Summer Reading List Ideas for a New College Conservative (Vanity)

vanity~me | July 17, 2012 | Bushwon

[Freedom56v2]

Interested in some ideas for a very basic basic primer to provide some foundation for a new college conservative going on a road trip...nothing too involved--just an easy-to-read basic first book that will provide basic information on politics, culture, economy from a conservative (or limited government libertarian) viewpoint.

[Freedom56v2]

Well, I think I am going to read this one. Thanks :)

[Freedom56v2]

Thanks! This book is on a website recommended earlier on thread :)

[mnehring]

There are so many questions that would define what you want to do with it. Personally, I use a Droid Xyboard.

Most readers these days (tablets usually) are good for so much more. It could be as simple as your current PC or Laptop.

You could be like my grandma. I got her an iMac years and years ago (original iMac) and she still uses it. She loves books but what she does is print a dozen or two pages at a time to read.

I won’t get into your business, but think about your typical day, do you use a lot of email, web, travel a lot, etc? If so, considering a higher end tablet may be the way to go. If you currently use a laptop and just get on the internet occasionally, you can use that or maybe a low cost Kindle.

Also think about how you enjoy reading. If it is at a desk, stick with your computer you are on now. Sitting back in a recliner, your laptop or a kindle. Anywhere and everywhere and you lug your laptop with you, consider a tablet.

[Freedom56v2]

Indeed :(

[Freedom56v2]

Eh just thot a Kindle or Tablet would be good way to load up free books and a big space-saver when I travel. I usually take a laptop too, but it has large screen and battery life is more limited

-I don’t want to pay additional for 4G internet access on a Tablet, but would not mind wi-fi capabilities.

Really want Droid 4 phone...Bigger screen and nice keyboard, waiting for a deal :)

[Fiji Hill]

I would recommend Alger Hiss: Why He Chose Treason by Christina Shelton (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012). This is a concise, readable account of the complex case of Alger Hiss, the Soviet spy who became a liberal cause célèbre at mid-century and remains so to this day. Shelton, a retired intelligence analyst, shows beyond a doubt that Hiss was as guilty as hell and explains why he chose to betray his country.

[djone]

“The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization” by Anthony Esolen A good basic foundational reading that you didn’t get in school.
“ PC professors don’t want you to know that:
* Patriarchy and civilization go hand-in-hand (just ask the ancient Romans)
* Modern science came from the Middle Ages (and a Biblical view of the universe)
* The Renaissance was the flowering of a specifically Christian and classical culture
* The “progressive ideas” of the nineteenth century led to the fascism, communism, and two world wars of the twentieth century “

http://www.amazon.com/Politically-Incorrect-Western-Civilization-Guides/dp/1596980591/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342575505&sr=8-1&keywords=pig+western+civ

[mnehring]

One thing I don’t know about (hopefully someone else can chime in) is accessing free book websites on the Kindle. (other than the Fire). With all the free book sites out there or being able to upload .pdf files, I wouldn’t wan to invest in something that can’t access those. Seriously, if all you can access is Amazon from the basic Kindle, it may be worth the investment for a tablet that has internet access. (iPad, Droid, Fire).

[arthurus]

Henry Hazlitt's Economics In One Lesson It is not long and you can read it online if you choose at http://www.fee.org/library/books/economics-in-one-lesson/ or you can get it at Amazon, etc. It teaches you how to think economically. When you absorb what is in this book, in the first chapter(the rest is illustration in different settings), you will instantly understand why various economic schemes put forward by politicians and professors cannot work as advertised and why. It does not teach you to hold any particular opinion but makes you understand how schemes must work in real life. It is an excellent precursor to economics survey classes and puts you ahead of the instructor in many cases.

[mnehring]

Oh, and regarding 4G. Be careful. It will spoil you. I have regular DSL at home and my tablet and phone both have 4G hotspots and it seems to be 10x faster (using Verizon). I am almost to the point where my DSL just runs my alarm and the Google TV my wife uses in her studio and I use my hotspots for everything else.

[reg45]

Don’t forget Mark Steyn.

[Fiji Hill]

It's interesting that you listed a Generation Awakes--Young Americans for Freedom and the Creation of the Conservative Movement by Wayne Thorburn (Ottawa, Ill.: Jameson, 2010). I found it when our local Borders was liquidating its inventory, and after buying it, I checked the index to see if my name was listed. It wasn't, but several of my friends and acquaintances were listed, some rather prominently.

I'm also glad that someone besides me likes Will Herberg's Protestant-Catholic-Jew: an Essay in American Religious Sociology (New York: Doubleday, 1956) and Ludwig von Mises' The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality (Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand, 1956)

[Fiji Hill]

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization” by Anthony Esolen

There's now a whole series of PIG (Politically Incorrect Guide) books, and the ones I have read are both readable and authoritative--and they can be controversial. For example, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties (Washington, DC: Regnery, 2009) argues that the effort to land a man on the moon was wrongheaded--a politically incorrect opinion if there ever was one.

[Freedom56v2]

I’m going to read this one!

[Freedom56v2]

This looks good. It is on audio books, could be included for drive time :)

[Freedom56v2]

This series might be very good...thanks.

[Freedom56v2]

Thanks. This is great that it is online.

[Freedom56v2]

excellent idea. Mark Steyn gets it!

[Freedom56v2]

I have verizon too. What type of data plan are you using to support all these wonderful “toys”? :)

[BlackElk]

A Generation Awakes by Wayne Thorburn (who was YAF's National Executive Director for several years, having little flash but got his job done well) is very meaningful for those of my generation in YAF (1969-???). I was a state chairman for some years. Many folks of significance are not indexed or mentioned. Don't feel bad.

I had one guy who I recruited when he seemed a left-winger, counterculture, anti-war but had verrrrry libertarian resentments over the fact that he had paid tuition, room and board at University of Connecticut at Storrs, out of his own pocket (rebuilt VW engines in his dorm room to pay all the bills and then some). By the time he graduated, he had a published book on the right to personally own gold written up favorably in the New York Times Book Review, had challenged the FBI to arrest him for owning gold (FBI did not arrest him), appeared as a witness at a House Ways and Means Committee meeting and two gold pieces he brought for show and tell were stolen by members of the committee (he used that to a faretheewell in propaganda). BTW, he has been living on a cattle ranch in northern California for many years, having married the owner. His name is Charlie and he is not indexed either.

I listed the book because it is a chronicle of the achievement of the possible. As I used to tell my members, the purpose of this exercise is to translate our ideals into reality. It was important to remember that some find their role in activism. Others find their role in reflective scholarship and development and communication of ideas. Still others found their role in business or as spouses and parents or in leading small but precious efforts in the community or home (home-schooling, religious faith and action, issue by issue efforts, etc.) Your life is where you are indexed most meaningfully.

IIRC, you were privileged to know such YAF giants of my generation as Bill Saracino and Pat Nolan. I don't know your name but I may have known you. I was always allied across the continent with California YAF in those days. We knew better times by far and we shall know better times again just not immediately.

Live long and make every day count. Listen to Peter, Paul and Mary's Sweet Survivor (meant to encourage our enemies but neutral enough in language to encourage us).

May God bless you and yours!