I’ve started browsing Blogdex on a less-than-regular basis to see what other people are talking about (where “less-than-regular” means “when I’m bored at work”). One of the top links today was Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries.
Go give it a read.
I dare you.
It’s scary to find out that there are actually people that believe this crap. I mean, Mein Kampf I can get behind, sure. The Communist Manifesto, maybe, but more for the twisted results of Marxism than for the original communist ideals. One of my favorite comments is about Das Kapital:
Das Kapital forces the round peg of capitalism into the square hole of Marx’s materialistic theory of history, portraying capitalism as an ugly phase in the development of human society in which capitalists inevitably and amorally exploit labor by paying the cheapest possible wages to earn the greatest possible profits. Marx theorized that the inevitable eventual outcome would be global proletarian revolution. He could not have predicted 21st Century America: a free, affluent society based on capitalism and representative government that people the world over envy and seek to emulate.
Let me tell you WON’T see in America: laborers being exploited and paid the lowest possible wages to earn the greatest profites. No siree Bob. Just ask anyone in middle America.
Like I say: I love America, but I hate a lot of people in it.
On the upside, you can get a free donut today!
Every time I go to the fourth floor of wally library to study I see Mein Kampf. I think to myself “I wonder what that book is like” but I’d rather not read it and find it’s good points. Hitler was brillant but off his rocker. I’d rather not have him seem any better than needed.
Side note - Cory says hi
Yeah, the more edumacated you become about “serious” things like politics, the easier it is to become a cynic about the ideals you once held high.
But mmmm, donuts…
Ah yes, we do have an extensive Hitler-Nazi section on the ol’ Fourth Floor. I always figured Mein Kampf was there because it’s a primary research source. The Fourth Floor is undoubtedly the most interesting part of the Library. Besides the weird books, it’s where the stealth between-class sexing goes on…
And is this Cory in question the same Cory who now works at the Circ Desk? At work the other day, I saw a newspaper article that reminded me of you and Cowboy (it was about the new book “NASCAR Nation”; you’ll have to check it out), but Cory didn’t seem to recognize your name. Different guy, I guess…
No, different Cory. Jym’s in Maine for the weekend, so it’s a Cory from up there.
As for Mein Kampf, I don’t see any reason we SHOULDN’T have it at the library. It’s a significant work by a man who had an incredible impact on the 20th century. I skimmed through a few bits once but haven’t had a chance to sit down and read it.
We’ve got 4 copies of Mein Kampf in the lib. It could be the first selection for RIT’s Very Very Special Summer Reading Club.
Mein Kampf is an important work, and to understand what happened less than a 100 years ago, it’s worth looking at the tools of persuasion used. I haven’t read it yet. If you start the VVSSRC, count me in.