MBitcoiner on Nostr: Here is a list of 5 essential books that have helped shape my views on politics, ...
Here is a list of 5 essential books that have helped shape my views on politics, governance, history, economics, modernism, and conceptualizing the nation state more generally. Add these to your reading list 👇
1. Seeing Like a State by James C Scott
Talks about authoritarian "high modernism" where large scale solutions that get implemented from a top-down approach without taking into account local knowledge and expertise. The state's desire for "legibility" results in failure.
2. The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg
Argues that the transition from the industrial to the information age will undermine the power of nation states and empower individuals through digital technologies and decentralized governance.
3. Democracy: The God That Failed by Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Democracy leads to high time preference, increased state power, and economic inefficiency. Contrasts it with monarchy, which is more stable and less exploitative. Advocates for natural order based on private property rights
4. The Impossible State by Wael Hallaq
The modern nation state is fundamentally incompatible with shariah because the state's structures, sovereignty, legal systems are rooted in modernity. Trying to integrate Sharia within the framework of the state distort its principles.
5. Super Imperialism by Michael Hudson
The U.S. uses its control over the global financial system through the dollar to extract economic tribute. This "Super Imperialism" allows the U.S. to finance its deficits and military spending at the expense of foreign economies.
1. Seeing Like a State by James C Scott
Talks about authoritarian "high modernism" where large scale solutions that get implemented from a top-down approach without taking into account local knowledge and expertise. The state's desire for "legibility" results in failure.
2. The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg
Argues that the transition from the industrial to the information age will undermine the power of nation states and empower individuals through digital technologies and decentralized governance.
3. Democracy: The God That Failed by Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Democracy leads to high time preference, increased state power, and economic inefficiency. Contrasts it with monarchy, which is more stable and less exploitative. Advocates for natural order based on private property rights
4. The Impossible State by Wael Hallaq
The modern nation state is fundamentally incompatible with shariah because the state's structures, sovereignty, legal systems are rooted in modernity. Trying to integrate Sharia within the framework of the state distort its principles.
5. Super Imperialism by Michael Hudson
The U.S. uses its control over the global financial system through the dollar to extract economic tribute. This "Super Imperialism" allows the U.S. to finance its deficits and military spending at the expense of foreign economies.