7 Books That Destroyed Everything I Learned at Columbia

At Columbia University, we read every socialist theorist under the sun—from Theodor Adorno to Jacques Derrida to Frantz Fanon to Karl Marx himself.

But we never read the other side of the aisle.

In the colleges across the nation, socialism has become the dominant ideology—and by no accident, either. English departments teach almost exclusively far-left theorists, and as a result, the majority of students emerge from humanities departments with staunch socialist convictions that carry into their adult lives.

I’ve always been a capitalist—my parents’ abysmal experience living under socialism in the Soviet Union overrode any pro-socialist argument I’d hear from my professors—but until fairly recently, I’d never explored the intellectual underpinnings of capitalism in the same way that I was forced to dive into socialism during my undergraduate and graduate years. So over the past year, I’ve made it my mission to read as many liberal-minded (in the classical liberal sense!) theorists as possible, and I’d love to share some of my favorites with you all today.

So if you believe in capitalism—or are just curious to learn from intellectuals who aren’t radical Marxists—here are seven books that will get you started in understanding the pillars of capitalism and a free society—the most important books they don’t teach in the classroom.

Which book are you starting with?

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Darkness at Noon Analysis

The Social Responsibility of Business

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