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What is the book that changed your views? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 week ago by Different_pie@lemmy.world to c/books@lemmy.ml

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Please share books that affected your worldview or changed your thoughts.

For me, it’s A People’s History of the World by Chris Harman. I studied business and work in finance, and before reading it, I never questioned the idea that capitalism was just the natural way of things. This book made me realize that capitalism is man made. It had a beginning and it can have an end. Wealth and poverty are not just inevitable, they are created by human decisions. That perspective really shook me.

Do you have a book that had a similar impact on you?

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[–] Wojwo@lemmy.ml 25 points 1 week ago (7 children)

Atlas Shrugged... But not in the way most people would think. I was raised very conservative. Growing up people always talked about how great of an author Ayn Rand was. But when I finally read some of her books, they made me sick. It kind of opened my eyes to how the political beliefs I was given as child clashed with my own personal values.

[–] modernangel@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

In my defense, my family of origin revolved around a cookie cutter Atlas Shrugged minor villain dad - gaslighter, business cheat and mooch, compulsive womanizer - so Atlas Shrugged's heroes were the fantasy I needed when I read it. I knew I wasn't a "John Galt" so I tinkered with a dutiful Eddie Willers identity for a bit. Some good still came out of it - I got interested in philosophy as a respectable formal academic topic, and outgrew the fantasy.

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