Archive [June 1999]

I am often asked: “Rush, can you give me a reading list, so I can become a confident conservative like yourself?” Naturally, start with the essentials: My two brilliant tomes, The Way Things Ought To Be and See, I Told You So. After that — though this selection only scratches the surface of the greats — here is the indispensable core of any conservative library:

Wealth and Poverty, by George Gilder

“The most important event in the recent history of ideas is the demise of the socialist dream,” begins Gilder’s masterful moral defense of supply-side economics. No one makes the case for capitalism as compellingly as Gilder, because he refuses to apologize for entrepreneurs.

The Vision of the Anointed, by Thomas Sowell

Nails the liberal establishment elite, who think they know better than you do how your money should be spent and how your life should be lived. Sowell gets these people cold. You won’t truly understand liberals until you see them through Dr. Sowell’s scathing pen.

The De-Valuing of America, by William J. Bennett

Bill Bennett, the Culture Czar, does inventory on the wreckage left behind from the liberals’ attempts to use government and other institutions to destroy the moral foundations of American culture. Bennett’s engaging wit and searing logic make this book a primer on how to win any argument with any liberal, any time, any place.

Witness, by Whittaker Chambers

One-time Communist spy Whittaker Chambers gave us the most personal case against Communism ever written, also one of the most exciting true spy stories in print. To Chambers, Communism posed “the most revolutionary question in history: God or Man? If man’s mind is the decisive force in the world, what need is there for God?” Chambers believed he was leaving the winning side (Communism) of the great struggle for world control for the losing side (freedom). Thankfully, that was the one thing he was wrong about.

The Theme Is Freedom, by M. Stanton Evans

Everyone “knows” that religion is a private matter, and the strength of America is that it keeps church and state separated. Well, everyone is wrong. Evans demonstrates that American ideas of liberty and freedom stem directly from — and are sustained by — religion. You will not understand the true history of America until you read this book.

The Road to Serfdom, by Friedrich A. von Hayek

Do not miss this book. Hayek’s analysis is devastating; he proves that allowing governments to gain economic control leads not to Utopia, but to hell. Dedicated “to The Socialists of All Parties,” The Road to Serfdom was not fully appreciated when it was published in 1944. Had it been, the world might have avoided much pain and suffering. One of the most perceptive assessments of human nature, society, and government ever written.

For Good and Evil, by Charles Adams

Did you know that Israel divided after Solomons death because his son, the heir, wouldn’t cut taxes? Or that Lady Godiva’s infamous unclothed ride was a tax protest? International taxation expert Adams reveals this fascinating hidden history, demonstrating that taxes have greatly influenced human behavior and determined the success or failure of civilizations throughout recorded time.

Radical Son, by David Horowitz

Chronicles his journey from “Red-diaper baby” of Communist parents, to a star of the New Left at Berkeley in the sixties, to Reaganite conservative. Unlike so many of his former comrades, Horowitz found the self-critical honesty to convert to the side of freedom. To the left’s chagrin, his prodigious energy and brainpower are on our side now.

The Greedy Hand, by Amity Shlaes

An instant classic. As well as cataloging the tax code’s grotesqueries, Shlaes outlines a credo for genuine reform: Taxes should be visible; they must be simple; tax rates must be lower; soaking the rich only punishes everyone.

Machiavelli on Modern Leadership, by Michael A. Ledeen

When most of us think of the term “Machiavellian,” we think: self-serving, opportunistic, maliciously ambitious. Not true. American college students no longer read Machiavelli’s “The Prince,” since its author is a dead white male, but this intellectual giant and military strategist of the Italian Renaissance spent a lifetime determining what character traits make for great leadership. Ledeen looks at Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, the Pope, Colin Powell, Bill Gates, Michael Jordan, and even Bill Clinton — measuring them against Machiavelli’s high standards.