unbiased political books?

[BrianNYC]

Howdy all, I'm a long-time observer but only registered a few moments ago. Like most of the members here, I also read a lot of books and there are many times when I've seen some good book recommendations here.

However, I have a dilemma. I've been trying to get a good and unbiased political book that will help me fully understand the differences among the ideals of political parties. Upon searching for political books online, the ones I've seen are full of biases and are either in the extreme left or right. I just cannot read books with titles like these:

If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans
If Republicans Had Any Hearts: They'd Be Democrats
The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidate
The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder

Basically, I want to be totally enlightened about the political spectrum and maybe, help me choose who to vote for in the upcoming elections. I was thinking if I should start with George Lakoff books (I heard 'Don't Think of an Elephant' is very good) but we all know Lakoff is an outspoken progressive (democrat) so there's no denying about his biases.

[BrotherJon]

BrianNYC,

I had the same problem, so I wrote one of the books that you have rejected because of the title. If you go to Amazon and read inside the book you will discover from the first chapter that the book is not about Republican bashing. It teaches. I discus liberals and conservatives from a psychological point of view. I talk about the humanitarian foundation of socialism and how that makes Obama so dangerous. I talk about lots of issues, and I offer a fair analysis of liberal and conservative bias on these issues. At the end of the book you will find a copy of the speeches of Kennedy and Jefferson. So please check out the Read Inside The Book feature at Amazon and let me know what you think.

Jon Fisher
Krishna-Venta dot com

[Pappy]

When it comes to voting, I'm a fan of doing research on the specific people, their voting histories, their supposed stand on issues that I care about, that kind of stuff. Finding a party that most fits you is great and all, but that doesn't mean that you have to be locked into said party. I always look at it as the best man or woman for the job, not what animal they're represented by.

Hope this helps.

[Ribaldo]

I talk about the humanitarian foundation of socialism and how that makes Obama so dangerous.

What does that mean?

[newspeak]

Exactly! For a supposedly unbiased book, that is a very biased perspective.

[LawnTamer]

I don't know that you will find what you are looking for.

I recommend getting a good grounding in political thought, then you can use the ideas you form on political economy to see which candidates best represent your ideals.

Here are some books that helped me,

The Incredible Bread Machine (not the RW Grant book, the one by Inc Campus Studies, amazon has it cheap)

Capitolism, the Unknown Ideal by Rand (I like Rand's views on political economy and objectivist epistemology, she had some weird views on close relationships)

Democracy in America by Tocqueville

I would also sit down and spend an hr to read the Constitution, front to back. If you haven't, you will be surprised by many of the limits that have been purposefully placed on government.

Though I don't agree with it, I recommend reading the Communist Manifest by Marx and Engels, it is enlightening to see how they were able to manipulate class warfare, something both sides of the isle do to this day.

Good luck, it is a fascinating topic.

[Darian W]

I also think you are going to have a hard time finding unbiased political books. Even something as general a a school textbook is going to reflect the editors' biases in information selected and emphasized. I think for voting purposes you would do better reading the websites of the candidates and editorials that support or attack them.

I think that a historical grounding is important to political understanding. In addition to the Constitution, I would be sure to read or re-read the Declaration of Independence, Common Sense, and at least selections from the Federalist Papers and Antifederalist Papers.

I'd also suggest reading about the histories of current conflicts. Most of my knowledge in this area comes from a variety of textbook, lecture, and online sources so I don't have any specific recommendations.

Of the writers that influenced my politics, I think that Thoreau and Orwell are the most essential, and they are hardly contemporary. L. Neil Smith is probably the closest to my viewpoint among current authors. And Sam Konkin's New Libertarian Manifesto is available as a free download.

Many current politicians write books or have them ghostwritten. Again these are obviously not going to be unbiased, but why not go straight to the source for what political parties believe?

Other than that I can only suggest to pursue what interests you.

[madvibez]

Hey, I too have sought out such a book for years and it's led me to uncover more pertinent information to what is really important... check this out.

Trying to find an unbiased political book is like going to war for peace or copulating for virginity. Politics and objectivity are not mutually exclusive events. We, as a race, have yet to evolve from ignorance, irrational traditions, prejudices, religion and insecurities which is why we have a strong desire to have on the one side the few elected individuals (who seek power and profit) and on the other side the vast by-standing majority (who seek guidance and hand-me downs). Most Repubs are so because mommy/daddy raised them to be and vice versa and that is more than enough reason for them.

So the question comes down to the proverbial picking from "lesser of the two evils". Regardless of who is running for position, they will use some measure of misleading propaganda and empty promising. Perhaps by intention or perhaps by plain ignorance. Either way they will bend things enough to gain a favorable vote. Once elected rarely do we see full follow through. Besides, there are too many differing players behind the scene to allow the elected individual to delivery.

But the question is, should the focus go towards who we should elect as much as what is it that we can do at an individual level to achieve the most fulfilling life possible given the current state of affairs (locally, nationally, and internationally). The individual has little control over the greater environment but s/he has plenty of control over what goes on in her/his head, in her/his heart, and the decisions being made from moment to moment. And when this is truly realized then we start to make the personal changes (by widening our limited outlook to a broader one) to start to appreciate this life as it is. We develop a sense of personal power that renders us more productive and at peace. Imagine this type of change at a national or global level. We would be talking about evolution as a human race to uncover the mysteries of our existence and the tapping into of our full potential as opposed to waging war against a group of people because they dont believe in the same social system or religion. Currently, in all areas, we are just plain backwards....

[ceejay77]

I Like to read biographies I have read,Gorbachov,Yeltsin etc

[agentmulder412]

I realize it's not a book, but I would recommend Wikipedia. In general, there's a true neutral point of view and you can get a good feel of the ideals of the various parties, as well as how politics works.

From a mathematical point of view, and understanding much of the WHY behind different idiosyncrasies in voting systems in general, I would recommend Analyzing Politics: Rationality, Behavior, and Institutions by Shepsle and Bonchek. It helps explain why we have two major political systems, how political decision making gets done, etc. from a very abstract base. However, there are a couple of formulas and it's not bedtime reading. It is a great way to understand politics, though, by ignoring the specifics and seeing the grand scope of things.