HUMAN EVENTS asked a panel of 15 conservative scholars and public policy leaders to help us compile a list of the Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries. Each panelist nominated a number of titles and then voted on a ballot including all books nominated. A title received a score of 10 points for being listed No. 1 by one of our panelists, 9 points for being listed No. 2, etc. Appropriately, The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, earned the highest aggregate score and the No. 1 listing.
“Forget the war between the sexes. If being equal means we have fight and have the 50% chance of divorce for every marriage we have, forget it. Let's respect each other for what we are and try to get along with more respect. "Equality" might be an illusory goal, since we've each got different equipment, inside and out, but respect and compassion are eternal.” — Barack Obama
The Population Bomb and Silent Spring should have been higher IMO.
“Forget the war between the sexes. If being equal means we have fight and have the 50% chance of divorce for every marriage we have, forget it. Let's respect each other for what we are and try to get along with more respect. "Equality" might be an illusory goal, since we've each got different equipment, inside and out, but respect and compassion are eternal.” — Barack Obama
"HUMAN EVENTS asked a panel of 15 conservative scholars and public policy leaders to [...]"
Well there's certainly no way such a panel might end up with a list that's biased in any specific direction.
"The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened
than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults."
- Alexis de Tocqueville
It doesn't matter if you're biased if you're biased in the right direction.
“Forget the war between the sexes. If being equal means we have fight and have the 50% chance of divorce for every marriage we have, forget it. Let's respect each other for what we are and try to get along with more respect. "Equality" might be an illusory goal, since we've each got different equipment, inside and out, but respect and compassion are eternal.” — Barack Obama
I was looking forward to what could be an interesting discussion, but they put Origin of Species on the honorable mentions list. That completely destroys this panel's credibility with me. Okay, trying to overlook it...
Juergen, why do you consider Silent Spring so harmful? I think you are mistaken. When Carson first wrote that book they called her a "hysterical woman." Present-day criticisms are not really about malaria, but about capitalists trying to make more money at any cost. DDT has never been banned as an anti-malaria agent. Poisons in general should be used as little as possible because of their harmful effects on us, wildlife and the environment. Like with antibiotics, insects become adapted to poisons. We are lucky that Carson wrote this book. Her critics are not telling the truth. Wikipedia
Quote:
Carson
No responsible person contends that insect-borne disease should be ignored. The question that has now urgently presented itself is whether it is either wise or responsible to attack the problem by methods that are rapidly making it worse. The world has heard much of the triumphant war against disease through the control of insect vectors of infection, but it has heard little of the other side of the story—the defeats, the short-lived triumphs that now strongly support the alarming view that the insect enemy has been made actually stronger by our efforts. Even worse, we may have destroyed our very means of fighting. ... What is the measure of this setback? The list of resistant species now includes practically all of the insect groups of medical importance. ... Malaria programmes are threatened by resistance among mosquitoes. ... Practical advice should be 'Spray as little as you possibly can' rather than 'Spray to the limit of your capacity' ..., Pressure on the pest population should always be as slight as possible.
And you know what else? We are lucky that Darwin wrote Origin of Species too, or else we might not have the opportunity to understand why insects and bacteria become resistant to poisons. Wingnuts like the judges on this panel, love money and hate humanity.
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He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
DANG! When I first read the thread title, I excitedly clicked it open to see if my pick, Atlas Shrugged, would be number one ... but, alas, it isn't an unbiased list.
"I was looking forward to what could be an interesting discussion, but they put Origin of Species on the honorable mentions list. That completely destroys this panel's credibility with me." -myce
I totally agree, myce. The title of the list should have been "The Top Ten Books Religious Conservatives Hate The Most". That would have been a little more accurate and honest.
I like how they qualified it by saying "of the 19th and 20th centuries" to avoid having to put the Bible on the list.
"The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened
than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults."
- Alexis de Tocqueville
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"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
It's a no-brainer. They turned greed and selfishness into a virtue, essentially dialing back evolution millions of years, dismissing social structure in favor of turning us into a bunch of apes battling over bananas -- or 3 year olds fighting over a piece of candy. Of course the strongest ape gets the bananas -- and in our case, the strongest ape is the mega-billion dollar multinational corporation. So you've got some poor little brainwashed ditto-head out there going "I'll just open up a variety store, and compete with Wal Mart! It's all just fair and honest self-interest; I have just as good a shot as Wal Mart!"
I like how they qualified it by saying "of the 19th and 20th centuries" to avoid having to put the Bible on the list.
Yeah that omission was pretty conspicuous. It excludes the Witches Hammer too which would have been on the top ten, probably just below Hitler or Mao's book.
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He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
Conservatives know that if we had just burned these "harmful books" when we had the chance the world would be a better place. Now if they could just make sure that only "non-harmful" ideas were posted on the Internet...
Sadly Paleo they've managed to turn the Ayn Rand myth into the underlying ideology that can't be challenged. To challenge it would be anti-american.
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"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
Someone once told me there was a book that instructed corporate execs on their current practice of paying unskilled laborers low wages and having them turn over instead of investing in their training and giving them raises. Does anyone know what I am talking about?
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He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
Malleus Maleficarum. It was kind of a witch hunters' work of apologetics from the 15th (?) century.
“Forget the war between the sexes. If being equal means we have fight and have the 50% chance of divorce for every marriage we have, forget it. Let's respect each other for what we are and try to get along with more respect. "Equality" might be an illusory goal, since we've each got different equipment, inside and out, but respect and compassion are eternal.” — Barack Obama
myce Wrote:
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> I was looking forward to what could be an
> interesting discussion, but they put Origin of
> Species on the honorable mentions list. That
> completely destroys this panel's credibility with
> me. Okay, trying to overlook it...
Well, this is a 'Most Harmful' list, and the Origin of Species has caused a lot of harm, especially in the days of Social Darwinism.
> Juergen, why do you consider Silent Spring so
> harmful? I think you are mistaken. When Carson
> first wrote that book they called her a
> "hysterical woman." Present-day criticisms are
> not really about malaria, but about capitalists
> trying to make more money at any cost. DDT has
> never been banned as an anti-malaria agent.
> Poisons in general should be used as little as
> possible because of their harmful effects on us,
> wildlife and the environment. Like with
> antibiotics, insects become adapted to poisons.
> We are lucky that Carson wrote this book. Her
> critics are not telling the truth. [...]
Myce, what makes you think it's about capitalists trying to make money? Generally capitalists are happy to have more effective products out of the question because then people have to buy more of the less effective product.
Also, no one ever said there was a ban on using DDT as an anti-malaria agent. The fact still remains, though, that DDT could have saved millions of lives but hasn't because of fears surrounding it. In most of the poorer parts of the world it's almost impossible to get international aid for DDT because of the environmentalists hysteria surrounding it, despite the fact that DDT is really the only sensible solution available.
“Forget the war between the sexes. If being equal means we have fight and have the 50% chance of divorce for every marriage we have, forget it. Let's respect each other for what we are and try to get along with more respect. "Equality" might be an illusory goal, since we've each got different equipment, inside and out, but respect and compassion are eternal.” — Barack Obama
Well, this is a 'Most Harmful' list, and the Origin of Species has caused a lot of harm, especially in the days of Social Darwinism.
Social Darwinism is so far removed from the Darwins theory of evolution it's laughable. In fact the idea of so called "Social Darwinism" predates the Origin of the species. Obviously this mob didn't do they're research.
Something based in Darwinism predates Darwinism. Nice one, FF.
“Forget the war between the sexes. If being equal means we have fight and have the 50% chance of divorce for every marriage we have, forget it. Let's respect each other for what we are and try to get along with more respect. "Equality" might be an illusory goal, since we've each got different equipment, inside and out, but respect and compassion are eternal.” — Barack Obama
Juerg you have a point, that some of these authors, never intended for their works to be used the way they were. If what you are saying about DDT is true, then it is a double-edged sword like chemotherapy for malaria. Carson was right that poisons are bad for wildlife, the environment, and us. Remember that back then, it wasn't common knowledge. Judging from Carsons quote above, I doubt she ever intended for its utility for disease-control to be abandoned.
When I said that it was money-grubbing capitalists criticizing Silent spring, I took it from the Wikipedia article where it says, "Industry and agribusiness advocates continue to criticize Silent Spring" and "In the 2000s, Carson and Silent Spring have come under increasing attack from authors who argue that restrictions placed on DDT have caused needless death, and more generally that environmental regulation unnecessarily restricts economic freedom."
Call me cynical, but I think they are more concerned with the bottom line than with malaria. DDT is nasty stuff and I hope you will consider its effects on wildlife and human biology before you call opposition to its use "hysteria."
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He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
Paleo the Witches Hammer or Malleus Maleficarum was basically a manual for witch hunters to identify and persecute witches. The history is subject to some debate, but in a nutshell it was a book full of misogyny and superstition that led to the deaths of thousands of women.
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He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
