A Man May Never Have Too Many Books

A writer quickly moves from one project to another, and I have one suited for these troubled times.

I am fascinated, and long have been, by the dynamics of revolution, ever since first tasting the heady brews of Pareto and de Tocqueville. A while back, I wrote an essay, which some of you may have read on my now-defunct Essays page, called “The Right of Revolution,” comparing justifications for revolt as understood by The Bible, The Declaration of Independence, The Communist Manifesto, and Aristotle. It’s not a bad essay, but it needs fleshing out.

So my new goal is to turn this slim essay into a proper book, which will of course necessitate some more reading:

Two Treatises on Government by Locke
Leviathan by Hobbes
As much of Das Kapital as I can stand
The Ancien Regime and the French Revolution by de Tocqueville
Anything by Pareto I can get. (there doesn’t seem to be a Kindle edition of his political writings. Opportunity knocks!)

I am the sort of nerd who delights in such things. I think some “Happy Birthday to Me” presents are in order.

By the way, there’s a books already out!