Top 5 Favorite Books

I’ve always told people I have a top five list of favorite books. I thought I’d post them here and why I love each of them.

The Stranger by Albert Camus

It’s the perfect mix of existentialism, absurdism, and detachment, which are three things that resonate with me. Mersault’s indifference and refusal to play along with society’s expectations, and his ultimate acceptance of the absurdity of life align with my own views.

The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus

This book gave me a framework to make peace with the absurd. Instead of drowning in nihilism or clinging to false meaning, Camus handed me a third option: defiance. I don’t have to pretend life has inherent meaning, but I also don’t have to collapse under that realization. I can push the boulder up the hill, knowing it’s pointless, and still find joy in the act.

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

It’s a chaotic, sprawling, brilliant mess, just like the world it critiques. It takes on capitalism, addiction, entertainment, and the crushing weight of modern existence, all with a mix of absurd humor and gut-wrenching sincerity.

At it’s core, it’s about resistance. Against addiction, against passive entertainment, against the numbness that capitalism and media try to impose.

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Pure, unfiltered chaos — violence, fate, and the raw, indifferent brutality of the universe laid bare. It doesn’t try to comfort you; it forces you to stare into the abyss and see it staring back. It doesn’t just tell a story. It drags you through hell and leaves you to make sense of it yourself.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

One of the most powerful indictments of capitalism and injustice ever written, and it does so with raw emotion and unflinching truth. It isn’t just about suffering; it’s about resistance, solidarity, and the idea that even in the face of crushing exploitation, people can come together and fight back.

Steinbeck’s anger at the system is palpable, but he doesn’t preach; he shows. He makes you feel the desperation, the hunger, the betrayal by a system designed to grind people down, but at the same time there’s that threat of quiet, unwavering defiance.

Can Freedom and Communism Coexist?

I’ve been delving more and more and reading more and more into systems other than the oppressive one that is Capitalism. Something has to be done to bring down the entire Capitalist system. I think we need some sort of revolution and to make way for Socialism or Communism or at the very least Democratic-Socialism, Libertarian-Socialism, or Anarcho-Communism.

I’m fond of the freedoms we have so far in the United States, but with this new administration I fear that those freedoms are going to be taken away by the Capitalists. But you may be asking, “But isn’t Communism against freedom?” I have always thought that as well after being brainwashed and indoctrinated by the education system and the news, but it’s not the case.

Can freedom exist within a Communist or Socialist society? It depends on how you define “freedom” and “Communism.” If by “freedom” do I mean the ability to live without economic coercion? Have access to basic needs and participate in decision making? If that’s what I mean then the answer is yes. Many leftist theorists argue that true freedom is only possibly when Capitalism is abolished, since it forces people to sell their labor to survive.

Communism is against the right to accumulate wealth and own private property at the expense of others. In that regard, Communism is incompatible with freedom. Communism prioritizes collective well-being over individual accumulation, which can sometimes mean restricting certain freedoms such as the freedom to exploit labor or hoard resources.

Historically, some communist regimes have suppressed political freedom such as the USSR and North Korea, but those two were never truly Communist, but I’ll save that for another day. Many leftists argue that a stateless, decentralized form of Communism, like Anarcho-Communism would maximize both economic and political freedom.

In a truly Communist society — especially in a decentralized, democratic form like Anarcho-Communism — freedom of choice, speech, and the press could still exist, and in some ways, they might even be stronger than under Capitalism.

In a Communist system where resources are collectively owned and distributed based on need, people wouldn’t be forced to take jobs just to survive. Instead they could choose their work based on interests and community needs. However, certain choices like owning private businesses or accumulating excessive wealth wouldn’t exist because the contradict the principle of Communist ownership.

In theory, a Communist society could allow free speech and press, especially if it’s structured democratically. If power is decentralized and decisions are made collectively, suppressing speech would go against the idea of worker control. The press would be worker-run instead of owned by a few wealthy individuals, leading to a more diverse range of perspectives instead of media being controlled by corporate interests.

In short, freedom of speech, the press, and choice could absolutely exist under Communism, it just depends on whether the system is democratic and decentralized or authoritarian and bureaucratic.

Hey Kid, You Want to Build Communism?

My reading this month has consisted of re-reading The Communist Manifesto. I haven’t read it since my freshman year of college. I am also discussing communism, socialism, and capitalism with a friend of mine. Capitalism is no better than communism or socialism. People say, “Communism has killed millions!”

To that, I say that Capitalism exploits people in other countries for profit, not for the greater good. How many people has Capitalism killed by letting the poor and sick and homeless just go ahead and die just because they couldn’t afford food, shelter, or healthcare? Capitalism is responsible for the deaths of the sick and poor. As was said in an Otep song, “There isn’t any cure for the poor and uninsured.”

So, how are we defining the number of people killed by an economic system? Do you count all the preventable deaths by hunger or curable diseases that took place due to poverty under that system? When counting death tolls of 20th century state socialism, most people count such deaths. If we do that for capitalism, then the death toll is astronomically higher.

What about occupational deaths among proletarians and unfree laborers in capitalist societies, both on the job and as the result of health problems brought on by their work?

And how about those killed in wars in which a capitalist state was the aggressor, including in any anti-colonial uprisings against a capitalist state (as the capitalist state was the aggressor in these also, because the violence of their occupation provoked the necessary uprising)?

Communists may have killed people, but wars waged for feudalism and capitalism way outrank it with centuries of imperialism and the people killed by communists tend to be those with guns trying to shoot them and so, in a battle context, don’t really count as killing innocent people.

So, am I a Communist? No. I am just saying capitalism is shit for being exploitative and it’s not the perfect system Americans think it is. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer under Capitalism. If you ask me what has radicalized me into this way of thinking then I say to you it’s Trump. Trumpism has radicalized me. I am doing anything I can to fight back against this regime. I am emailing and calling anyone I can to ask them to put an end to this oligarchy we now live under. I have my first meeting with a group of Socialists next week that I’m looking forward to.

“Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workingmen of all countries unite!”