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?
Grapes of Wrath. Until I read that I never thought of the human side and impact of the industrial revolution. Eye opening.
Interesting, my experience was that it was more a critique of capitalism than about industrialization itself …
It was both. Industrialization cuts out a lot of need for human workers. Capitalism cuts out the needs of humans in the drive for profit.
sure, of course - I just meant my memory of the book wasn’t that it emphasized industrialization in particular - I remember the evils of poverty, and of company towns, and so on … automation wasn’t a theme I particularly remember from the book, even if it is certainly related. That said, I read the book decades ago, lol
Reading East of Eden right now and need to get to Grapes soon.