The Bible
this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2026
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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.
Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent
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'
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.
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.
I'm on a big Kim Stanley Robinson kick lately (currently reading Aurora) and I haven't heard of this one. Definitely picking that up lol
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 agree with this but its kinda also that we seem to be going backward big time. If you look at ww1 to ww2 and how shorta time span that was with the depression and then look back on the last quarter decade. its like. this is some bull trump.
Yeah it puts things in perspective. Sadly, lately the perspective has been "this is awful and things will become even more awful for the next decade or two at least. Probably more."
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.
Where can I buy this book?
A People's History of the United States
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.
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
Is last one really the title of book?
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.
And it continues to this day.
A People's History of the United States blew my mind wide open in high school.
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...."
Why are we calling being an empathetic individual and being against fascism "being radicalised"?
Because it is the correct use of the word. It is the american conservative propaganda machine which gave it the negative connotations.
Being antifascist matches at least two definitions of radical: "Favoring fundamental change, or change at the root cause of a matter" and "(slang) Excellent; awesome"
well it is just you. Radicalized can entail many things. When I was in early to mid teens, I have read and listened to extremists and that made me a hardcore extremist in my religion.
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Purely Functional Data Structures by Chris Okasaki. It took the blinders off and I became a convert to functional programming.
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The terms of service for the warranty on my first car after the first time I tried to use it.
The Grapes of Wrath
- 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
Can't believe this is the only mention of Conquest of Bread and Capital here. They are what turned my intuition of "the we've structured society seems unfair" into at least some basic understanding of the reality around me.
Although I think for most people (myself included) radicalization mostly comes from lived experiences rather than anything you read.
Learning Perl, 2nd edition
Perl doesn't radicalise anyone, but it might turn them into a funny character.
Stranger In A Strange Land
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
- 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"
The Dispossessed
This was the one I came to mention lol.
You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.
Also from the introduction/short story The Day Before The Revolution:
My novel The Dispossessed is about a small worldful of people who call themselves Odonians. The name is taken from the founder of their society, Odo, who lived several generations before the time of the novel, and who therefore doesn’t get into the action — except implicitly, in that all the action started with her.
Odonianism is anarchism. Not the bomb-in-the-pocket stuff, which is terrorism, whatever name it tries to dignify itself with; not the social-Darwinist economic “libertarianism” of the far right; but anarchism. as prefigured in early Taoist thought, and expounded by Shelley and Kropotkin, Goldman and Goodman. Anarchism’s principal target is the authoritarian State (capitalist or socialist); its principal moral-practical theme is cooperation (solidarity, mutual aid). It is the most idealistic, and to me the most interesting, of all political theories.
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
The Jungle
Check out Evasion and Days of War, Nights of Love by Crimethinc. That's how I got my start
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).
Is it in english?
It's originally in German, IDK if there's a translation. Maybe the TV Shows/Movies got translations or at least subtitles? Though they don't seem to be that well-received.
Pick a judeo-christian bible. Can't miss apparently.
Well I grew up reading Quran. It was later I read Bibles. Apocryphal ones are more radical in conclusion.
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.
When things fall apart - Pema Chodron.
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