The latest fire Sarah Palin is taking centers on what she reads . . . or doesn’t. I’ve gather from written accounts of this latest Katie Couric interview that Palin declined to name her specific sources for news. Of course, I scorn newspapers, news magazines, and television news programs (take that Katie!), so I won’t be throwing any rocks about that.
When I heard her favorite authors though (C.S. Lewis and a deceased former columnist at Runner’s World magazine), I began to wonder: what sort of reading should we desire in our politicians? Here’s my list in descending order of importance.
- Sound understading of basic concepts in and differences between major lines of economic, political, and religious thought.
- Thorough grasp of modern American and world history – military, economic, political, and religious.
- Detailed understanding of American law, particularly constitutional law, and major international treaties.
- Conversant in a couple of areas of intellectual history.
- Familiarity with the classics – no need to know Greek and Latin, but the underlying works are still among the common knowledge of western civilization.
- Smattering of modern and contemporary literary fiction – from various cultures.
Of course, some of this can be obtained from magazines, etc. But most of this is book knowledge. And it’s important knowledge for those with responsibilities toward this country.
