What are the books that radicalized you/ can radicalize you?

A People's History of the United States blew my mind wide open in high school.

1984

Animal Farm

The Jungle

Slaughterhouse Five

Brave New World

A Farewell to Arms

Blood Meridian

Guns, Germs, and Steel

To Kill A Mockingbird

Bullshit Jobs

Purely Functional Data Structures by Chris Okasaki. It took the blinders off and I became a convert to functional programming.

The Grapes of Wrath

Just reading about history has done that to me. I don't really read fiction, but I read a ton of history, usually about one book per month or so. But seeing how the human history is just basically despair and misery, makes you a bit annoyed that we still haven't gotten any better.

I mean 1984 did a pretty good job radicalizing me against fascism. I consider it radicalization because turns out America really likes fascism so I guess I'm in the minority.

No Logo by Naomi Klein.

Unfortunately, it made me really against sweatshops and child labour. But most people want to hate stuff that come with very marginal costs, rether than things that force you to rethink how you live.

"I hate structural racism!"
"Like our clothes?"
"No, no...."

The terms of service for the warranty on my first car after the first time I tried to use it.

Just read people's history by Howard zinn and that'll radicalize a lot of people. It's just the rich fucking everyone over and over.

Why are we calling being an empathetic individual and being against fascism "being radicalised"?

The Bible

none. its honestly the right wing that is radicalizing me. I was a (ironically) and extreme agnostic. It was things like qanon which made me have to come to terms with the fact that humans will just believe and follow bullshit. Not just that but tea party and now maga. Its like an effing religion. Heck the 911 memorial stuff is kinda pissing me off because it lead to the patriot act and loss of rights and privacy. Every flag waver and republican at this point that opens their mouth is radicalizing me.

The Dispossessed

There was a book which I picked up from my high-school library and it really did a number on the younger me. "Green Rage" was a book written by Chris Manes in the early 90s about radical environmentalism and it gave me a new perspective on things I had not been aware of at the time. While I never actually got directly involved with any environmentalist groups, I did start to better appreciate how our Capitalist system's need extract value at any cost from natural resources would have disastrous consequences.

Fast forward 35 years and I can't honestly say if the author's more dire predictions haven't come to pass since you simply can't trust corporate media to give unvarnished truth about anything. But I have seen and experienced things with my own eyes that give them credence. The fact that the title for this book came to mind immediately when I read this post/prompt says something about it's impact I think.

The Jungle

Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson. I'd be shocked if every person who bought a copy isn't on a watchlist automatically.

• The Shock Doctrine: The Rise Of Disaster Capitalism
• The Divide: Global Inequality From Conquest To Free Markets
• Anarchism And Its Aspirations / Anarchy Works
• The ABCs Of Socialism / Socialism ... Seriously: A Brief Guide To Surviving The 21st Century
• Trust Us, We're Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science And Gambles With Your Future
• The Search For A Nonviolent Future (Michael N. Nagler)
• Feminism For The 99%
• Currently reading "Secret Affairs: Britain's Collusion With Radical Islam" And "Devil's Game: How The United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam"

These books opened my eyes.

From Freedom to Slavery: Rebirth of Tyranny in America by Gerry Spence

https://archive.org/details/fromfreedomtosl000spen/mode/1up

Quantum Psychology: How Brain Software Programs You & Your World

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/62558.Quantum_Psychology

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

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

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins

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

Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan Holiday

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13542853-trust-me-i-m-lying

Mother Night, Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut

Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein (it does have some anti-lbgtq messaging, but if I recall correctly it's a single paragraph and Heinlein has known biases. The term "grok" came from this book; I'm not the only one who despises how it's been co-opted by Musk)

Makes Me Wanna Holler - Nathan McCall

The Emperor's New Mind - Roger Penrose (especially pertinent with the hype/propaganda coming from oligarchs surrounding AGI/ASI/the singularity)

The Demon Haunted World - Carl Sagan

Benjamin Blümchen audio story series. Mayor and most business men are corrupt, main character regularly engages in political action like organizing protests for animal rights and another major character is a female journalist.

It's insidious because they're popular children's stories featuring a talking elephant as main character. Back before everyone lived on TikTok, even conservative parents bought it for their children. And I think even if you don't quite remember most of it when you get older, stories like these really do influence how you see the world.

Other than that, reading newspapers did most of the work (of course that only works if it's not all full-on fascist propaganda).

Didn't really radicalise me but it's interesting that people had those ideas a long time ago too.

"The right to be lazy" (translation by me so it's worth what it's worth)

Lord of the flies

Island - Aldous Huxley

Less radicalized and more just opened my thinking about how society could be and how imperial forces and people's desires get in the way constantly. More of a 'this is why utopia can't happen' vs Brave New World's 'look at this dystopia'

A People's History of the United States

The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord.

punk as f*uck

if you speak(/read) german and consider yourself vaguely punk i recommend it. if you know any (cis male) german speaking punks, please slap their face with this book (they either understand and accept it or don't, in which case they desperately need to read this book).

it showcases the german punk scene from a flinta* perspective, highlighting how sexism and abuse didn't stop people who actually stood for something better and why it took a long long time for the scene to improve.

isbn 978-3-95575-187-6 , i'm sure your local book dealer is able to order it for you.

Stranger In A Strange Land

When things fall apart - Pema Chodron.

Pick a judeo-christian bible. Can't miss apparently.

Learning Perl, 2nd edition

• Capital by Karl Marx
• The Coming Insurrection by The Invisible Committee
• Workers Councils by Anton Pannekoek
• The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin
• The ABC of Communist Anarchism by Alexander Berkman

Nickle and Dimed by Ehrenreich

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

Check out Evasion and Days of War, Nights of Love by Crimethinc. That's how I got my start

Voltaire's Bastards by John Ralston Saul. It didn't necessarily radicalise me, but it certainly changed my view of the world.

I've never been radicalized by a book, or anything really.

Probably because I've never believed it to be The Truth.

Most books I've read that people are taking about here, my reaction was like 'well duh'. Like, I knew my teachers were lying to me since kindergarten and their thought their over simplified view of the world was very weird.

Birthrights by Richard Farson.

Benjamin’s essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Related: he quotes Marinetti’s 1909 “Manifesto of Futurism” which is still frighteningly relevant.

I don't know about radicalized, but if you want to better understand race in America, "The Fire Next Time" by Baldwin is an excellent place to start.

Stolen Continents

Little Brother 2008

and it's free

https://craphound.com/category/littlebrother/

The Hundredth Monkey