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Libertarian Fiction: Books with a Message

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Fiction brings libertarian principles to life

The government is out to get you and squelch your individuality.

The company you work for has made you a number and controls your every move.

Thinking for yourself is a crime. Questioning the rules is a crime. Choosing a different path is a crime.

The core concept of libertarianism - personal freedom - provides great fodder for fiction writers. Turn the government, a company, your neighbors into villains out to infringe on that liberty and you have a story. One that pits a serious underdog against an overwhelming force.

And when people start talking libertarian fiction, those are the kinds of stories that leap to mind first - the ones where the government has created some set of rules that try to force everyone into the same mold and there's one person trying to break free and be himself. But the truly great works go beyond just rebelling against authority. They lay out a greater foundation for why individuals should be free and the consequences when we aren't.

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Libertarian Fiction: Individualism

Let's start with the core idea behind libertarianism - the individual. The idea that you should be able to live your life for yourself, as you choose, and respect the right of others to live just as autonomously.

It's a concept that gets addressed automatically when emphasizing some sort of libertarian stand point, but one you rarely see covered on its own. Because it's far more dramatic to have a government-controlled world to chafe against than a fight among neighbors because one person paints their house purple.

The Fountainhead

The Fountainhead

The Fountainhead

by: Ayn Rand

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Libertarian Fiction: Dystopian Societies

Government control is out of control. Corporations are running the world. People are treated like numbers rather than people.

It's the common scenario of dystopian fiction, taking the tiny encroachments on liberty we see today and carrying them out to some version of an obvious conclusion. And a perfect vehicle for libertarian ideas and stories to shine the light on liberty issues.

The problem for me comes that anyone can see where the worlds created by Huxley or Orwell are wrong, wrong, wrong and they are rooting for the little guy to beat the big, bad government. They can't or don't or won't make the connection between the big, bad government of the story and the government of today.

Atlas Shrugged

One of the most popular books ever. I hesitate to label it as dystopian because the world Rand created is pretty much the one we live in today. Except for the ability to actually disappear somewhere.
Atlas Shrugged

Atlas Shrugged

by: Ayn Rand

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Stranger in a Strange Land

Frequently mentioned classic, but a really strange book. Not the first one I would recommend.
Stranger in a Strange Land

Stranger in a Strange Land

by: Robert A. Heinlein

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The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

The book I automatically think of when I think of Heinlein. A classic example of corporations running things and the individual becoming faceless.
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

by: Robert A. Heinlein

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The Probability Broach

Have to admit, the title drives me nuts because I want it to be breach, not broach. A Prometheus winner that plays off the idea of parallel worlds.
The Probability Broach

The Probability Broach

by: L. Neil Smith

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The Rainbow Cadenza

At first blush, this could be down under utopian societies. After all, the world is all politically correct now and ruled by the Libertarian Party. Should be fab, right? But nope. There's the typical inferior classes and odd government goings on to explain. Another Prometheus winner.
The Rainbow Cadenza

The Rainbow Cadenza

by: J. Neil Schulman

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1984

Written as a condemnation of communism more than any espousal of libertarian ideas, but it's the perfect setting. The government has assumed control of everything - including the past - and the slightest individual spark is snuffed out. Creepy classic and the source of the phrase "Big Brother is watching", in case you're not familiar with it.
Nineteen Eighty-Four

Nineteen Eighty-Four

by: George Orwell

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Little Brother

Excellent choice for younger readers. Semi-1984 concept of Big Brother watching you and how kids are revolting and turning the technology back on the government. Wonderful for discussion of where lines get drawn on privacy issues. And just a danged good book.
Little Brother

Little Brother

by: Cory Doctorow

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Wheels within Wheels

It's a science fiction conspiracy theory plot that pits government forces threatening freedom against the individual. Winner of the first Prometheus award back in 1979.
Wheels within Wheels

Wheels within Wheels

by: F. Paul Wilson

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Libertarian Fiction: Current Challenges

Much libertarian fiction tends to fall in the science fiction genre by default because it presents a look at where the path of government regulation and crony capitalism leads us. But what about that very next step in the path? Just what does it look like?

A few books take a look at a more near world future - one where we recognize everything - and consider just how things are going wrong now. This is a bit harder to present and be taken seriously because it's easier to dismiss these plots as conspiracy theories rather than possibilities.

Molon Labe!

Road map for what the Free State Project could look like in reality. Freedom lovers have flocked to Wyoming and are returning it to original concepts of liberty. But the federal government is ready to come in and force the state to live by its rules. (Hmm, sounds like drug laws in California and education pretty much everywhere.)
Molon Labe!

Molon Labe!

by: Boston T. Party, Kenneth W. Royce

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Enemies Foreign and Domestic

The plot starts out with shades of JFK assassination conspiracy theories. Lone gunman who is being framed by the government in order to advance some new laws/regulations/plans that curtail our freedoms. In this book, specifically, it starts with our guns. (And mine would be one of the ones outlawed, dang it.)
Enemies Foreign and Domestic

Enemies Foreign and Domestic

by: Matthew Bracken

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First of a triology

First 100 pages of each book available at - www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com

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Libertarian Fiction: Utopian Society

On the opposite end from earlier selections are those where libertarian ideals have led to some sort of utopian society. Always seen as more advanced than ours, it's the epitome of John Lennon's "Imagine" in a more tangible form. And a far more positive presentation of libertarian ideals.

It's easy to imagine where violations of liberty can take us. It's far harder to imagine what a world that embraces freedom would look like. Because it will still be populated by people. But there have been a few efforts in this direction worth looking at.

Visions of Liberty

Ten top science fiction writers explore just what the world would be like if there were no governments and we were completely free. (Cue John Lennon again.) It's an exploration of the far end of the libertarian spectrum where the anarchists live and just how self-regulation and autonomy might look.
Visions of Liberty

Visions of Liberty

by: Martin Greenberg, Mark Tier

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Among the roster: Hugo winner and Grand Master Jack Williamson; Michael Resnick, winner of four Hugos and a Nebula, and author of the international best seller, Santi-Ago; Michael A. Stackpole, author of eight New York Times best sellers; best-selling novelist Jane Undskold, New York Times best-selling author James P. Hogan, Robert J. Sawyer, winner of the Nebula Award for best novel of the year; and more.

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Men Like Gods

Group sucked through a portal into a highly advanced society that doesn't need government rule and exists peacefully. The secret? Children are taught the concept of respecting others' autonomy. An H.G. Wells classic you've never heard of.
Men Like Gods

Men Like Gods

by: H.G. Wells

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