Where do I begin?

[Satyagraha]

I am 19 years old and am currently residing in China as I am studying abroad for one semester. I am a Canadian-American citizen (I was born in Canada but only lived there for two years so I can't remember any of it -- right after, my family moved to the States where my parents were raised).

I am just beginning to learn about Political Science and History. I feel as if I have been ignorant for the majority of my life toward many issues, including these two subjects. I attended a Catholic School from pre-K until sixth grade and then attended a public middle school and high school but was a very antsy kid. I did not take well to sitting down and studying and I didn't see much of a reason for it. I was more interested in creative outlets and read fiction occassionally or listened to music and hung out with friends. Currently, I go to a Lutheran University and this past year, I have become EXTREMELY interested in politics and history, to the point that I feel very overwhelmed by all of it. Firstly, I find my political views verging towards what I see to be the Communist view point, however, I know that I don't know enough about any political party or affiliation to make such a statement. I DO know that I feel the world is incredibly unjust and that equality in all aspects, including economically is, in my eyes, of complete necessity.

I know all of the background information isn't completely relevant, but I figured I should let people know where I am coming from. Religiously speaking, I don't affiliate with any, but I used to be Christian. In fact, I think Jesus was quite the communist himself in his own ways, so I find it ironic that many right-winged Christians find communism so abhorrent, but as I stated previously, I am very ignorant to politics.

Basically, I would like HELP. Which books should I start reading? I am a beginner! My main issue with communism that I have seen so far is that, while I AGREE that violence stems from economic inequality, I'm not confident if economic inequality is the only reason for violence.

[Qwerty Dvorak]

i would say start with the classic, communist manifesto. also, a book that might appeal to you a a chinese national is amy chua's 'world on fire' which iv just finished reading. its not a socialist work, in fact it concludes with suggestions to reform the capitalist system (aka bullshit) but it makes a very good point in arguing that exporting free-market democracy breeds ethnic hatred and global instability. other than that, i cant really help you coz admittedly, i havent read a whole lot of communist works myself! although a few good ones might be marx's capital (which i will be reading as soon as i feel up to it, its pretty hard reading imo) and lenins state and revolution.

[workersunity]

ya he said it pretty good, read the communist manifeso then read it again, it makes a lot more sense after a couple times, also pick up some of david Mclellan's books, and other marx books, german ideology, engels. socialism utopian and scientific gives you a good description of materialist dialectics, also read some Anton Pannekoek.

[Donnie]

I suggest you read this book by Peter Kropotkin called ‘The Conquest of Bread'. The Conquest of Bread is the most detailed description of the ideal society, embodying anarchist communism, and of the social revolution that is to achieve it. The book covers many queries you may have on things, i.e. food, housing, clothing, work etc.

[Zingu]

I wouldn't call your views or Jesus's view "Communist" in the strict sense of the word (being a Communist means accepting and believing in the materialist conception of history), but more as a radical Socialist.


An introduction to Communism:
The Principles of Communism by Engels (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm)

From there, it would good to read

Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Engels (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/soc-utop/)

[Le People]

Go with State and Revolution, because I find it has revolutionary zeal while not being as crpytic as Marx was in the Manifesto. Take everything with a grain of salt. Check out some stuff from the Enlightenment, I may suggest the Socail Contract.

[reporter]

just wish we could see some practical examples where the doctrine is more than just that, only works in theory, but hey that's a start on the road to reality.

[Q]

This thread is over four years old. Don't necro threads. Thanks.

Closed.