The most simple recommendation that I would like to make is to avoid at all costs becoming an evangelist for any particular political philosophy. They all fare

The most simple recommendation that I would like to make is to avoid at all costs becoming an evangelist for any particular political philosophy. They all fare poorly when taken too literally because people are too complex and reality is too subtle. Nobody is free without food, but food is worthless without freedom, to extend your metaphor. And now for the answer to your question: I would read something by Karl Popper, and then ponder some of the great social experiments of the 20th century - Milgram and Zombardo for a start.