Best Book (not authored by Ron Paul) to Convert Someone Away from Big Government?

[gb13]

Pretty straightforward question...

if you had to pick ONE book to give to someone in the hopes that if they read it, will severely challenge their faith in big-government, what would it be?

I really want to covert my friend to our camp. He doesn't like Obama, and he's not a Democrat, but has a very unfavorable view of "Republicans", and seems to sway more to the democrats overall. He has far too much faith in government. He rightly blames corporatism for a lot of our problems (still calls it "capitalism" though), but he can't seem to grasp the fact that big-government facilitates the problem. He has said to me that the reason we're in such a mess is because the government is too weak, and the constitution limited the government TOO MUCH for it to be able to keep corporate interests from infiltrating the State. I'm chipping away at these inconsistent beliefs, started talking monetary policy, and he's receptive to our ideas, but he's still grasping at his long-held beliefs and is having a hard time letting so.

I'm really close to getting him to see eye-to-eye with me, but I need some literary help.

I'm already known to him as a "Ron Paul guy", so I'd prefer something not authored by the good doctor.

Thanks.

 

[Nate-ForLiberty]

why don't you send him to some Tom Woods lectures/speeches? Might be more effective than a book.

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

Something by the Judge

 

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

Give him two books.

The Law by Frederic Bastiat and Triumph of Conservatism by Gabriel Kolko. It'll demolish his arguments and his worldview, and he won't have much of a response especially if he tries to attack the sources considering one was about as radically liberal as you can get, and the other was a very important New Leftist Progressive intellectual.

 

[emazur]

I also like The Law. Another good one is Mary Ruwart's Healing Our World, which you can get free and legit in audio or e-book here:
http://freekeene.com/2010/10/06/world-exclusive-healing-our-world-audiobook/

 

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

Well the reason why I suggested Kolko's work is because the OP's friend seems to think that regulation hurts or at least impedes Big-Businesses, when in fact it is the opposite, and the Corporations are usually, and almost always the authors and lobbyists for the regulation to curtail competition and stabilize their shares of the market. So, by him wanting a Government which is omnipresent, he serves the agenda of Big-Business and the Corporations. What they certainly do not want is laissez-faire and a Government that has no power.

 

[MJU1983]

Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History

Rollback: Repealing Big Government Before the Coming Fiscal Collapse

Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century

33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask

The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History

 

[kah13176]

The Law is ok, but it's not comprehensive enough, IMO.

Rothbard's For a New Liberty includes philosophy (like The Law) but also historical facts and statistics, and is adapted to modern context. I can hook you up with an audiobook for it too.


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Milton Friedman's "Capitalism and Freedom" is good too. He has some credibility (Nobel Laureate). Furthermore, this one is much shorter than For a New Liberty. At the end, if he likes it, you can tell him that Friedman endorsed Ron Paul back in the day.


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Economics in One lesson by Henry Hazlitt is pretty good too. I'm in the middle of reading it, so I can't give an honest, comprehensive assessment, but only give him this if you know he understands how banks and lending works, basic supply/demand, inflation, the basic Keynesian argument, etc.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

A Nation of Sheep - Andrew Napolitano

the book lays out a strong preface and historical accounts of how the U.S. became what it is today and how unconstitutional the current government is.

 

[Sola_Fide]

Ron Paul's former chief of staff:

 

[ClayTrainor]

It sounds like the fundamental disagreement you're having is with regards to basic economics. If you want to give him a book that explains the very basics of economics clearly and concisely, I suggest the following...

I bought and read Peter and Andrew Schiffs Book "How an Economy Grows and Why it Crashes" on my recent vacation, and I feel so dam confident about how economies work now.

The book is extremely light reading, almost like a comic book with a humerous story that satirizes bad economic ideas and reinforces very principled points about how economies work. I can't overstate how enjoyable and easy this book was to read. I'm a much bigger fan of Schiff now, having read this little masterpiece.

It's like "Economics in One Lesson" by Henry Hazlitt translated into a humerous little story.

 

[TrentEmberson]

I wouldn't use any non-fiction at the outset of a libertarian conversion. How about a story that leads the reader into despising the state rather than a manifesto of why the writer despises the state?

For me anyway, I knew I hated Javert (or Big Brother, or Jack from Lord of the Flies, or Sauron, or Voldemort) long before I knew, or even cared, what a libertarian was. But it was stories like those that instilled libertarianism in my head before I even knew what it was, so by the time I heard my first Ron Paul speech, the entire philosophy came into focus all at once. It just clicked, I didn't even have to think about it. I knew right away because I'd been making the same arguments myself (albeit in a much more muddled way.) I really wasn't ready for Mises and Co. until after the light went on in my head. Ron Paul flipped the light switch, but Victor Hugo supplied the electricity.

 

[Ronpauljones]

A Nation of Sheep - Andrew Napolitano

the book lays out a strong preface and historical accounts of how the U.S. became what it is today and how unconstitutional the current government is.

Judge Napolitano. Future Supreme Court Justice.

 

[Bordillo]

Capitalism and Freedom

Milton Friedman

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Judge Napolitano. Future Supreme Court Justice.

I've thought about that but I kind of lean towards having him as a vice president for now.

 

[Rael]

 

[Pennsylvania]

Rothbard's For a New Liberty includes philosophy (like The Law) but also historical facts and statistics, and is adapted to modern context. I can hook you up with an audiobook for it too.

Seconded

 

[Knightskye]

Is this for a progressive or a conservative?

Something by the Judge

This could work for either. Something like his book written during the Bush administration about the government breaking its own laws.

 

[acptulsa]

Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World and George Orwell's Animal Farm come to mind...

 

[crhoades]

The Law by Bastiat. It is very short and can be read in one sitting. Also can be found online for free. If they are willing to read it, then discuss it, then you can slip them a more meaty tome.

Of course I'd like to say, "Man, Economy, and State" by Rothbard but we have to remember most people aren't wonks. Start with the Law...Then I would possibly give them Liberty Defined or Revolution a manifesto to chew on. I know it is by the good Dr. but I don't think it would hurt.