this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2025
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What is the book that changed your views? (lemmy.world)
submitted 6 days 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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[–] banazir@lemmy.ml 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

It's a funny thing, I was never politically aligned with Rand to begin with, but I really enjoyed Atlas Shrugged as a science fiction book. The dystopia led by incompetent and ideologically empty boobs was an interesting take. From the way Rand portrayed her characters and presented the ideas of her opponents made me think she might have been autistic. Her politics made me think she was insane. It's a fun book.

[–] dogslayeggs@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I thought it was a terrible book, even regardless of her wild-ass philosophy. Her characters were flat, and their dialogue was not remotely realistic. The book was overly long and said the same thing a thousand different ways to hammer home her point. I similarly didn't enjoy Catch 22, since he made the same joke over and over again (kind of the point, I know, but I just didn't enjoy the repetition). I did enjoy Fountainhead, though. I thought it was a much better book.

[–] banazir@lemmy.ml 2 points 6 days ago

Hey, I don't even disagree with that criticism. And maybe I'll check out The Fountainhead later.