Reading Curriculum — Ownership Society Academy

Eight volumes, chosen with intent

Vol. I · Weeks II, IX

Second Treatise of Government

John Locke

The source. Natural rights and the labor theory of property give every later claim its footing.

Vol. II · Week III

On the Origin of Species

Charles Darwin

The engine. Scientific evidence for survival-of-the-fittest selection based strictly on genetic self-interest.

Vol. III · Weeks IV, V

Non-Cooperative Games

John Nash

The mathematics. A stable solution concept for rational players in tension — and the Prisoner's Dilemma it explains.

Vol. IV · Week I

The Selfish Gene

Richard Dawkins

The reframe. Selection moves from the organism to the replicator, and ownership becomes an instruction.

Vol. V · Weeks V, VI

SuperCooperators

Martin Nowak

The payoff. Five rules, each with a formula, explain when cooperation outcompetes the defector.

Vol. VI · Weeks I, III

Darwin's Blind Spot

Frank Ryan

The complement. Cells and animals do cooperate to survive — symbiosis is a creative engine of evolution.

Vol. VII · Week VII

The Wealth of Nations

Adam Smith

The economy. The invisible hand of enlightened self-interest — and the limits history revealed in it.

Vol. VIII · Weeks VIII, IX

The Citizen's Share

Blasi, Freeman & Kruse

The economics of ownership. Broad-based employee share ownership — the arrangement venture capital used to build great companies — enriched ordinary workers and outperformed the alternative.

Ten weeks of pages

IThe Selfish GeneRichard DawkinsChapters 1–3, plus a cell-biology primer on membranes and cell wallsWeek I

IISecond Treatise of GovernmentJohn LockeChapters 2–5 and 11Week II

IIIOn the Origin of Species / Darwin's Blind SpotCharles Darwin; Frank RyanOrigin Ch. 3–4, plus Darwin's Blind Spot Ch. 1–4Week III

IVNon-Cooperative Games and Equilibrium PointsJohn NashNash's 1950–51 papers, plus a Prisoner's Dilemma primerWeek IV

VThe Logic of Animal Conflict / SuperCooperatorsJohn Maynard Smith & George Price; Martin NowakESS primer plus SuperCooperators Ch. 1–2Week V

VISuperCooperatorsMartin NowakChapters 3–7Week VI

VIIThe Wealth of Nations (selections)Adam SmithBook I Ch. 1–2, 8; Book IV Ch. 2Week VII

VIIICompounding readings and The Citizen's Share (intro)Blasi, Freeman & KruseThe Citizen's Share, Introduction and Ch. 1Week VIII

IXThe Citizen's ShareBlasi, Freeman & KruseChapters 2–5Week IX

XThe Evolution of an Ownership SocietyWalter BarryThe full essay, plus your own notes from Weeks I–IXWeek X

What to read, and in what order