# I would like some advice on reading material for communism and/or anarchism. If you would be so kind **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 19, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-some-advice-on-reading-material-for-communism-and-or-anarchism-if-you-would-be-so-kind/676720 "2013-12-19T14:17:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-some-advice-on-reading-material-for-communism-and-or-anarchism-if-you-would-be-so-kind/676720/21 "2013-12-19T19:29:15Z")
In Christian thought, the Bible is what’s important and everything else is just interpretation. So that _should_ be exactly where you start. > [@](#): > > Aha. That is not what i meant. > Use a previously uninhabited section of land, or perhaps create an island somewhere . I don’t know how it would be achieved but it doesn’t necessarily have to be through violence (or perhaps in the current state of the world it does?). Oh, fair enough. Tough to find uninhabited sections of land nowadays, at least those which are fertile enough to support human communities. That’s part of the problem: without a system of ownership, you are either going to have to be self-sufficient or recognize that you will waste a significant amount of your productive capacity raising foreign exchange to buy things from more economically dynamic societies. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-some-advice-on-reading-material-for-communism-and-or-anarchism-if-you-would-be-so-kind/676720/22 "2013-12-19T19:49:36Z")
**Moderator Action** This thread is straying into IMHO/GD territory. Since there’s more opinion than debate so far, let’s move it over to IMHO for now. Depending on how the thread progresses it may end up in GD eventually. Moving thread from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-some-advice-on-reading-material-for-communism-and-or-anarchism-if-you-would-be-so-kind/676720/23 "2013-12-19T21:50:08Z")
_The Dispossessed_ by Ursula LeGuin is a fictional look at how an anarchic society might work in practice. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-some-advice-on-reading-material-for-communism-and-or-anarchism-if-you-would-be-so-kind/676720/24 "2013-12-19T22:49:58Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > I’m not sure I’d agree that’s a good starting point. It’s sort of like trying to learn about Christianity by reading the Bible. The source material is certainly important, but all the various iterations of Marxism over the years have had wildly differing interpretations and, without that context, just plugging through Marx is going to be of limited usefulness for really getting a handle on historic or modern Marxism. It should definitely be part of a thorough study of Marx, but I’d suggest an overview text first. I also disagree with this. Reading the source allows one to see how the idea has been distorted by subsequent generations, just like reading the teachings of Jesus and then seeing “Christians” argue for war. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-some-advice-on-reading-material-for-communism-and-or-anarchism-if-you-would-be-so-kind/676720/25 "2013-12-19T23:28:27Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > The immorality is part of the nature of man. Try looking at the reality of how “communist” nations actually functioned. You’ve nailed it right here. Communism, as defined by Marx, is about “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.”, basically meaning that society will give you everything you need and you will return the favor by giving everything you can to help society. If you are disabled or otherwise not able to contribute much to society, hey, no big deal, give what you can and we’ll take care of you. The critical problem with this is human greed. I challenge you to find one person alive who is willing to give\* everything he possibly can\* to the betterment of society. No, you don’t need a BMW, why not sell it, by a beater Toyota that at least runs, and give the rest of the money to support poor people? You don’t need a 25 inch TV, give it to the local community center and watch your TV there. Will you work 15 hours a day? What, but you _can_! It’s not going to kill you, get back to work! I also challenge you to find someone who would be satisfied with receiving only what they truly “need”. You don’t need a fancy car, or nice clothes, your own high speed Internet, or more than one vacation every five years. Your home is too big, get out and downsize to a smaller one and let someone with more kids take the big home. ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-some-advice-on-reading-material-for-communism-and-or-anarchism-if-you-would-be-so-kind/676720/26 "2013-12-20T01:39:19Z")
I recommend _The New Industrial State_ and\*\* The Affluent Society\*\* by John Kenneth Galbraith for more modern critiques of capitalism. Showing their age a bit, but still highly relevant. \*Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered \* by E. F. Schumacher presents an excellent alternative to materialist consumerism and growth for the sake of growth. Lastly, _Social Ecology and Communalism_ and other writings by Murray Bookchin. Raised by Communists, an anarchist most of his life, and then late in life developed his version of libertarian socialism which he called Social Ecology or Communalism (not to be confused with the communalist movement in India.) There are a great number of Marxist and Marxian philosophers and scholars still working. Richard Wolff is a prime example and has a good blog - [http://rdwolff.com/](http://rdwolff.com/). David Harvey has some excellent lectures on YouTube. The New Economics Institute in the US and the New Economics Foundation in Britain have a ton of resources and policy papers for post-capitalist economics, incorporating various schools of thought including socialism, anarchism, solidarity and cooperativism. Bhutan, in partnership with the UN and other groups, is also creating a New Development Paradigm based on Gross National Happiness, rather GDP. Working my way through that model currently. Good luck on your voyage of intellectual discovery. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-like-some-advice-on-reading-material-for-communism-and-or-anarchism-if-you-would-be-so-kind/676720.md?page=1)