Not really a Marxist, actually not even close. Maybe just a backyard socialist, the kind of person that says "sure" when his neighbor asks to borrow a tool instead of giving that neighbor a long lecture on American self-reliance and how the economy would be so much better off if everyone owned their own stuff.

Now some of you know convict 9653. Labor Unions are an interesting Rorschach test. Either they are quasi criminal organisation that extort money out of corporations or they're part of a social movement that makes the Middle Class possible. As Labor Unions disappear in America, it will be interesting to see if the Middle Class survives; it's already smaller and still shrinking.

There have been several discussion groups talking about influential books. For me the three most influential books on politics are all written by George Orwell. Whenever I mention George Orwell people immediately jump right to 1984 or sometimes Animal Farm. Both well known books but Orwell wrote so much more.

My three recommended books are:

Down and Out in London and Paris  1933

The Road to Wigan Pier  1937

Homage to Catalonia  1938

You can change around a few names, locations and dates and all three of these books would hold up today. In some ways it's sad to see that the historical players have changed but the game remains the same.

So what are your political principals? Also a Backyard Socialist -or something else?