# Lifestyles & Discussion > Family, Parenting & Education > Books & Literature >  Book Recommendation for High School

## Wesley123

I'm supposed to read a *non-fiction* book for my high school AP Language class that *presents an argument for or against something.* I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions of libertarian books that might fit that bill?

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## malkusm

"End The Fed" by Ron Paul would be considered "against" something, I'd say.

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## BuddyRey

_Healing the World in an Age of Aggression_ by Mary J. Ruwart would be a great one.  Simple, thoughtful, and extraordinarily persuasive.

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## WilliamShrugged

Have to go with "End the Fed" also, but i also think "For a New Liberty" by Murray Rothbard.

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## jdmyprez_deo_vindice

I will also suggest "end the fed" but if you want a more historical theme than maybe you could go with "The real Lincoln" by Thomas DiLorenzo.

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## nate895

> I will also suggest "end the fed" but if you want a more historical theme than maybe you could go with "The real Lincoln" by Thomas DiLorenzo.


I would say go with _End the Fed_ because most people, even the teachers, don't know what exactly it is, and, therefore, will not hate you for reading something opposed to it. However, with something like _The Real Lincoln_, you are bound to ruffle feathers.

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## jdmyprez_deo_vindice

> I would say go with _End the Fed_ because most people, even the teachers, don't know what exactly it is, and, therefore, will not hate you for reading something opposed to it. However, with something like _The Real Lincoln_, you are bound to ruffle feathers.


I would argue that sometimes ruffling feathers is a good thing.

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## nate895

> I would argue that sometimes ruffling feathers is a good thing.


I wrote a paper defending secession, and the Confederacy, in the North.

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## jdmyprez_deo_vindice

> I wrote a paper defending secession, and the Confederacy, in the North.


A man after my own heart.

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## nate895

> A man after my own heart.


LOL!

In all seriousness, the only reason I said what I said is that you have to be prepared for it. If you are well-informed, you can survive. If you aren't, you're just another ignorant closet Klansman to the rest of the class.

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## heavenlyboy34

OP: when I had to write a paper like that, I chose pornography.  (I argued in defense of it, of course, being the radical provocateur I am  )  There are lots of books on the subject, too.  I especially recall a book by a feminist called "Defending Pornography" that was very good. (I forget the author's name)

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## nate895

> OP: when I had to write a paper like that, I chose pornography.  (I argued in defense of it, of course, being the radical provocateur I am  )  There are lots of books on the subject, too.  I especially recall a book by a feminist called "Defending Pornography" that was very good. (I forget the author's name)


That explains a lot.

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## Baptist

Don Ron Paul's _End the Fed_ or Peter Schiff's _How an Economy Grows and why it Crashes_.  The former argues why we should end the fed, the latter argues for why we should save and producer (versus spend and consume like media and government tell us).  Schiff's book takes 3 hours to read.  It's great.

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## Austrian Econ Disciple

If you want to really be provocative, go with Hoppe's _Democracy: The God That Failed_.

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## nate895

> If you want to really be provocative, go with Hoppe's _Democracy: The God That Failed_.


I hate democracy. I'd seriously rather live under feudalism, and be a peasant. I'd have more freedom that way, and the fact that I wasn't totally free wouldn't be a part of a big charade.

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## KCIndy

> I hate democracy. I'd seriously rather live under feudalism, and be a peasant. I'd have more freedom that way, and the fact that I wasn't totally free wouldn't be a part of a big charade.




Wouldn't that depend (at least a little bit) on who is controlling the peasants?

I think I understand what you're saying, but if I had to make a choice I think I would rather live in Athens during the Golden Age of Athenian democracy than as a peasant in the dark ages of Europe under a really sadistic monarch.  

Of course, those are exceptions in the extremes!

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## Austrian Econ Disciple

> I hate democracy. I'd seriously rather live under feudalism, and be a peasant. I'd have more freedom that way, and the fact that I wasn't totally free wouldn't be a part of a big charade.


Democracy encompasses Republics (As they are in reality, merely a type of Democracy) also. It needs not be a direct democracy to be considered a democracy. In any event, if you haven't read it yet, I fully recommend it.

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## Austrian Econ Disciple

> Wouldn't that depend (at least a little bit) on who is controlling the peasants?
> 
> I think I understand what you're saying, but if I had to make a choice I think I would rather live in Athens during the Golden Age of Athenian democracy than as a peasant in the dark ages of Europe under a really sadistic monarch.  
> 
> Of course, those are exceptions in the extremes!


The 'dark ages' weren't that dark, and the people in those times were actually much more freer than those in ancient Greece. I would rather have lived under Monarchical British rule (1300-1600s) than live in this trash heap of tyranny (Don't get me wrong, that time was also tyrannous). The Monarch at least, actually abided by the charters of liberty (Magna Carta), and common law was upheld.

I think though, my place would have been found in the small states of renaissance Italy and the mediterranean. If only the world were as decentralized as the 'dark ages'. /sigh

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## nate895

> Wouldn't that depend (at least a little bit) on who is controlling the peasants?
> 
> I think I understand what you're saying, but if I had to make a choice I think I would rather live in Athens during the Golden Age of Athenian democracy than as a peasant in the dark ages of Europe under a really sadistic monarch.  
> 
> Of course, those are exceptions in the extremes!


The whole "dark age" thing is rather mythical. It never really happened. The term was developed by the first art historians in the 18th century, who all agreed that Byzantine and Medieval art wasn't worthy of the name because it wasn't realistic enough for them. Since that time, the myth expanded to include pretty much every area of life. Really, the amount of sadistic lords was incredibly small, and whenever a sadistic one would show up, the other lords would make sure he was eliminated. That's one reason why we have the _Magna Carta_, because the English barons resisted King John's tyranny. I am not saying it was a perfect life, but the vast majority of peasants were happy and relatively free, and would never travel beyond a few miles from their home even if they were free to do so.

The one thing that really brought down the Middle Ages was that absolutely everything was hereditary (except the clergy and monastic order). If your father was a peasant farmer, you would be unless you were lucky and somehow got the favor of the local lord or into a monastic/clerical order. All of the innovations of the time came out of the Church for this reason, and there were a lot of them, particularly in the philosophical realm. It saddens me to say this, but you could discuss philosophy on better terms with the average 12th century English blacksmith than with a 21st century executive at a Fortune 500 company.

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## nate895

> The 'dark ages' weren't that dark, and the people in those times were actually much more freer than those in ancient Greece. I would rather have lived under Monarchical British rule (1300-1600s) than live in this trash heap of tyranny (Don't get me wrong, that time was also tyrannous). The Monarch at least, actually abided by the charters of liberty (Magna Carta), and common law was upheld.
> 
> I think though, my place would have been found in the small states of renaissance Italy and the mediterranean. If only the world were as decentralized as the 'dark ages'. /sigh


I'd much rather live in Medieval-Renaissance/Reformation Germany or Switzerland. Italy, while they had more local control than we do in this supposed Federal system, was still under the heavy influence of the Papacy. The Pope had a great deal of power in Italy. In Germany and Switzerland, on the other hand, the Pope had only some control over the Church, and even then it wasn't enough to stop the spread of the Reformation in any event.

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## KCIndy

> The whole "dark age" thing is rather mythical. It never really happened. The term was developed by the first art historians in the 18th century, who all agreed that Byzantine and Medieval art wasn't worthy of the name because it wasn't realistic enough for them. Since that time, the myth expanded to include pretty much every area of life. Really, the amount of sadistic lords was incredibly small, and whenever a sadistic one would show up, the other lords would make sure he was eliminated.



Yeah, I'm showing my age here.  I'm enough of a history buff that I realized after posting that "Dark Ages" is really a misnomer, albeit one that was still being drilled into us in the history books when I was a kid.  

That being said, I would still rather live in Athens in, say, 450 BC than in a little hut along the Rhine in 450 AD.  Better climate, if nothing else!

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## Wesley123

Those all seem like good books, but I want something really very incendiary. Something that will strike at their core, or at least make my teacher uncomfortable.

I would read some of Ayn Rand's nonfiction, but I don't want people to think I'm a flaming atheist, because I'm not. Besides, I already did an Atlas Shrugged presentation last year.

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## nate895

> Those all seem like good books, but I want something really very incendiary. Something that will strike at their core, or at least make my teacher uncomfortable.
> 
> I would read some of Ayn Rand's nonfiction, but I don't want people to think I'm a flaming atheist, because I'm not. Besides, I already did an Atlas Shrugged presentation last year.


Something like Ayn Rand's novels would go against the spirit of the assignment. It is saying that you should pick up a book that takes a position and advocates for it in a non-fiction sort of way. If you want something "incendiary...that will strike at their core," then you have to go with something that is familiar issue to most people and that will divide. If that's what you wanted to go for, I'd say to attack the public school itself, but not in "I just have teenage angst"-sort of way.

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## Wesley123

Then what are some good anti-school books?

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## Nate-ForLiberty

Lies the Government Told You - Judge Napolitano


i.e. anti-government





> Lie #1: "All Men Are Created Equal" 1
> Lie #2: "All Men ... Are Endowed by Their Creator with Certain Inalienable Rights" 19
> Lie #3: "Judges Are Like Umpires" 35
> Lie #4: "Every Vote Counts" 55
> Lie #5: "Congress Shall Make No Law ... Abridging the Freedom of Speech" 77
> Lie #6: "The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms Shall Not Be Infringed" 94
> Lie #7: "Your Body Is Your Temple" 120
> Lie #8: "The Federal Reserve Shall Be Controlled by Congress" 136
> Lie #9: "It's Only a Temporary Government Program" 162
> ...


http://www.amazon.com/Lies-Governmen.../dp/1595552669

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## nate895

> Then what are some good anti-school books?


What point-of-view do you want to take? I would direct you to John Taylor Gatto's site (he has written books on the subject, which are available on the site) for a secular point-of-view. I could also recommend some stuff from a Christian point-of-view if that's the tack you want to take. The Christian stuff includes a lot of the same points as Gatto, and is additionally incendiary.

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## Austrian Econ Disciple

I think John Holt is better than Gatto. Holt has some magnificent stuff, that is apolitical in nature. He is the founder of the unschooling movement. Now there is something incendiary  

Do your paper on unschooling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unschooling

*Oddly enough it says Julian Assange is an un-schooler....Hmmm will have to check that out

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## BuddyRey

> Those all seem like good books, but I want something really very incendiary. Something that will strike at their core, or at least make my teacher uncomfortable.
> 
> I would read some of Ayn Rand's nonfiction, but I don't want people to think I'm a flaming atheist, because I'm not. Besides, I already did an Atlas Shrugged presentation last year.


If it's _incendiary_ you want, I think you should check out _No Treason_ by Lysander Spooner.

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## Wesley123

Thanks for the suggestions, I haven't decided which book to read yet, but these have helped.

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