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Freedom Book of the Month
Email List Archive
Free-Market.Net's F r e e d o m B o o k o f t h e M o n t h
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Edited by Sunni Maravillosa. To join or leave this and other
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* July, 2003: "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,"
by J.K. Rowling
* New and notable
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Freedom Book of the Month for July, 2003:
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"
by J.K. Rowling
Scholastic 2003, hardcover, 870 pp.
ISBN: 0-439-35806-X
Could 2003's Freedom Book of the Year be by a Non-Libertarian?
[Guest review by Don L. Tiggre]
No, I'm not crazy -- the latest Harry Potter book could well deserve
a Freedom Book of the Year Award.
To understand why, first consider the scope author J.K. Rowling has
achieved with her books. There probably isn't a school-aged child
anywhere who hasn't at least heard of Harry Potter. Industry experts
have said that even the huge sales expected of Hillary Clinton's book
are nothing compared to what is expected of "Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix". These books were a phenomenon, even before the
movie tie-ins. The books have spawned a whole genre of knockoffs,
even in Russia!
Second, in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (Rowling's previous
book, in which the evil wizard Voldemort returns from near death to
threaten the world again), the major obstacle to fighting the
resurgence of evil turns out to be ... you guessed it; government
interference. Bureaucratic office politics and political pandering
cause Harry Potter's warnings of the return of the most powerful evil
wizard in centuries to go all but ignored by the magical subculture
Rowling depicts existing beneath the surface of modern times. The
bureaucrats running the Ministry of Magic would rather dream up new
regulations to "protect" wizards and witches from "dangerously" thin
cauldrons than confront a reality that they fear will be wildly
unpopular.
This theme is continued and intensified in "Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix". Not only do the regulatory zealots steadfastly
refuse to hear any bad news, and default on their responsibilities to
the people they are supposed to protect, they begin persecuting those
who dare to contradict the official take. Harry Potter finds himself
the target of a vicious smear campaign, with officialdom censoring
the news and actively using the single major newspaper to push its
propaganda.
But wait, it gets better: the Ministry of Magic decides to take
direct control of Harry Potter's school. A supremely nasty bureaucrat
takes charge of the curriculum, trying to make sure Defense Against
Dark Arts goes untaught, sacking teachers she perceives as opponents,
and doing everything possible to provoke Harry Potter to do something
that will get him expelled -- or even sent to prison.
Consider the following passage, an exchange between Potter's friend
Hermione Granger (the most brilliant student in the school) and the
evil bureaucrat (who doesn't want Hermione questioning her authority,
and has ignored her hand for some time):
When more than half the class were staring at Hermione rather than
at their books, Professor Umbridge seemed to decide she could
ignore the situation no longer.
"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" she asked
Hermione, as though she had only just noticed her ... .
"I've got a query about your course aims," said Hermione.
Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows.
"And your name is -- ?"
"Hermione Granger," said Hermione.
"Well, Miss Granger, I think those course aims are perfectly clear
if you read them through carefully," said Professor Umbridge in a
voice of determined sweetness.
"Well, I don't," said Hermione bluntly. "There's nothing written
up there about *using* defensive spells."
There was a short silence in which many members of the class turned
their heads to frown at the three course aims still written on the
blackboard.
"*Using* defensive spells?" Professor Umbridge repeated with a
little laugh. "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my
classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss
Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"
....
"Surely the whole point of Defense Against Dark Arts is to practice
defensive spells?"
"Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Granger?"
asked Professor Umbridge in her falsely sweet voice.
"No, but --"
"Well then, I'm afraid you're not qualified to decide what the
'whole point' of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than
you have devised our new program of study. You will be learning
about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way --"
"What use is that?" said Harry loudly. "If we are going to be
attacked, it won't be in a --"
"Hand, Mr. Potter!" sang Professor Umbridge.
Harry thrust his fist in the air. Professor Umbridge promptly
turned away from him again, but now several other people had their
hands up ... .
"Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge
will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination,
which, after all, is what school is all about ..."
Please forgive the lengthy quote, but the passage so perfectly
reflects the general *lesson* which seems to be Rowling's theme for
the book. As Harry Potter learns to deal with his own weaknesses and
errors, he also learns that he must deal with those of others,
especially when they manifest themselves in the aggregate form we
call bureaucracy.
There are other themes in the book: loyalty and betrayal; personal
responsibility; honesty and when it is moral to withhold the truth,
or even to lie (a criminal -- or a meddling bureaucrat -- may not be
entitled to the truth). However, it's the fight of the individual
against the cumbersome machinery of the state, and his victory
against it, even with all the weight of law on its side, that makes
this book such a great pro-freedom read.
Which brings me back to my first point: Rowling's vast readership.
She has outstripped Ayn Rand, and is reaching readers at a more
impressionable age -- and beyond, as the books have proven to be
great fun for adults too. This could be *really* big.
Even if the Ministry of Magic gets its act together in the next book,
that won't undo the powerful suggestion that it's personal
responsibility and individual action that matter most. And it's hard
to imagine that the Ministry is going to come charging to the rescue,
as the whole series centers around Harry Potter's school, which is
run by the most powerful wizard living -- a man who declined to
become the Minister of Magic.
Am I saying that Rowling is a libertarian? No. I suppose she probably
isn't. What does seem plain as day is that she holds, and is trying
to teach, many of the values libertarians hold dear.
And she does it damn well, for many millions of young people.
That's why I think "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"
deserves to be this month's Freedom Book of the Month, and may well
be the most important pro-freedom book of 2003.
Order "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" from Amazon.com:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/84510052.html, $17.99
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New and notable
o "What's Yours is Mine," by Adam Thierer and Clyde Wayne Crews Jr
Thierer and Crews have put together a short but utterly convincing
case against "infrastructure socialism" -- mandatory open-access
regulations. Clear enough for a lay person, sufficiently documented
to be valuable to experts.
Order "What's Yours is Mine" from Laissez Faire Books:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/145061313.html, $10.35
o "The Privacy Handbook," by Michael Chesbro
Hundreds of sound, straightforward privacy-enhancing measures, with
recommendations of good equipment. Chesbro spans the range of
situations where privacy may be needed, and offers effective
answers.
Order "The Privacy Handbook" from Amazon.com:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/169033034.html, $17.50
o "Ethics for Earthlings," by Richard G. Rieben
"How to triumph over morality" -- and why it's necessary. An
excellent philosophical and practical book.
Order "Ethics for Earthlings" from Amazon.com:
http://www.free-market.net/rd/237961918.html, $21.25
Keep doing freedom,
Sunni Maravillosa
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