what are some of the best books concerning politics and phyisology
Posted on 9th of March, 2019

Answers

I can see that this is going to be a hard question to answer and not just because of the misspelling! Politics is already an extremely divisive subject, but you didn't mention the country where you are from or what you are interested in, which can make a colossal difference. I know Americans like to think that their political system is the only one in the world that actually matters, but anyone who steps outside of their political bubble and take a look at the world around them are in for a rude awakening. There are so many countries with such different political systems that you could literally spend your entire life trying to study and understand them. Anyway, I'm going to try and restrain myself from writing a lot of paragraphs about the subject here because it is a topic that I can talk about forever. I'm also only going to recommend a single book to you, but despite its age, it is the one and only book that you really need to read to understand people and politics. If you have ever heard the phrase absolute power corrupts absolutely, then you will already be familiar with the author. The book is called The Prince and it was written by an Italian philosopher called Machiavelli.
I'll be the first to admit that I'm a bit confused by what you mean with "phyisology." If you meant physiology, then I would still be confused as I thought this had more to do with biology. I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that you meant politics and psychology, so forgive me if I am wrong and hopefully someone else would be able to render better assistance. Regardless of what you meant, I think that The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt is an important book to read. The author actually spent close to thirty years researching moral psychology and his findings are absolutely fascinating. Contrary to what many people may think, he discovered that it is gut feelings and not reason that tend to determine how people make their moral judgments. It doesn't matter if you are a conservative, liberal, or libertarian, this book can help you to understand the other side a bit better. What I like most about it, is that it is not as preachy as other political books and actually offers some genuinely good insights.

Another great book is one by Jessamyn Conrad called What You Should Know About Politics, But Don't: A Nonpartisan Guide To The Issues That Matter. It's one hell of a long title, but delve into it and you will find a well written and well presented look at a very complicated subject. Once again, it doesn't matter what your political stance is, whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, or even somewhere in the middle like most Americans. The book has a wealth of topics and you can either work your way through everything or just brush up on the ones that you are unfamiliar with. I know it helped me a lot to understand why so many people are at each others throats over climate change and immigration. The book is obviously based on American politics, but it really cuts through the clutter. Hope you enjoy my recommendations and that I managed to help you correctly with your question!
Have you ever noticed how heated and emotional people become when discussing politics on social media? How any disagreement or opposition quickly turns into arguing and fighting instead of a useful exchange? Well, to understand why this is happening and why people are this way, I suggest reading a book from Sara Ahmed titled "The Cultural Politics of Emotion." It's not a new book by any stretch of the imagination, but it is still as relevant today as when it was written almost twenty years ago. I'm sure that everyone who follows politics will also remember Condoleezza Rice, well she has written a book called Democracy: Stories From The Long Road To Freedom and it is really good. Because she was in the unique position of being secretary of state, she is able to give an insiders view of what a struggle democracy can be. It obviously focuses a lot on America, but a lot of the things said in the book can be applied to the rest of the world as well.
Seeing as how it is impossible to get unbiased and informed information about politics online anymore, I can totally understand why someone would want to turn to books to educate themselves. Having said that, I do have some bad news for you. Politics is such a shifting, changing thing that if you go further back than say a year or two, then the books are probably not going to help you understand what's going on as much as you might think. They can still give you some insights into the core elements, but you are almost assuredly going to encounter some outdated elements. Other people have already mentioned it too, but your geographical location is also going to determine your understanding of politics. Even countries with the same political beliefs are not going to totally agree with each other about certain things and then there are those countries who claim to belong to a certain political movement, but in reality practice something completely different. I don't want to be completely unhelpful, so these are the books that I have personally read and think can offer you some broad insights about important political topics:

Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine Albright - Madeleine Albright is the first woman to ever serve as U.S. secretary of state, so she isn't just someone who studied history, but also had an active role in shaping it. She was born in Czechoslovakia just before the second World War and in her lifetime she not only had to flee from Hitler, but also from Stalin at the start of the Cold War. She lost loved ones in the Holocaust, so we are talking her about a woman who has personal experiences with the horrors that politics can cause. This is not her first book, but it deals with fascism, which is a topic I see cropping up more and more in political discussions. Albright does a great job explaining what fascism really is, how it got started and also what the warning signs are for the rise of it in our current political climate. I feel like the word is lately being used by everyone to simply describe anyone who disagrees with their political views, which is a dangerous precedent.

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