Aaron Swartz reviewed Chomsky's "Understanding Power" (http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/epiphany http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/epiphany). It's the best introductio

Aaron Swartz reviewed Chomsky's "Understanding Power" (http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/epiphany http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/epiphany). It's the best introduction I know. The system isn't a secret; there's no conspiracy. Obama really is president; election money has a deciding effect on elections; our "democracy" is top-down (and anyone who takes history/politics seriously knows it isn't really a democracy, though it has some democratic forms); our economic resources are owned by elites; etc. But just as we don't use commercials to help us evaluate the technical specs of some commodity, we shouldn't believe utterances of those in power (it's no secret they're generally written by professionals called "speechwriters"). Instead, we look at their decisions, actions, institutional forces, history, etc. Tends to make things a lot clearer. [Edit: also try looking at things from the perspective of an observer from Mars; it's oddly helpful.]