of exile takes advantage of the tech illiterate irrational audience for profit. If they ever shut down their 'free to play' game that is money gone forever and nothing to show for it.

Money and property endlessly expand and cant' be kept in check by the law. Copyright law being absolute proof 'you can't fix capitalism'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act

Now if you lost every single time 10 times in a row after preaching "we just need to fix capitalism" or 'we just need free'r markets' you'd think those people were fucking deluded and ignorant.

u/bobtheehtbob · 2 pointsr/IAmA

Have you read War is a racket? It's a small book written by Gen. Butler, the most decorated marine in US history. He explains why the US has overthrown governments and occupied countries for the last 100 years or so.

u/jtbc · 2 pointsr/canada

How about this one, then:

https://www.amazon.ca/1491-Second-Revelations-Americas-Columbus/dp/1400032059

Excellent book full of actual history.

I am not peddling an opinion. I have studied some of this history formally, and some of it because I enjoy reading about history. I am telling you what actual historians believe to be true.

u/badtooth · 2 pointsr/booksuggestions

1491 is fantastic. I learned a lot reading this book. Not the easiest read, but it is far from a text book.

u/scumfucc · 2 pointsr/worldnews

You should read 1491. You'll drop the romanticism of a mystic native culture quickly.

http://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059

u/Rusty-Shackleford · 2 pointsr/AskReddit
u/thecrackshotcrackpot · 2 pointsr/Anthropology

Interesting thanks.

I seem to remember Charles Mann writing about this in his pop science book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. Highly recommended if you haven't checked it out yet.

u/mlkthrowaway · 2 pointsr/latterdaysaints

i strongly suggest you read 1491 to get a better understanding of what we thought we knew, and what we think we now know about ancient america and how archeology works (and sometimes doesn't.)

http://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

u/AmesCG · 2 pointsr/AskHistorians

On a related topic, how reliable is the popular Charles Mann book, 1491? It speaks to this issue, but I'm not sure how it's regarded.

u/MaryOutside · 2 pointsr/books

Upvote for The Lost City of Z!! Loved loved it.

Charles Mann's 1491 is wonderful.

It depends on what you're interested in, really.

u/Wilawah · 2 pointsr/askscience

The book 1491 discusses the devastation of native Americans by disease.

When the Pilgrams landed in MA, they easily found this great spot for a village. Why? Because most of the natives were dead. It is not clear if this epidemic occurred pre or post Columbus

u/Wurm42 · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

Tell us a little bit more about yourself. What entertainment genres do you like? Are there any subjects you want to learn more about?

Here's a few good books I've read recently:

  • 1491; about cultures in the Americas before Columbus arrived. There was a lot more going on than you'd think.

  • The Tipping Point: about looking at big trends and processes and finding the place where you can make a difference.

  • Storm Front: Book 1 of the Dresden Files: One of my favorite fiction series. Urban fantasy about a wizard who works as a private detective in Chicago. Phillip Marlowe/film noir sort of attitude with a lot of insight and humor.
u/Ponderay · 2 pointsr/badeconomics

Not a paper but 1491 was a good read.

u/urboro · 2 pointsr/history

This is really good:

http://www.amazon.com/1491-Second-Edition-Revelations-Americas/dp/1400032059

It changes your perspective on any history of Native Americans interacting with Europeans. Native Americans were essentially in a post-apocalyptic society.

u/-absolutego- · 2 pointsr/SeattleWA

The vast majority of those deaths were due to diseases Native Americans had zero exposure to because the Old World had all the useful domesticated animals. Do you really think 150 conquistadors would've been able to conquer the Incan Empire if it hadn't been for repeated waves of terrible plagues visited on the populace? I'm not downplaying how violent Europeans were towards the people they conquered but compared to pre-contact populations they essentially were conquering a de-populated Americas.

You should read this book, it gives a real in-depth examination of just how developed and established many pre-contact Native societies were before everyone kept getting smallpox and measles and mumps and everything else Europeans brought with them because they grew up running around in pig shit.

u/LarryLeadFootsHead · 2 pointsr/NoStupidQuestions

1491 is a pretty solid book that talks a great deal about how things were before a lot of the conventional European settling went on in the Americas/pre Columbian Exchange.

Basically it'll exemplify why a lot of that "the New World was this empty place with nothing going on" way of thinking is a load of horse shit considering how there was pretty intricate stuff in play.

u/iwontrememberanyway · 2 pointsr/HistoryAnecdotes

From Wikipedia:

"The population figure for indigenous peoples in the Americas before the 1492 voyage of Christopher Columbus has proven difficult to establish. Scholars rely on archaeological data and written records from settlers from the Old World. Most scholars writing at the end of the 19th century estimated that the pre-Columbian population was as low as 10 million; by the end of the 20th century most scholars gravitated to a middle estimate of around 50 million, with some historians arguing for an estimate of 100 million or more. Contact with the New World led to the European colonization of the Americas, in which millions of immigrants from the Old World eventually settled in the New World."

This book gives a good discussion, leaning more towards the higher figure for pre-Colombian populations:https://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492454994&sr=8-1&keywords=1491

u/ReturnOfThePing · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

The enormous populations of Bison and Passenger Pigeons recorded was not a normal state, it was a temporary spike due to the sudden disappearance of the Native American populations who previously kept these species in check.

Source: 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

u/BlazmoIntoWowee · 2 pointsr/books

[1491] (http://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelations-Americas-Before-Columbus/dp/1400032059) by Charles Mann. Talks about how amazing the Americas were pre-Columbus.

u/phunky_monk · 2 pointsr/AskHistorians

In 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, Charles C. Mann Discusses a portion of your question.

> Was that statistically inevitable for a plague to be introduced?

Basically, yes. Most of 1491 is Mann tracing the history of and translating the results of years of academic research. He also explains various schools of thoughts on various issues. I don't have the book with me here at school, so excuse my foggy memory and paraphrasing.

First off, the number one killer of Indigenous peoples of the Americas was Small Pox. There were other diseased introduced, like the flu and the plague, but small pox was the most devastating.
Initial accounts of the new world by the spanish describe bustling civilizations. Only a few years later, entire civilizations had collapsed. Mann covers this in great detail.

Okay, back to statistical inevitability. Basically, not only did the indians have no immunity to diseases that europeans had been building resistance to for generations, but there is a school of academic research that believes indigenous peoples were more susceptible to diseases because of something called "haplogroups." . I don't fully understand the science behind it, but basically there are scholars who argue that the natives, because of their genetics, were more susceptible to these diseases. Mann describes the entire process which led to the experiments which support this belief.

Anyways, I hope this helps. I highly highly recommend 1491 if you are interested in the history of Native Americans. It is easily my favorite book I have read in my college career thus far.

u/Abaum2020 · 2 pointsr/politics

This is absolutely insane that an article of such questionable integrity can reach the front page on this website and it really speaks to the overall ignorance that so many people (and not just neckbeards on reddit) have when it comes to the actualities of the whole Bin Laden-Taliban-Pakistan-CIA story.

It's an absolute tragedy. And I know Im pissing upstream on this one, but fuck it, this cathartic for me I guess.

For those that just read the title on the reddit post and not the entirety of the actual article (which I'm sure is most of you since no one really has time to read something that they deep-down know to be total shit): This article cherrypicks sources in way to construct an incredibly deceiving and simply false chain of accusations that rest on an incredibly misleading set of premises.

The whole thing with Sudan being able to extradite OBL in 90s? Are you kidding me? Like the Islamist government in Sudan had the wherewithal or the desire to extradite one of the biggest patrons in Khartoum who spent shit tons of money financing schools and hospitals? (Sure, they paid lip service to the CIA and the US to avoid being labelled a supporter of terrorism but they had no incentive to follow through on anything). The CIA had been keeping really close tabs on Osama bin Laden (there was a CIA Bin Laden unit in 1996 for fucks sake) while he was in the Sudan due to his suspected financing of terrorists - but he was never named as a co-conspirator in the first WTC bombing - the article gives you link to a PBS timeline of OBL's life but it never says anything about him being named as a co-conspirator to the first WTC bombing. That whole endeavor was financed by KSM (Yousef's uncle who lent the guy like 400 dollars for some fertilizer and a truck rental) the CIA knew OBL had nothing to do with 93 bombing.

I could cite things but it doesn't matter since I guess no one on reddit actually clicks them to independently verify the shit they've just read.

And honestly I stopped reading there because I knew immediately that this article is total shit. I could probably sit here and try to debunk the entirety of this article but it's frankly not worth my time and I'll never be able to convince people otherwise. But please for the love of fuck read some WELL SOURCED books on this topic because it's an incredibly interesting and important piece of American history that is soooo misunderstood today.

Here is one example Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 - it's by no means the definitive work on the subject, but its a good start, and the author actually tries to independently verify his information and when he cannot he actually tells you and refrains from the type of shitbrain supposition and outright lies that you see in this article.

Don't trust shitty online blogs which are NO BETTER than the mindless drivel you get watching CNN, FOX, or MSNBC. The guy/girl writing this has no incentive or obligation to be truthful - only to get the most views on her/his fucking blog and (s)he's feeding this garbage down your throats. It's really popular to criticize the government these days (and trust me, a lot of it is justified), but this is just sad that the people writing this article are feeding you same general type of shit that they accuse the government of feeding you on a daily basis...an absolute tragedy.

u/mahervelous22 · 2 pointsr/worldnews

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 by Steve Coll.

http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/0143034669/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347013396&sr=8-1&keywords=ghost+wars+the+secret+history+of+the+cia

Very thorough analysis of this theme in Afghanistan. I was impressed by the author's knowledge on the topic.

u/joepyeweed · 2 pointsr/MapPorn
u/PaulWellstonesGhost · 2 pointsr/politics

If you are into non-fiction, I recommend American Nations by historian Colin Woodard. It will make our current political polarization make much more sense.

Here is a WaPo review of the book.

u/locoluis · 2 pointsr/MapPorn

That book is from 2012. Chovanec's post is from 2009.

u/Roobomatic · 2 pointsr/AskSocialScience

Highly recommend this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Class-Through-American-Status-System/dp/0671792253

Class: A guide through the American Status System, by Paul Fussel. it was written in the mid 80s, but I think the information is still relevant and the writer basically spends the entirety of the book answering your question about social class signifiers (why do New England upperclass have an affinity for nautical decor? find out in chapter 3).

To the part of the question about regions, you might be interested in this book: http://www.amazon.com/American-Nations-History-Regional-Cultures/dp/0143122029

it is about the whys behind American regional political and class differences based on who immigrated to certain areas of the country, the values and ideals they brought with them and how it changed the American landscape and informs the current social and political climate. Interesting stuff.

u/katie5000 · 2 pointsr/TrueAskReddit

Regarding competition, a lot of it is rooted in the types of people who settled the United States and the reasons why they came. Some of the people who came were religious or political dissenters trying to escape persecution, yes; but many, many of them were speculators here on behalf of some venture or company to see what they could discover/exploit the hell out of (and for how long) to get filthy rich and please the financial backers in the venture back home (some of whom were royal). That behavior was simply carried forward, both by Southern plantation owners and Northern industrialists: if you spend as little as possible running your venture, you'll have much greater profits in the end. And there is always somebody who will think they can do it more cheaply than you.

Here's an interesting book that might provide more insight: American Nations (Amazon)
An interesting article posted elsewhere on Reddit: NY Times article on American capitalism

Regarding college, there are many factors that have sort of dovetailed over the last 70 or so years to create the current situation. There's a big obsession ("madness") with attending college because the vast majority of employers now seemingly require college degrees for basic, halfway decent positions, and nobody wants to be left behind. This has led to a lot of bloat and the (unfortunate) de-valuing of the average degree. And this leads into why people are angry ("mad") about attaining/having college degrees: over that same period, college tuition has steadily gone up as costs have gone up. At the same time, wages have stagnated and subsidies (like for the public universities) have been slashed. Employers still want that degree, though, so many people take out loans to cover the difference in cost. And when they get to the end and get that job, they find out that they're going to be sorting garbage or filing widgets. And they still have to pay the loans back. You'll basically never get to use the university knowledge that you paid so much for, that the employer themselves required. So, yeah. Anger.

Of course, this doesn't explain why the US doesn't have a more robust (or publicized) vocational training system. Were I in office, I'd work to organize some kind of educational summit between industry and academia where they could hash all this out. What sort of knowledge does a university degree confer? Is it really necessary for most jobs? If you want your employees to have some kind of post-secondary training, what would be an acceptable alternative to university? Stuff like that. Then I'd work with the Department of Education to make it happen.

u/reluctantly_red · 2 pointsr/PurplePillDebate

The interesting part of the book is how it compares Canadian culture to that of various regions of the United States. Canadian culture turns out to be most like Massachusetts and least like the deep south. To make this comparison the author had to first describe the various regional cultures of the United States.

An American author did a similar examination with similar findings in this book https://www.amazon.com/American-Nations-History-Regional-Cultures/dp/0143122029

u/Mynameis__--__ · 2 pointsr/Libertarian

American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America, by Colin Woodard. It is an excellent read.

Another book that is similar to this (but much longer) is Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America, by David Hackett Fischer

u/lovesthebj · 2 pointsr/Ask_Politics

I found it, Colin Woodard's "American Nations".

"...pointing out that rebellion in the North American colonies against the rule of a distant king started not in the 1770s, but in the 1680s, and not “as a united force of Americans eager to create a new nation, but in a series of separate rebellions, each seeking to preserve a distinct regional culture, political system, and religious tradition threatened by the distant seat of empire.”

  • Daily Beast

    It's almost two books, with the first half describing how each of his eleven nations were settled and cultivated, then spending the second half discussing how those separate nations contribute to the current political climate.

    Also from the book:

    “Since 1877, the driving force in American politics hasn’t primarily been a class struggle or tension between agrarian and commercial interests, or even between competing partisan ideologies, although each has played a role. Ultimately, the determinative political struggle has been a clash between shifting coalitions of ethnoregional nations, one invariably headed by the Deep South, the other by Yankeedom.”

  • Washington Post

    Edit: added references
u/this_shit · 2 pointsr/philadelphia

> Just because something is out of the mainstream doesn't make it bad

Agreed. But white nationalism is bad for the reason that it's an attempt to break apart the American national identity. It is also bad because it attracts and empowers white supremacist groups who are motivated by hate rather than national identity.

> Segregation wasn't always mainstream.

I'm not really clear what you mean by this? Segregation was mainstream in the pre-civil rights era, but is very much not mainstream now.

> I think a bunch of separate cultures staying separate and isolated

Oh, I think I follow. You're framing multiculturalism as a rejection of "melting-pot" theory. My understanding of multiculturalism differs in that I understand it to be a system that enables differences in culture united by law. I.e., you can worship whoever you like, as long as doing so doesn't violate other people's rights.

You should check out Colin Woodard's American Nations. His take is that "melting-pot" theory was the Puritan's approach, whereas "multiculturalism" stems from the Dutch colonies, and that these two theories of American nationalism have both existed and clashed over the last 300-odd-years. Great read.

Anyway, isn't "white nationalism" a greater threat to the american national identity than multiculturalism? It basically says that there can't be black Americans, or latino Americans. That they should go find their own national identity separate from white Americans.

u/mystyc · 2 pointsr/TrueAtheism

I read an article recently about a book that remaps america (and part of canada and mexico) into 11 distinct cultural regions. Interestingly enough, the various cultural traditions in each region can be traced back to one of the original major colonies in that region.

If you think about it carefully, the religiosity of americans is not totally homogeneous in degree or even in the particular religious beliefs underline that religiosity. In other words, what you might be observing here, may have more to do with "regional american culture" rather than "religion" specifically. When thought of this way, it becomes possible to account for the pervasive puritan mentality and calvinistic traditions that appear even amongst secular americans.

u/ryan_illman · 2 pointsr/preppers

More than once. Eric Schlosser wrote a book about it that was turned into a PBS documentary: https://www.amazon.com/Command-Control-Damascus-Accident-Illusion/dp/0143125788

u/VirulentVoid · 2 pointsr/videos

An excellent book that covers the Damascus Incident is Command and Control by Eric Schlosser. I've read it myself and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about the US nuclear arsenal and the accidents surrounding it.

u/MaginTheBranded · 2 pointsr/CatastrophicFailure

A study after the fact found that some of our most used bombs were subject to “accidental” detonation. I forget the bomb but I think it was mounted on a rotary rack on a B-52. If you want to know more read this wonderful book Command and Control.

u/octave1 · 2 pointsr/europe

Anyone interested in nukes should read Command and Control, pretty amazing.

u/Incorrect_Oymoron · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

Especially with nukes, the idea was that launch codes and arming/disarming systems are an unnecessary waste of time if ww3 were to happen.

Edit: Citation (https://www.amazon.ca/Command-Control-Damascus-Accident-Illusion/dp/0143125788)

u/nucular_mastermind · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

If anyone is interested in the insane mechanics of nuclear warfare and warhead safety (it's just dumb luck someone hasn't blown themselves up so far, almost happened several times), there is this book called "Command and Control" - a chilling read.

http://www.amazon.com/Command-Control-Damascus-Accident-Illusion/dp/0143125788/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420981916&sr=8-1&keywords=command+and+control

u/mrfudface · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

I recommend a very good book if someone is interested in Nuclear Weapons and their incidents. Here you go

u/Daduckything · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143125788/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_binEwb04X60YG

Very good read there. It's utterly amazing that someone (a country) did not blow themselves off the map during this time period.

Fun fact for the night - there's still a 7600lb nuclear bomb "lost" off the coast of Savannah, Georgia !

u/ninklo · 2 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

Just finished reading Command and Control, so want to say that it almost happened several times with the US too:

  • One time the US BMEWS detected a Soviet first strike with 99.9% accuracy, and the SAC had only 15 minutes to respond or risk obliteration (at that time second-strike capabilities weren't quite so well established so knocking out the entire American leadership in one shot may have been a viable strategy to winning a nuclear war). Only after finding out that Khrushchev was giving a speech at the UN in New York did the SAC calm down since the Soviets were unlikely to kill their own leader, and when everyone was still alive 20 minutes later it was obvious it was a false alarm. Later it was found that the BMEWS had detected the moon rising as a missile strike. Who knows what might have happened had Khrushchev been in the USSR on that day?
  • Another time all communication to the BMEWS was knocked out from SAC headquarters, east to west. The probability of such a thing happening randomly throughout the entire extent of the BMEWS was considered highly unlikely, especially since there were redundancies in the phone system, and they were also unable to contact Thule. It was thought that a missile strike had started against the BMEWS. The only evidence otherwise was a bomber flying 24/7 over Thule whose sole purpose was simply to provide visual confirmation that Thule still existed, and sure enough this bomber finally played its role by confirming over radio that yes, Thule was still there and hadn't been obliterated in a first strike. Later it turns out that fucking AT&T had said it installed redundant phone connections, but hadn't actually done so, and one of the phone switch stations failed. Corporate greed inadvertently brought us close to a nuclear war (imagine if the bomber's radio system happened to fail for any reason?).
  • Twice SAC headquarters showed tons of incoming missiles and destruction of American cities displayed on its status board, in a highly realistic attack that fully confirmed SAC's every prediction of what a Soviet attack would look like, but communication with radar stations revealed that they failed to detect anything, and the American cities were clearly still there. Turns out to have been practice simulation tapes that were mistakenly loaded by a technician, so no wonder they confirmed SAC expectations of what a Soviet attack would look like. Only after the second time this happened did they decide to build a separate place solely for simulation war games.
  • Multiple times SAC computers received messages telling them that there were 202 missiles or 22 missiles, etc, heading towards the US. Once again radar stations detected nothing so it was a false alarm. The cause? A defective CPU chip that randomly replaced 0's with 2's, and a sort of ping message from computers simply confirming that they were still transmitting information, except the ping message was something like "0000 missiles detected". The CPU was replaced and the message rewritten to have no mention of missiles whatsoever.

    Of course things like this probably also happened on the Soviet side that the general population doesn't know about. But this is just to show that we fuck up too, and our early warning systems have in fact malfunctioned several times in the past.
u/willsueforfood · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

The best book I've read about nuclear safety protocols, the reasons behind them, and the historical lapses is Command and Control.

I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the subject: https://www.amazon.com/Command-Control-Damascus-Accident-Illusion/dp/0143125788

u/AlphaLima · 2 pointsr/space

There is a good book on this, Command and Control really good.

Tldr:we've come very very close to nuking ourselves more than most of the public knows.

u/I_Hate_Soft_Pretzels · 2 pointsr/CIA

Try reading the book "Legacy of Ashes" by Tim Wiener because it is a good non-biased history of the CIA. It will tell you about how they have behaved in the past as well as give you a good history about the CIA. They have done some very questionable stuff but they have also acted in the best interests of the USA at times. It really is a tough call but reading more about the history of them might help.

https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Ashes-History-Tim-Weiner/dp/0307389006/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511592188&sr=8-1&keywords=legacy+of+ashes

u/ProfShea · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

right... just like in the 500 page book, legacy of ashes or this lovely book, the main enemy. Argghhh! I wish we had books we could refer to!

u/mmm_smokey_meats · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

You should read Legacy of Ashes . This story, and many others are included.

u/LongformLarry · 2 pointsr/Intelligence

Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner is the history of the CIA from WWII through anti-terrorist policies post-9/11. Weiner interviewed former CIA bosses but the most attractive part might be the Agency's dismissive review:

"What could have been a serious historical critique illuminating the lessons of the past is undermined by dubious assertions, sweeping judgments based on too few examples, selective or outright misuse of citations, a drama-driven narrative, and a tendentious and nearly exclusive focus on failure that overlooks, downplays, or explains away significant successes."

If that's not a recipe for an entertaining read I don't know what is.

u/fatkiddown · 2 pointsr/AdviceAnimals

> Because the moment americans start puting more trust in a foreign nation than their own institutions.

Of all such possible institutions, I trust the CIA the least.

Edit: getting downvoted so let me add: I am reading "Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA," and this is primarily why I made this comment.

u/Lasting-Damage · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

This doesn't surprise me at all. The CIA is a notoriously horrible place to work, and has been plagued with extremely serious morale and management problems for decades. They have a tendency to focus on their slick covert operations part of the organization to the expense of analysts. You know, the people who actually provide...intelligence. Also, on more than one occasion the CIA has gotten news about a major development in world affairs from CNN.

Extremely good book on the subject.

u/DiscursiveMind · 2 pointsr/books

With your interest in the Cold War, you might find Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner interesting.

As far as gaining new perspective, I alway suggest Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. He's in the field of behavioral economics, which looks at the choices people make and how the arrive at those choices. One of my favorite books.

u/kleinbl00 · 2 pointsr/reddit.com

You know not of what you speak.

Read this and get back to me.

u/Thumpser · 2 pointsr/worldnews

The book Legacy of Ashes is a pretty good history of the agency. Sadly, the evidence points out that they weren't any better in the past. We continually meddle in other countries and seem to generally make things worse for it.

u/dubyafunk · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

Read this book and you'll learn a lot more.

u/Jorster · 2 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

Legacy of Ashes: A History of the CIA by Tim Wiener. I've also read a few others I can tell you (if I find them).

u/homegrownunknown · 2 pointsr/chemistry

I love science books. These are all on my bookshelf/around my apt. They aren't all chemistry, but they appeal to my science senses:

I got a coffee table book once as a gift. It's Theodore Gray's The Elements. It's beautiful, but like I said, more of a coffee table book. It's got a ton of very cool info about each atom though.

I tried The Immortal Life of Henrieta Lacks, which is all about the people and family behind HeLa cells. That was a big hit, but I didn't care for it.

I liked The Emperor of all Maladies which took a long time to read, but was super cool. It's essentially a biography of cancer. (Actually I think that's it's subtitle)

The Wizard of Quarks and Alice in Quantumland are both super cute allegories relating to partical physics and quantum physics respectively. I liked them both, though they felt low-level, tying them to high-level physics resulted in a fun read.

Unscientific America I bought on a whim and didn't really enjoy since it wasn't science enough.

The Ghost Map was a suuuper fun read about Cholera. I love reading about mass-epidemics and plague.

The Bell that Rings Light, In Search of Schrödinger's Cat, Schrödinger's Kittens, The Fabric of the Cosmos and Beyond the God Particle are all pleasure reading books that are really primers on Quantum.

I also tend to like anything by Mary Roach, which isn't necessarily chemistry or science, but is amusing and feels informative. I started with Stiff but she has a few others that I also enjoyed.

Have fun!

u/Deradius · 2 pointsr/biology

Sure.

If evolution is of interest to you (and if you have interest in the intersection between theology and science), Finding Darwin's God by Kenneth Miller explores both sides of the debate and debunks many common misconceptions about evolution. I first read it in a college biology topics course.

If you like the topic of 'creationist attempts to dispute or disrupt the teaching of evolution in the classroom', Summer of the Gods, about the Scopes Monkey Trial, is a great book (although not explicitly about science).

You may find The Selfish Gene by Dawkins worth a read.

Books by Mary Roach can be fun; I've read Stiff and enjoyed it, and Packing for Mars was pretty good as well.

I have heard good things about The Emperor of All Maladies, though I haven't read it myself.

Our Stolen Future, about contamination of the environment by artificially produced estrogen and estrogen analogs, is dated but interesting.

The Discovery of Insulin by Bliss is a great story about how science happens and how scientific discovery occurs, and it lays out what may be the most important discovery in medical science during the 20th century.

Were those types of books what you were looking for?

u/grantmoore3d · 2 pointsr/videos

Stiff by Mary Roach is a really good read on the topic of cadavers as well.

u/justasmalltowngirl89 · 2 pointsr/Paranormal

Yes! For those interested, it's Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. She has several others out (6 books and one compilation). Gulp might be my favorite but I really enjoyed Packing for Mars and Bonk. This sub would also really appreciate Spook!

u/Sharrakor · 2 pointsr/pics

Just sign up as an organ donor, or arrange to have your body "donated for science." Every wonder what your corpse would be used for? It's not usually being dissected by anatomy students. You could be a crash test dummy, or a study in decomposition, or a training head for plastic surgeons, or more...

u/HaveAMap · 2 pointsr/CasualConversation

Can I give you a list? Imma give you a list with a little from each category. I LOVE books and posts like this!

Non-fiction or Books About Things:

The Lost City of Z: In 1925, the legendary British explorer Percy Fawcett ventured into the Amazon jungle, in search of a fabled civilization. He never returned. Over the years countless perished trying to find evidence of his party and the place he called “The Lost City of Z.” In this masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, journalist David Grann interweaves the spellbinding stories of Fawcett’s quest for “Z” and his own journey into the deadly jungle, as he unravels the greatest exploration mystery of the twentieth century. Cumberbatch will play him in the movie version of this.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers: Hilariously gross and just super interesting. Her writing is like a non-fiction Terry Pratchett. Everything she's written is great, but this one is my favorite.

Devil in the White City: All about HH Holmes and his murder hotel during the Chicago World's Fair. Incredibly well-written and interesting.

The Outlaw Trail: Written in 1920 by the first superintendent of Capitol Reef National Park (aka, the area around Robber's Roost). He went around interviewing the guys who were still alive from the original Wild Bunch, plus some of the other outlaws that were active during that time. Never read anything else with actual interviews from these guys and it's a little slice of life from the end of the Wild West.

Fiction, Fantasy, Sci-Fi:

Here I'm only going to give you the less known stuff. You can find Sanderson (light epic fantasy), Pratchett (humor / satire fantasy), Adams (humor fantasy), etc easily in any bookstore. They are fantastic and should be read, but they are easy to find. I suggest:

The Cloud Roads: Martha Wells is an anthropologist and it shows in her world building in every series. She creates societies instead of landscapes. These are very character-driven and sometimes emotional.

The Lion of Senet: Jennifer Fallon starts a great political thriller series with this book. If you like shows like House of Cards or things where there's a lot of political plotting, sudden twists, and a dash of science v. religion, then you'll love these.

The Book of Joby: Do you want to cry? This book will make you cry. Mix arthurian legend with some God & Devil archetypes and it's just this very powerful story. Even though it deals with religious themes and icons, I wouldn't say it's a religious book. Reads more like mythology.

On Basilisk Station: Awesome military space opera. Really good sci-fi.

Grimspace: Pulpy space opera. Brain bubble gum instead of serious reading. But that's fun sometimes too!

u/MinnesotaTemp · 2 pointsr/videos

http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393324826

For the lazy ^ It really is an amazing book, I listened to the audiobook.

u/kiss-tits · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

Mary Roach writes some pretty interesting novels, such as Stiff, the curious lives of human cadavers

I used her as a source for a paper in college and found that book very informative.

u/FixMyToilet · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

It's not World War Z, or an action type book. This book is called Stiff. It's a very interesting and informative book about cadavers. I went into this book with much skepticism, but was intrigued by her personal recollection and delivery. The book made me go from laughing out loud to cringing by the subject at hand. I highly recommend this book, and it's available on kindle.

The off-chance you read it, (Let me know how you like it!)

My wishlist - http://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/2S2J4Y7OHPGTH/ref=cm_pdp_wish_all_itms (Only one item below $15.)

u/jwynia · 2 pointsr/writerchat

One of my favorite non-fiction authors is Mary Roach. She picks a topic and gathers all kinds of detailed and odd information about it, often covering the kinds of details that the genuinely curious find fascinating.

Stiff is about what humans do with the dead remains of other humans, including her visit to the body farms where scientists figure out the cascade of beetles, bugs and grubs invade the remains.
https://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393324826/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1502060523&sr=8-4&keywords=Mary+Roach

Gulp is all about the human digestive tract
https://www.amazon.com/Gulp-Adventures-Alimentary-Mary-Roach-ebook/dp/B00AN86JZ4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502060523&sr=8-1&keywords=Mary+Roach

Bonk is about sex, including the author convincing her husband to have sex in an MRI for science
https://www.amazon.com/Bonk-Curious-Coupling-Science-Sex-ebook/dp/B003M5IGE2/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1502060523&sr=8-9&keywords=Mary+Roach

Packing for Mars is all about the details of putting people into space
https://www.amazon.com/Packing-Mars-Curious-Science-Life-ebook/dp/B003YJEXUM/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1502060523&sr=8-5&keywords=Mary+Roach

Basically, I think everything she writes is worth reading if you write fiction.

u/sesamecakes · 2 pointsr/books

there is a fascinating nonfiction book called the Poisoner's Handbook (http://www.amazon.com/Poisoners-Handbook-Murder-Forensic-Medicine/dp/1594202435) that I enjoyed. It's basically about the birth of modern forensics. Another fun read would be Stiff (http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0393324826/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292456067&sr=1-1), which is also nonfiction about cadavers.

u/vivestalin · 2 pointsr/Frugal

This book is a really great read if you're curious about why cadavers are so useful. From a certain standpoint, a lot of people could do more for humanity dead than alive.

u/lumpy_potato · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

"The Hegemony Consul sat on the balcony of his ebony spaceship and played Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-sharp Minor on an ancient but well-maintained Steinway while great, green, saurian things surged and bellowed in the swamps below." - Hyperion, Dan Simmons

"Joe Gould is a blithe and emaciated little man who has been a notable in the cafeterias, diners, barrooms, and dumps of Greenwhich Village for a quarter of a century" - Up In The Old Hotel - Joseph Mitchell

"He told them he loved them" - Columbine - Dave Cullen

"Kazbek Misikov stared at the bomb hanging above his family. It was a simple device, a plastic bucket packed with explosive paste, nails, and small metal balls. It weighed perhaps eight pounds. The existence of this bomb had become a central focus of his life." - The School - C.J. Chivers

"It was summer; it was winter." The Long Fall of One-Eleven Heavy - MICHAEL PATERNITI

"The human head is of the same approximate size and weight as a roaster chicken. I have never before had occasion to make the comparison, for never before today have I seen a head in a roasting pan" Stiff: The Curious Lives of Cadavers - Mary Roach

u/broshades · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

Check out the book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers some time. There's a lot more to preparing dead people than that that you would never guess/want to know.

u/Brandito · 2 pointsr/physicaltherapy

Not a strictly educational read, but a very entertaining and enlightening exploration into something you'll probably become very familiar with in your near future...

Stiff by Mary Roach

u/xines · 2 pointsr/IAmA

Have you read the book Stiff'- Curious Lives of Human Cadavers?
One of favorite reads and authors in the past few years.

u/nhaines · 2 pointsr/writing

I can highly recommend Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach as a fascinating, yet informative guide as to what happens to human bodies after death.

There's a chapter specifically about the study of decomposition in relation to criminal forensics, so I think it'd be a good read for you.

u/x2601 · 2 pointsr/politics

> the alarming rise of Anti-Intellectualism

We've been dealing with it for a while in the US

u/wermbo · 2 pointsr/education
u/sharghzadeh · 2 pointsr/iran
u/exoriare · 2 pointsr/worldpolitics

While the CIA's participation in the coup was well known, it's not often recognized how the Dulles brothers intentionally used the CIA to subvert the agenda of both President Truman and Eisenhower.

In 1952, the CIA spent 10% of it's entire global budget in Iran, bribing anyone in any position of power. The bribed Islamic leaders to protest, and then bribed the chief of Tehran's police to violently quash the protests (the police slaughtered a dozen protesters, though we have no evidence that this was part of the CIA's plan).

Truman sent his trusted advisor Averell Harriman to Tehran to figure out what was going on, and he was astonished to be greeted by mobs that called him out by name ("Death to Harriman! Death to the USA!"). The CIA-sponsored unrest convinced him that the country was on the brink of erupting into chaos.

It was the same thing when Eisenhower took office - he initially placed all the blame on the UK's obstinate refusal to negotiate oil profits with Iran. The US had just established ARAMCO in Saudi Arabia, with a 50/50 split of oil revenues, but the British insisted they would not pay one penny more. Eisenhower sympathized with Mossadegh, and hoped to help him see the economic crisis through, saying "I want to give him ten million bucks."

Unfortunately, Allan Dulles used the CIA to further flame the chaos, then pointed to the possibility that Iran could be taken over by Communists. Eisenhower gave up, allowing the CIA to pursue their agenda for regime change. (Dulles went on to use the same ploy when he next found himself with a newbie president - this was the Bay of Pigs fiasco that JFK fired him for).

Prior to the coup, the US was widely adored in Iran. Unlike the French & British, the US had no history of oppressive colonialism, and the fair deal offered to the Saudis suggested that the US would be a great partner. The CIA smashed this promising future into a thousand pieces and unleashed a legacy of terror that we're still dealing with today.

https://www.amazon.com/All-Shahs-Men-American-Middle/dp/047018549X



u/cryptozypto · 2 pointsr/worldnews

No issue being biased to the facts. For those who want to know more about how the US fucked over the Middle East, read this book.

u/Jackdaws7 · 2 pointsr/worldnews

https://www.amazon.com/All-Shahs-Men-American-Middle/dp/047018549X

Do yourself a favor and read this book. If anyone wants an objective, historical look at the coup in Iran I highly recommend "All the Shah's Men".

u/duggatron · 2 pointsr/worldnews

This has been known for a long time, and there are several books on it. Stephen Kinzer's All the Shah's Men covers the events leading up to the coup and how it developed.

u/kingofstyyyyle · 2 pointsr/ChapoTrapHouse

All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror https://www.amazon.com/dp/047018549X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_UFW8Ab73J1KTA