 |
|
|
|
A "Third Revolution" is here. The Third Revolution, by Anthony F. Lewis. Ten Mile Press. 348 pages, soft-cover, $16.95. Available at www.anthonylewisbooks.com and at www.amazon.com. Reviewed by J. Daniel Cloud LP News Editor ====================================================================== |
|
While there are many books about libertarianism or that deal with libertarian ideas, there aren't many works of fiction about Libertarians. Anthony Lewis's first novel certainly fits that bill, and it does so in unapologetically frank style. Lewis explains a good deal of libertarian thought -- delving into market-driven economics, allowing his characters to expound on the evils of over-taxation, and showing through narrative the natural outgrowth of government regulation. "If you don't do things our way, if you break the law, you run the risk of death," the Big Government proponents make clear in the book -- and the perils faced by libertarian activists seem very real. The Third Revolution presages a radical rise in anti-federal sentiment and a connected concern for state (and individual) rights, prompted by federal legislation in 2012 that would federalize "all teachers, day care workers, police, social workers...and prosecutors as so-called 'national agents of social enforcement.'" Known as the "One Nation" proposal, this intrusive piece of legislation is opposed by the more conservative Republican legislators and others who recognize it as reaching too far into the states' rights. But it is Montana's Libertarian Governor Ben Kane who must decide whether to remain the firebrand he was in his days as a state representative, standing with the people of his state in opposing the One Nation, or whether he will go along with the American masses in supporting the federal government's ambitions. In some ways this book is reminiscent of Robert Ludlum's fiction, with its highly principled yet still-very-human hero whose flaws make him all the more likeable and believable. But where Ludlum's heroes use primarily physical action to effect change, The Third Revolution's main characters are driven by libertarian philosophy -- by their compelling desire to regain personal freedoms and responsibilities -- and proceed via political channels to achieve their objectives. Kane is an imaginative political figure who is frustrated by the status quo and takes drastic action to attempt change in his world. When lawmakers pontificate in this book, Lewis differentiates between the Libertarians -- like Kane -- who would make changes via the established political methods -- and the radical Libertarians who insist on immediate changes via the "Damn the torpedoes; full speed ahead!" route. But either way, Libertarian Party members will recognize the speech, the occasional jargon, and the looming hatred of Big Government; legislative sessions (in Lewis's world) begin to sound like a Libertarian convention. As one Libertarian legislator says in a heated speech, "In the name of health, they take our freedom. In the name of safety, they take our freedom. In the name of security [and compassion and fairness and jobs and progress] they take our freedom. My God, in the name of Freedom, they take our freedom!" Another: "You may well think your generation has no draft. Oh, you have a draft, all right. If you intend to be working and paying taxes for the next 30 years, believe me, you've been drafted...They just haven't told you yet." Polemic like this doesn't dominate The Third Revolution, however; not all characters are out for federal blood. That is Kane's personal battle, as he is torn between serving his state's residents in his elected position and simply returning to his earlier life as a purveyor of micro-brewed beer and buffalo burgers at a Helena eatery. In an author's note at the end of the book, Lewis explains that "actual flesh-and-blood Libertarians don't advocate revolution," as the characters in the book do. LP members and other lovers of liberty will recognize this without reading the note; some non-libertarian readers may not believe it, disregarding the fact that the book is fiction and assuming -- like fans of Oliver Stone's movies -- that it is a documentary based on facts to which no one else is privy. The Third Revolution reads easily and well, flowing through 17 months of Governor Kane's term and giving enough backstory to inform the reader without burdening us with minutiae. Lewis does at times over-elaborate on side issues -- the process of micro-brewing beer among them -- but for the most part he avoids non-integral material. Is this book to be regarded as a lesson in Libertarian apologetics? No, and its not intended to. But The Third Revolution is an enjoyable, sometimes belligerently libertarian book, and it deserves to attract the attention of Libertarians and fiction lovers alike. |