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Hey guys. I've recently found out that I'm not going to be able to formally further my education for quite a while due to some unforeseen circumstances dealing with my job in the USAF. As such, I've taken it upon myself to learn everything that I would in a university, regardless. I want to study the following fields, in depth: Economics; Political Science; Government. In the future, I would also like to study Law, but that's not as big of a priority to me right now.
My problem is this: I have no idea what sort of texts to read, especially because of the inevitable bias found in all three of these subjects.
I would greatly appreciate it if anyone who has previously studied, or is currently studying, these subjects to direct me to some unbiased learning resources, whether they be books or websites or whatever.
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While I'm a Math/Computer Science head and have no idea what books to recommend, I just wanna commend you for taking this step. Self-education, especially at a college level, takes a lot of commitment, so this is really cool :D Good luck!
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mises.org
It has hundreds of free economy books on Austrian economics.
TBH read different baised views and draw your own conclusions. Truly sterile text-books that are not biased in any fashion and try to appease everyone are so watered down you won't get anything of real value.
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Best of luck, I struggle to motivate myself even at the best of times.
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On August 18 2011 05:43 AndyG wrote: While I'm a Math/Computer Science head and have no idea what books to recommend, I just wanna commend you for taking this step. Self-education, especially at a college level, takes a lot of commitment, so this is really cool :D Good luck!
Thanks. I've always been an autodidact, but most of my self-learning has been random and disjointed, and mostly web-based, so this whole "go to the library and get some textbooks" thing is brand new to me.
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On August 18 2011 05:43 AcuWill wrote: mises.org
It has hundreds of free economy books on Austrian economics.
TBH read different baised views and draw your own conclusions. Truly sterile text-books that are not biased in any fashion and try to appease everyone are so watered down you won't get anything of real value.
This isn't really that you will learn at a university. Never the less this is real economics.
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![[image loading]](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2009/09/24/2009937460.jpg)
Michael Sandel is a political philosopher and a well known professor at Harvard. This book is absolutely great. Its essentially his famous class at Harvard called 'Justice' condensed into a book!
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If you're looking for some good sleep aids I'd go with some rum or brandy instead.
I kid, I kid, good on ya for studying for the hell of it.
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On August 18 2011 05:46 Hider wrote:Show nested quote +On August 18 2011 05:43 AcuWill wrote: mises.org
It has hundreds of free economy books on Austrian economics.
TBH read different baised views and draw your own conclusions. Truly sterile text-books that are not biased in any fashion and try to appease everyone are so watered down you won't get anything of real value.
This isn't really that you will learn at a university. Never the less this is real economics.
I don't necessarily want something that will be taught to me at university, I just want something that will give me an excellent understanding and comprehension of the topics at hand.
EDIT: To the guy who recommended "Justice" above, I found that there are full episodes of his "Justice" lectures online. Definitely going to be taking a look at them. Thanks.
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United States5162 Posts
On August 18 2011 05:50 ryanAnger wrote:Show nested quote +On August 18 2011 05:46 Hider wrote:On August 18 2011 05:43 AcuWill wrote: mises.org
It has hundreds of free economy books on Austrian economics.
TBH read different baised views and draw your own conclusions. Truly sterile text-books that are not biased in any fashion and try to appease everyone are so watered down you won't get anything of real value.
This isn't really that you will learn at a university. Never the less this is real economics. I don't necessarily want something that will be taught to me at university, I just want something that will give me an excellent understanding and comprehension of the topics at hand.
The 'problem' is that there are distinct groups in economics that have very different ideas. You will spend a lot of time and energy learning about the differences between Neo-Classical, Austrian, and Keynesian economics if you really want a strong understanding and comprehension. If you just want a basic understanding of Ecomics like you would get in an econ 101 class, just get any basic college textbook.
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Labor and Monopoly Capital by Braverman The Rise and Decline of Nations by Olson (one of my personal faves, brilliant guy) The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith (very dry, but gives a fundamental background in economics) The Prince by Machiavelli
It also doesn't hurt to mix a few extremist views, such as: The Communist Manifesto by Marx We the Living by Ayn Rand
If you knocked out these books, I think you'd be able to talk on an educated level about those topics. I think this list would also give you a wide view instead of tunnel vision.
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Can't really give you any specific suggestions, but something I always like to do when self-studying topics such as these is to take many different philosophies and compare them objectively, not narrowing down too much on a specific one. It may sound obvious, but the act of comparing is a valuable learning tool and also helps you prevent becoming biased from only looking for reading material from perspectives you already posess.
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For economics I recommend, Economics in One Lesson. http://www.amazon.com/Economics-One-Lesson-Shortest-Understand/dp/0517548232 It is the fastest way to learn basic economic principles and fallacies.
As far as politics and government, that is a lot more broad. Do you want to learn about political philosophies? Or how the government operates? There are too many categories to cover.
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On August 18 2011 05:54 Myles wrote:Show nested quote +On August 18 2011 05:50 ryanAnger wrote:On August 18 2011 05:46 Hider wrote:On August 18 2011 05:43 AcuWill wrote: mises.org
It has hundreds of free economy books on Austrian economics.
TBH read different baised views and draw your own conclusions. Truly sterile text-books that are not biased in any fashion and try to appease everyone are so watered down you won't get anything of real value.
This isn't really that you will learn at a university. Never the less this is real economics. I don't necessarily want something that will be taught to me at university, I just want something that will give me an excellent understanding and comprehension of the topics at hand. The 'problem' is that there are distinct groups in economics that have very different ideas. You will spend a lot of time and energy learning about the differences between Neo-Classical, Austrian, and Keynesian economics if you really want a strong understanding and comprehension. If you just want a basic understanding of Ecomics like you would get in an econ 101 class, just get any basic college textbook.
The goal would be to learn all of them (Neo-Classical, Austrain, Keynesian, etc.) I'm the kind of person who can just read something once, and then it's in my head for good.
Also, to the above poster, I've already read the Communist Manifesto, and the Prince, years ago. I guess I should have probably clarified, I'm not ignorant to any of the subjects I want to study, and that my desire to study them in depth comes from my interest in them, despite (or perhaps because of) my limited understanding of them.
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On August 18 2011 06:00 ryanAnger wrote:
Also, to the above poster, I've already read the Communist Manifesto, and the Prince, years ago. I guess I should have probably clarified, I'm not ignorant to any of the subjects I want to study, and that my desire to study them in depth comes from my interest in them, despite (or perhaps because of) my limited understanding of them.
I wasn't implying you were ignorant, I was just giving you a group of books that would be a good place to start. I have a deep interest in economic sociology (have a BS in this), so your desire to learn more is not alone 
I'm also former Air Force and a current law student.
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My advice is not to read books, but to find online lectures and listen to them. I don't have an example for you, the ones I know of the top of my head are math/physics related.
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Anything works, thanks!!!
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I disagree with him vehemently (a quick glance at the title will tell you why), but you should read Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States."
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5003 Posts
On August 18 2011 05:46 Hider wrote:Show nested quote +On August 18 2011 05:43 AcuWill wrote: mises.org
It has hundreds of free economy books on Austrian economics.
TBH read different baised views and draw your own conclusions. Truly sterile text-books that are not biased in any fashion and try to appease everyone are so watered down you won't get anything of real value.
This isn't really that you will learn at a university. Never the less this is real economics.
Since when was austrian economics "real" economics? -_-???
austrian economics is a religion
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