NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=7591

Have any of you seen this? Now I love to read, and to me, this is pretty horrible. By "harmful" it seems the writer simply means controversial. I realize these books may have been "dangerous" and caused quite a stir during their respective time periods, but their descriptions are truly awful, written by some mindless twit trying to push his own propaganda... I mean seriously, "The Nazis loved Nietzsche"?!?! as if that statment will cause an intelligent person to completely disregard the importance and value of Beyond good and Evil This is my other favorite, the "Evil Empire of the Soviet Union put the [Communist] Manifesto into practice." Clearly whoever wrote these descriptions is not well versed in neither history nor literature. How sad. :(

There's no such thing as "dangerous books." The only thing dangerous about them is the people who read them; especially if they happen to be idiots.

A large tome can be pretty dangerous in the hands of a strong person, particularly if they throw at your head. Other than that they are only dangerous above 451 degrees.

Books?! What?! They should all be burned and everything you know should come directly from the state and nothing else.

Ok, in all seriousness, like Melkor said, there are no "dangerous books", all ideas and theories are perfectly valid in their own right...

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=7591

Have any of you seen this? Now I love to read, and to me, this is pretty horrible. By "harmful" it seems the writer simply means controversial. I realize these books may have been "dangerous" and caused quite a stir during their respective time periods, but their descriptions are truly awful, written by some mindless twit trying to push his own propaganda... I mean seriously, "The Nazis loved Nietzsche"?!?! as if that statment will cause an intelligent person to completely disregard the importance and value of Beyond good and Evil This is my other favorite, the "Evil Empire of the Soviet Union put the [Communist] Manifesto into practice." Clearly whoever wrote these descriptions is not well versed in neither history nor literature. How sad. :(
This was posted a few weeks ago ... stupid now as it was then (their selection that is)

Books themselves aren't dangerous, but some books contain ideologies that could be/are detrimental to society at large. Those books are fine until some idiot tries to implement said ideologies.

i didn't realize this was already posted. I'm new to the forum and i read this article only 2 days ago.

The author of that list is a fucktard.

I"m going to guess he's never actually read any of those books.

Beyond Freedom and Dignity should be on that list! If I had a penny for everytime I tried and failed to use it to get me out of prison, I would be rich.

Books?! What?! They should all be burned and everything you know should come directly from the state and nothing else.

Ok, in all seriousness, like Melkor said, there are no "dangerous books", all ideas and theories are perfectly valid in their own right...
The STATE!?!?!?! What are you, some kind of pinko commie scumbag? All of our information should come from private sector corporations, like Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp.

Books themselves aren't dangerous, but some books contain ideologies that could be/are detrimental to society at large. Those books are fine until some idiot tries to implement said ideologies.

could you be more specific? I think all those books have been referred to and used throughout cultures. I agree that there aren't any dangerous books, unless their ideas are used to bring people down (Bible anyone???) The bible however, isn't an inherently bad book, its just used to justify horribel things sometimes.

Is this one.

http://www.churchofsatan.com/Graphics/Necronomicon/Simon.jpg

...if you're using it right.

An oft-scribbled bit of college-campus graffiti says: “‘God is dead’--Nietzsche” followed by “‘Nietzsche is dead’--God.”


I wish we had intellectually humorous graffiti like that on my campus.



Origin of the Species
by Charles Darwin
Score: 17


Having this book on there really undermines the whole article and all of the judges that voted for it.

The STATE!?!?!?! What are you, some kind of pinko commie scumbag? All of our information should come from private sector corporations, like Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp.


ahhhhh...my mistake!!! I apologize, my comra...er....friend. ;)

Again I submit the Quran and the Bible to that list … the amount of lives taken in their name is staggering

I think we need to advertise this list as much as possible. Even if you don't agree w/ the books' theories, all "lists" like this will do is increase circulation of them.

Kind of like D&D in the 80's after the satanism scare.

I wonder if the creators of the list realize that.

could you be more specific?
No. Because if I get more specific, someone will probably call it "flaming".

Again I submit the Quran and the Bible to that list … the amount of lives taken in their name is staggering

But aren't you talking about actions taken upon reading it, and not necessarily the books themselves? I know plenty of Christians and Muslims who read the books of their respective faiths and who haven't taken a life at all. It kind of illustrates the point that it's the idiots who are dangerous, not the books.

No. Because if I get more specific, someone will probably call it "flaming".
Uh not unless you start insulting someone

But aren't you talking about actions taken upon reading it, and not necessarily the books themselves? I know plenty of Christians and Muslims who read the books of their respective faiths and who haven't taken a life at all. It kind of illustrates the point that it's the idiots who are dangerous, not the books.
That could be said about ANY of these books (which is why I don’t think there should be such a list)

Uh not unless you start insulting someone
Apparently, nearly everything I say is insulting to someone.

Apparently, nearly everything I say is insulting to someone.

So what you're saying is that people here are overly sensative?

I'm insulted by that.

That could be said about ANY of these books (which is why I don’t think there should be such a list)

Exactly, that's my point. The Bible and Quran are no more dangerous than any of the other books written by mankind since the first one. The list is pointless.

Exactly, that's my point. The Bible and Quran are no more dangerous than any of the other books written by mankind since the first one. The list is pointless.
I agree … but I was essentially saying “if there has to be a list for harm caused by a book (in its name or implementation of an idea it contained) I would put them fairly high on that list

So what you're saying is that people here are overly sensative?

I'm insulted by that.
:p

Meh!

If you hear a book being declared dangerous and or censored, rush out, get it, and find out what they don't want you to know.

Erm, please note that it openly admits that this was a list selected by a group of conservatives. I actually find the list interesting, as it shows what a small group of conservatives finds threatening.

Pity they didn't find more groups to do this, so we could try to pick out a trend...

I think we need to advertise this list as much as possible. Even if you don't agree w/ the books' theories, all "lists" like this will do is increase circulation of them.

Kind of like D&D in the 80's after the satanism scare.

I wonder if the creators of the list realize that.
It's kinda like the Vatican's banned book list.

I would like nothing more than to go through and read each of those books just to spite them.

It's kinda like the Vatican's banned book list.

I would like nothing more than to go through and read each of those books just to spite them.
Defiantly makes me want to buy those books

That entire list -- not to mention the idea behind the list -- is absurd

But this says it all about the stupidity of that panel of conservatives:
On Liberty
by John Stuart Mill
Score: 18

What a bunch of un-American, anti-freedom, anti-intellectual nimrods.

It's kinda like the Vatican's banned book list.

I would like nothing more than to go through and read each of those books just to spite them.

Ewww is that on a site somewhere. I am interested!

Again I submit the Quran and the Bible to that list … the amount of lives taken in their name is staggering

...probably almost half as many as the number of souls saved...

It's kinda like the Vatican's banned book list.

I would like nothing more than to go through and read each of those books just to spite them.
Oh and speeking of which this may be intresting

http://withchrist.org/archives.htm

I guess the bible was on that banned books list form the Vatican too :) :p

...probably almost half as many as the number of souls saved...
The problem is we can prove death based on it … the soul part is just conjecture

I agree … but I was essentially saying “if there has to be a list for harm caused by a book (in its name or implementation of an idea it contained) I would put them fairly high on that list


Oh, well in that case sure...that's referring to the people who acted stupidly according to the books. But the panel put them on the list because of their existence more or less, which is stupid...but in your context it works.

...probably almost half as many as the number of souls saved...
I don't mean to hijack, but your statement strikes me as rather odd. Where do you get your estimate from? We can count the corpses, but nobody's been able to count souls yet. There's no evidence that there is such a thing.

I don't mean to hijack, but your statement strikes me as rather odd. Where do you get your estimate from? We can count the corpses, but nobody's been able to count souls yet. There's no evidence that there is such a thing.

Come on, man, can't you just let me be a troll? It's so much fun!

hehe

I can't believe Rachel Carsons Silent Spring, a book about the environmental danger of pesticides, gets a honorable mention. :rolleyes:

I can't believe Rachel Carsons Silent Spring, a book about the environmental danger of pesticides, gets a honorable mention. :rolleyes:

Hey, I'm worried that a panel of 'conservatives' listen On Liberty by John Stuart Mill as an honorable mention. If thoughts on liberty and the freedom of man, the same thoughts that influenced the founders of our country and ultimately what conservatives profess, are now dangerous...um...yeah, that's a pretty big cause for concern.

Come on, man, can't you just let me be a troll? It's so much fun!

hehe
Sorry. Troll away.

I can't believe Rachel Carsons Silent Spring, a book about the environmental danger of pesticides, gets a honorable mention. :rolleyes:

...it probably led to kids experimenting with pesticides and dying as a result.

Books themselves aren't dangerous, but some books contain ideologies that could be/are detrimental to society at large. Those books are fine until some idiot tries to implement said ideologies.

It's way better to have an idea on something than a belief. In have a belief on something, a person would become more destructive and thus, be more likely to carry out almost any impulsury signal to their belief. It's kind of sad. So, it's better for someone to have ideas about something than a belief in that fact. Though, still, in having an idea, someone is more like to descriminate against other views and be closed minded about anything that might prove that idea wrong, thus, be more likely to carry out an action. Bottom line, don't let crazy closed minded people read certain books.

I have developed a rail gun that can propel volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary to a velocity of 1026 meters per second.. Making these books the most dangerous in the arsenal. Even capable of penetrating concrete.... The others aren't as dangerous, as they tend to flip open, which is not suffered by the Oxford (likely from the fact few are opened, and thus maintain a relative "new" feel over extended periods).

...it probably led to kids experimenting with pesticides and dying as a result.
Sure did, as evidenced by the lyrics to this Ramones song.

www.plyrics.com/lyrics/ramones/carbonanotglue.html

Ran out of Carbona Mom threw out the glue
Ran out of paint and roach spray too

Didn't we have a thread about the soul-crushing goodness of that list a few weeks ago? I seem to recall my faith in humanity being shattered.

Erm, please note that it openly admits that this was a list selected by a group of conservatives. I actually find the list interesting, as it shows what a small group of conservatives finds threatening.

Pity they didn't find more groups to do this, so we could try to pick out a trend...
I agree, in the opposite sense. But since we already know that most liberals would put the Bible (amongst most other religious texts) in their lists, we can already extrapolate findings from that data.

It's kind of like that "Buy Blue" site (or whatever the name is). All that does is give conservatives a list of compaines to watch/boycott. *thumbs up*

Didn't we have a thread about the soul-crushing goodness of that list a few weeks ago? I seem to recall my faith in humanity being shattered.
Yes we did

if you are a complete mindless retard who happens to be influenced by any writen or spoken words the all books might be dangerous.
however classifing books as dangerous for the rest of (those with an IQ out of the single digets) there is no such thing as a "harmfull" unless the pages have anthrax on them or somthing of that nature :headbang:

I agree, in the opposite sense. But since we already know that most liberals would put the Bible (amongst most other religious texts) in their lists, we can already extrapolate findings from that data.

It's kind of like that "Buy Blue" site (or whatever the name is). All that does is give conservatives a list of compaines to watch/boycott. *thumbs up*
And gives us a shopping list of books to buy when on sale just for interest value*thumbs up*

I can only hope that my bood Rendered Impotent: A wake up call for the American Male will make this list someday :p

first:

God Is Dead - Nietzsche
Nietzsche Is Dead - God
Dead People Ain't Talkin' - Django

second:
it's a shame that ANYONE in our western society creates such a list..
why should these books be harmfull.. bah...
it should be possible for everyone to inform him/herself ybout communism or mein kampf...
PLUS why should the goddammed sovjet union be EVIL???

third:
i wonder why they didn't list up orwells 1984...

fourth:
they didn't list up the bible because of 2 reasons
1: they are conservative
2: it's about books that were created in the 19th and 20th century...


cya
teh fron

PLUS why should the goddammed sovjet union be EVIL???


I don't know why they were evil, but they were. For example, they created hot strains of smallpox as strategic bioweapons as well as antibiotic resistant pestis for the same purpose. They even created a refrigerated ICBM warhead to effectively deliver these weapons. Use of these weapons would almost guarantee the extinction of the human race. I'd call that pretty evil.

I also feel like these books (chose by conservatives) may have been picked under the guise of "list controversial books", or something to that effect. since i would like to believe that some of the judges are more open minded/ intelligent than the write. I just think that whoever wrote the article, twisted and turned everything. I can't imagine a professor from northwestern University saying "The Nazi's love Nietzsche"

I wrote the editor about who wrote what... we'll see if i get a response

I don't know why they were evil, but they were. For example, they created hot strains of smallpox as strategic bioweapons as well as antibiotic resistant pestis for the same purpose. They even created a refrigerated ICBM warhead to effectively deliver these weapons. Use of these weapons would almost guarantee the extinction of the human race. I'd call that pretty evil.

who dropped the atomic bombs again?

third:
i wonder why they didn't list up orwells 1984...
Because we conservatives (NOT neocons) realize the somewhat prophetic quality of warnings given in 1984. The book is a good warning to everyone.

As an aside, this (http://www.orwelltoday.com/) is a very enlightening site...especially in that they don't take sides. They list EVERYthing Orwellian in the news.

who dropped the atomic bombs again?Yeah, we dropped a couple of TACTICAL nuclear weapons. USSR created STRATEGIC bioweapons that could cause humans to go extinct. Also those strains of smallpox and plague are still present in Russia and may be stolen or sold to terrorists. The USA never threatened the existance of the human species.

II can't imagine a professor from northwestern University saying "The Nazi's love Nietzsche"
I read the list and I think the "Nietzsche was a favorite of Hitler" comment was made as an example of what happens when dangerous individuals get hold of ideologies that could be considered dangerous.

Yeah, we dropped a couple of TACTICAL nuclear weapons. USSR created STRATEGIC bioweapons that could cause humans to go extinct. Also those strains of smallpox and plague are still present in Russia and may be stolen or sold to terrorists. The USA never threatened the existance of the human species.
Doesn't the US still have smallpox sitting around?

I read the list and I think the "Nietzsche was a favorite of Hitler" comment was made as an example of what happens when dangerous individuals get hold of ideologies that could be considered dangerous.
Hitler's ideas had nothing to do with Nietzsche.

Having this book on there really undermines the whole article and all of the judges that voted for it.


Considering that Darwin didn't "invent" Evolution, Lemark did, and considering that nobody worth their weight in science textbooks considers Darwinism as a viable theory, I find it hard to stomach. All Origin of Species did was bring about a more structured idea of Evolution than Lemarkian evolution, which is utter crap.

Doesn't the US still have smallpox sitting around?
We sure do, but unlike the Russians, our smallpox isn't genetically modified to kill vaccinated individuals, and we only have small samples in freezers at the CDC for research into vaccines. The Soviets created TONS of modified smallpox as weapons.

Doesn't the US still have smallpox sitting around?
Probably for testing purposes. Most labs (or laboratory supply companies), universities and the CDC keep strains of dangerous virii around for testing purposes and in case a similar strain comes up again in order to help find an antidote more quickly.

Although I don't doubt that the US came up with some pretty deadly mutant strains of Smallpox (amongst other diseases), I think the majority of the stockpiles were destroyed.

Doesn't the US still have smallpox sitting around?

Yep. And, if I remember correctly, one of our specimens "disappeared" a few years back.

Doesn't the US still have smallpox sitting around?
yeah they do

plus: huh? are you [enter name of guy quoting me] trying to tell me that the sovjet were the bad and the americans the good??? hellloooouuu i thought we were above those propaganda waste of time???


doubleplus: do or do the americans not still have a kz???
yeah they do
so pls shut up with that shit and focus on the topic

thx

Hitler's ideas had nothing to do with Nietzsche.
Are you seriously saying that Hitler reading Nietzsche had NO influence on him WHATSOEVER?!? :eek:

/me falls over laughing

Are you seriously saying that Hitler reading Nietzsche had NO influence on him WHATSOEVER?!? :eek:

/me falls over laughing
Yes I am. If you have actually read Nietzsche, you would know.
The only thing that Hitler came close on is that he used the same term, overman, which is used by Nietzsche though it has no racial connotations in Nietzsche's works... Hitler abused the term and now Nietzsche is associated with Hitler's nazis even though his philosophies were totally different.

Yeah, we dropped a couple of TACTICAL nuclear weapons. [clip] The USA never threatened the existance of the human species.

Actually they did - and made it known that they could destroy the world many times over - that was the only way Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) theory could work.

Actually they did - and made it known that they could destroy the world many times over - that was the only way Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) theory could work.
Good point.

I guess you're right, but the idea that just one ICBM loaded with that plague/smallpox cocktail could end all human life just bothers me a little more than the idea of a whole bunch of nuclear warheads.

Yes I am. If you have actually read Nietzsche, you would know.
Oh come ON. That's like saying that Marx had NO effect whatsoever on Stalin, Mao, Castro, etc.

BTW, I have read Nietzsche. You're making the mistake of assuming that people meant that Hitler's ONLY influence was Nietzsche. :rolleyes:

/me walks away shaking head

EDIT: damned typos

Are you seriously saying that Hitler reading Nietzsche had NO influence on him WHATSOEVER?!? :eek:

/me falls over laughing

If you've read Mein Kampf or studied Hitler, you know that the Bible had more influence on him than Nietzsche. :eek:

Oh come ON. That's like saying that Marx had NO effect whatsoever on Stalin, Mao, Castro, etc.

BTW, I have read Nietzsche. You're making the mistake of assuming that people meant that Hitler's ONLY influence was Nietzsche. :rolleyes:

/me walks away shaking head

EDIT: damned typos
And you make the mistake of implying harmful influence (people think that Hitler was the ultimate evil therefore anything that had any sway over him is the ultimate bad as well … not necessarily so) (I don’t know if this is what you intended or if that’s just the way it sounds to me but …)

If you've read Mein Kampf or studied Hitler, you know that the Bible had more influence on him than Nietzsche. :eek:
That's funny, considering that Hitler was an occultist and killed and imprisoned roughly a million more Christians than he did Jews.

If you've read Mein Kampf or studied Hitler, you know that the Bible had more influence on him than Nietzsche. :eek:
Very true … if that makes niche bad I guess by implication the writers of the bible are also bad as well

Defiantly makes me want to buy those books


Maybe thats what they want you to do....

That's funny, considering that Hitler was an occultist and killed and imprisoned roughly a million more Christians than he did Jews.

Don't be asinine. :headbang:

The point is not that Hitler was a good Christian, any more than he was a good follower of Nietzsche. :rolleyes:

Hitler grew up a Christian, believed himself Christian, cited Christian ideas in his philosophy, used Christian rhetoric, and was widely supported by Christian authorities.

He was also a very, very bad Christian. He did dabble in weird cult beliefs. And he did put Christians in concentration camps -- although not merely because they were Christian.

He was as good a follower of Jesus Christ as he was of Nietzsche. Get it?

He did dabble in weird cult beliefs. And he did put Christians in concentration camps -- although not merely because they were Christian.
Wrong.

http://www.nazis.testimony.co.uk/main.htm

Read up. Hopefully it will be enlightening for you.

who dropped the atomic bombs again?

Declared war means all bets are off.....

That's funny, considering that Hitler was an occultist and killed and imprisoned roughly a million more Christians than he did Jews.
Number of Jews killed in the Holocaust: ~6 million
Number of people killed in the Holocaust: ~10 million

10 - 6 = 4

As soon as 4 is 1 more than 6, I'll start listening to you again.

Number of Jews killed in the Holocaust: ~6 million
Number of people killed in the Holocaust: ~10 million

10 - 6 = 4

As soon as 4 is 1 more than 6, I'll start listening to you again.
The last estimates I read, it was between 5.5 and 6.5 million Jews and 6-7 million Christians. You forget that those groups overlap in some places. Not all Jews are traditional Jews. Some were Christian Jews.

Wrong.

http://www.nazis.testimony.co.uk/main.htm

Read up. Hopefully it will be enlightening for you.

*yawn*

Actually, I've seen that site and read through its selective and skewed evidence before.

But did you not understand my point or did you simply choose to ignore it?

(If you want to debate the degree to which Hitler had Christian influences, start a separate thread. There is ample evidence. But saying he wasn't influenced by Christianity at all is too absurd to debate.)

The last estimates I read, it was between 5.5 and 6.5 million Jews and 6-7 million Christians. You forget that those groups overlap in some places. Not all Jews are traditional Jews. Some were Christian Jews.
even the not-really-jews jewish killed because they were jewish. hitler never let litlle fact like their objection for judaism and zionism, to prevent him from kill them.
some of them even didn't know they are jewish.

But did you not understand my point or did you simply choose to ignore it?
I understood your point. I just find it laughable that you consider it a valid point...especially considering that if Hitler was influenced by the Bible, it was only that he read the Bible and then decided to oppress and murder Christians in as least equal numbers as the Jews he oppressed and murdered.

That would be tantamount to me reading Ayn Rand and then deciding to go genocidal on Objectivists.

He did dabble in weird cult beliefs. And he did put Christians in concentration camps -- although not merely because they were Christian.

Actually, a large number of priests (including Father Maximillian Kolbe) were put into the concentration camps just for being Christian. So were Jehovah's Witnesses (a sect I admit I don't care for, but still...).

Polish priests were hounded by the Gestapo. Over 3,000 were killed 2,000 of them perished in concentration camps. Martin Bormann, Hitler's deputy, said, "Polish priests will preach what we want them to preach. If any priest acts differently, we shall make short work of him. The task of the priest is to keep the Poles quiet, stupid and dull-witted."

In addition to the mass murder of 3 million Polish Jews, 3 million Polish Gentiles perished during the Nazi period 1939-1945.

http://muweb.millersville.edu/~holo-con/Rosen-1999.html

...apart from the "not merely because they were Christian" part, I agree w/ you on the rest of the thread.

The real test is how many German or Austrian Christians died vs German or Austrian Jews.

I understood your point. I just find it laughable that you consider it a valid point...especially considering that if Hitler was influenced by the Bible, it was only that he read the Bible and then decided to oppress and murder Christians in as least equal numbers as the Jews he oppressed and murdered.

That would be tantamount to me reading Ayn Rand and then deciding to go genocidal on Objectivists.
how many of those christians he killed wasn't one of those?
1-jewish by race
2-help jewish
3-in his opposition
4- tottaly sick or retired people or psychpaths

I understood your point. I just find it laughable that you consider it a valid point...especially considering that if Hitler was influenced by the Bible, it was only that he read the Bible and then decided to oppress and murder Christians in as least equal numbers as the Jews he oppressed and murdered.

That would be tantamount to me reading Ayn Rand and then deciding to go genocidal on Objectivists.
Which has absolutely no impact on what he was trying to say
You can borrow ideas from a source while still disliking others that follow that source

Even if he DID (and not saying he did) believe this is hardly the first time one group of Christians tried to kill another

People do silly things … such is life

the femmine mystique deserves to be on there.

the femmine mystique deserves to be on there.
Oh why is that?

That would be tantamount to me reading Ayn Rand and then deciding to go genocidal on Objectivists.
No it's not. For starters, who wouldn't go genocidal on Objectivists after reading Rand?

Any religious book is particularly dangerous - for example the Bible and the Qu'ran.

Looks like the guys who voted for these things came from the Victorian era. Looks like one of the books was listed for daring to suggest that women should do anything other than stay at home and cook.

the femmine mystique deserves to be on there.

Have you read it?

Looks like the guys who voted for these things came from the Victorian era. Looks like one of the books was listed for daring to suggest that women should do anything other than stay at home and cook.
Yeah I noticed that … how that managed a mention as a most dangerous book I have no idea

No it's not. For starters, who wouldn't go genocidal on Objectivists after reading Rand?
http://www.dasmusik.net/forums/images/smilies/squint.gif

Amazing list. Those are some of the most enlightening reads. Apparently, this list was compiled by people who think that an opposing view is a dangerous view. Shame that.

Hitler relied on and exposed completely twisted ideas of Neitzsche (among other twisted influences). To say that this is Neitzsche's fault is absurd. The only "Neitzsche" who was doing bad things was his sister, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, who bastardized his works to support her not his nationalism. F. Neitzsche was an opponent of anti-semitism, nationalism, and had no good veiw of german culture in general.

Have you read it?
Guessing no

Have you read it?
Yes. It's the book that destroyed my mother's life.

I refer to her generation as The Lost Generation, because they were raised with one set of values, bet their initial married life on it, were told they were stupid and wrong, threw it all away in the 70s, and then the age of the super soccer mom was upon us in the late 1980s and 1990s, and these aging women suddenly felt guilty for having thrown it all away - or for listening to a book on how to run your life.

I've read quite a bit of feminist literature, and although I understand why they're angry, they never came close to getting good results.

My wife's pet theory is that all this was shot down by the Pill. Once that came out, women who were heterosexual were automatically enrolled in a race to see who could give up sex to a man more quickly. Not for money, or security, or marriage - just to keep from being ALONE. Once that race started, it didn't really matter much what feminists thought.

But aren't you talking about actions taken upon reading it, and not necessarily the books themselves? I know plenty of Christians and Muslims who read the books of their respective faiths and who haven't taken a life at all. It kind of illustrates the point that it's the idiots who are dangerous, not the books.

Yes and no. While it is true that it's the people who do the killing and not the book (unless the people throw the book, but that's a matter of semantics), it is nevertheless true that some books have far more idiots that gravitate towards them than others, as well as the fact that some books have far less value outside of their ability to inspire idiots than others.

Mein Kampf is a great example of this, as there is very little value, outside of narrow historical insight into the inner workings of one of humanity's great butchers, to what Hitler is actually writing about. There is simply no intrinsically redeeming quality to his message of "The Jews are the cause of Germany's decline, and here's how I will and should go about killing them all."

One of the main reasons why this list terrifies me is primarily because Mein Kampf didn't skyrocket to the top of the list. Say what you will about the practicality of communism, but the Communist Manifesto has a huge amount of socially and intellectually redeeming qualities to it apart from its historical significance. Mein Kampf is just an example of how tragically bad people can become.

It's a very interesting list, but obviously a joke - noone could be that stupid.

It's a very interesting list, but obviously a joke - noone could be that stupid.

There is no such thing as an underestimate of average intelligence.

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
Great minds disagree with you. :p (Those were the two quotes which immediately came to mind.)

8. The Course of Positive Philosophy

...

No. Does not deserve to be on there.



On Liberty
by John Stuart Mill
Score: 18

They're really pushing it...



Origin of the Species
by Charles Darwin
Score: 17

Strike one.



Unsafe at Any Speed
by Ralph Nader
Score: 11

Strike two.



Silent Spring
by Rachel Carson
Score: 9

Strike three.

Out.

Mein Kampf is a great example of this, as there is very little value, outside of narrow historical insight into the inner workings of one of humanity's great butchers, to what Hitler is actually writing about. There is simply no intrinsically redeeming quality to his message of "The Jews are the cause of Germany's decline, and here's how I will and should go about killing them all."

One of the main reasons why this list terrifies me is primarily because Mein Kampf didn't skyrocket to the top of the list. Say what you will about the practicality of communism, but the Communist Manifesto has a huge amount of socially and intellectually redeeming qualities to it apart from its historical significance. Mein Kampf is just an example of how tragically bad people can become.

Well, I'm not entierly convinced that the book was actually harmful. If someone else had written it, and then Hitler read it and based his policies on it, then sure, it should be at the top of the list. I think it only got there because of the harm that it symbolizes, not that it caused. And remember, it's a conservative site. To conservatives fascism isn't really all that bad. As Bush said "If this was a dictatorship this would be a lot easier, just as long as I'm the dictator."

Just take a look at the thread about the 10 worst presidents and see how many conservatives think that the two worst presidents were Lincoln and FDR. The presidents who ended American Slavery, and German Nazism. And then how many think that Reagan was the best. The one who illegally sold weapons to a fundamentalist theocracy and established a giant cocaine smuggling operation in order to fund South American terrorist death squads.

To conservatives there is nothing worse than the possibility that a nation might decide to look after its poor. So much so that we're fully prepared to bomb third world countries into the stone age to make sure that they don't do it. To any country prepared to embrace the possibility of social welfare we offer a simple choice, "you can abandon them to starvation and predation, or we will subject them to warfare and terror. We'd subject them to rapine, but... well, if they had anything to go rapine on we wouldn't be in this mess, would we?"

Great minds disagree with you. :p (Those were the two quotes which immediately came to mind.)

Noone ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

That one's always been my favorite.

the femmine mystique deserves to be on there.Ah, someone I never missed when he left my region. BTW, learn to spell "feminine."

Silent Spring? WHat the fuck? Why the hell did the idiots who could not be screwed if thy walked into a necropheliacs convention put that on there?

Have you read it?I'm a liitle suprised he can read, but not suprised he didn't answer you. He pops in once in a blue moon to make a stupid comment, but never stays around to back it up.