Rose Wilder Lane's "The Discovery of Freedom"

I'm not sure how I came across this book, but I'm honestly quite surprised that I hadn't heard of Rose Wilder Lane sooner.  Daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder (author of the "Little House on the Prairie" series of books that later inspired the TV show of the same name), Rose was a prolific writer in the first half of the 20th century.  She wrote books and articles, traveling all over the world to find source material.  She, along with Ayn Rand and Isabel Paterson, is considered one of the founders of modern libertarianism.

She really loved freedom. And also (apparently) hats.

Like a surprising number of libertarians, she identified with the communist ideology before eventually turning to libertarianism.  Her conversion came on a trip she took to Soviet Russia as a volunteer with the Red Cross just after the first World War.  Speaking with local villagers and witnessing the inefficiency and stupidity of central planing first-hand, she left Russia no longer a communist.  She was instead instilled with a new found respect for the personal freedom that most of us take for granted in the United States.  She vehemently opposed the New Deal, and published a pamphlet entitled "What is this, the Gestapo?" that was meant to remind Americans to guard their liberties even in the midst of WWII.

But however interesting her personal story is, her book "The Discovery of Freedom" focuses instead on the history of liberty in the world.  She begins by establishing that the belief that an Authority (always capitalized in the text) is responsible for a people's welfare is a pagan religion.  It is a belief in group morality, which is radically different than a belief in individual morality.  And she shows that throughout history this belief has been pervasive; that the ancient leaders from all over the world were either supposed to be divine themselves, or supposedly possessed a divine duty to guide and care for their citizens.

Lane then points out that the first instance in history of an attempt to establish individual morality came from Abraham, who said there was only one God and espoused a belief in individual morality.  She traces this line of thinking forward until the Jews finally anoint a King and belief in individual morality was once again smothered (but later was reignited for a time, she claims, by Jesus Christ).  My favorite example here is the Old Testament story of Gideon who famously refused to become king of the Jews, telling them that only God was their ruler.

She then writes that the second attempt at establishing individual morality came with the advent of Islam.  Mohammed, she says, was also a believer in monotheism and individual morality.  His teachings crushed the local pagan religions and brought about a long period of prosperity and innovation for that region.  She traces this civilization forward until the Crusades, which she documents as a horrific time for liberty.  It was a time where the Kings of Europe believed they were even morally responsible for the thoughts of their subjects.

The third attempt at establishing individual morality, she documents, is in America.  And it is only a few generations old. (A few more than since she wrote the book, I suppose, although a strong argument could be made that this attempt has already ended.)  She talks extensively about the American Revolution, focusing specifically on Thomas Paine.  She then explains how our Constitution is written much differently than the Magna Cartas of the Old World, that the enumerated powers within are delegated to government, as opposed to rights oh-so-graciously granted by government. Democracy, she also points out, is not what this is about.  Belief in democracy, rule by majority opinion, is just the same ancient pagan belief in Authority dressed up a little differently.

I have to say, I really enjoyed this book.  The prose was so clear and full of life (as it seems to be from many writers of that era).  It went a little slow at first, but once I got into it I couldn't put it down.  It's also really cool, in my opinion, that she really links religion to libertarianism.  Many libertarians, mostly in the Ayn Rand tradition I suppose, spend a lot of time condemning religion or at best ignore it.  I have a few quibbles with some of Rose Wilder Lane's interpretations of the Bible, but overall I think she does a fantastic job of linking the moral beliefs of Christianity to a moral belief in capitalism, maximum individual freedom, and the minimal state.  (She probably also does a pretty good job with regard to Islam, but I don't know a lot about Islam so I can't really say for sure.)

The only thing I didn't like about this book is that she seems to have a thing against Germans.  I guess it's understandable, since was writing during the time of WWII, but as a person of German heritage I was slightly offended at times.  But that's ok.  It's easy be wrong about Germans and right about liberty.

If you haven't read this book already, I would highly recommend it.  You can find a pdf for free here, or pay a few bucks and get a nicely formatted version for your kindle here.  (Or for other e-readers here.)  Inspired by this book, I added Isabel Paterson's "The God of the Machine" to my list of books to read.