Introduction
Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand’s Ideas Can End Big Government by Yaron Brook and Don Watkins of the Ayn Rand Institute, the same team of geniuses behind Equal is Unfair, is an excellent take on both why the size and scope of the US government have grown so dramatically and how applying the ideas found in Atlas Shrugged would lead to a freer, richer, and more innovative America that would be unhampered by destructive regulations.
Throughout Free Market Revolution, Brook and Watkins give specific examples of the costs of Big Government, show how those examples lead to problems for Americans, and give reasonable and easy to implement solutions that would correct those problems. Hint: Those solutions are free-market, capitalist policies of the sort that any objectivist, libertarian, or conservative will recognize and love.
So, even if you’re not a huge Ayn Rand fan, this book should appeal to you as long as you’re a conservative or libertarian. Who doesn’t want to read about why the federal government is terrible and how firing government employees would make America a better place? And make no mistake, freeing the average American from the clutches of a government
Summary of Free Market Revolution
Free Market Revolution was written in the wake of the 2009 Great Recession and it shows. That time period, like our Chinese-flu driven crisis now, was a period of tremendous growth in government. Obamacare, increased other welfare benefits, and tremendous growth in regulations, along with massive deficit spending that ballooned the national debt, were the hallmarks of the early Obama Administration.
Perhaps worse, that was just the continuation of a trend towards Big Government that Watkins and Brook describe as taking place since the days of FDR, if not Teddy Roosevelt, under both Democrat and Republican Administrations.
Free Market Revolution is about how to correct that trend. Conservatives are supposed to recognize that individual liberty and free-market capitalism and the founding principles of America. Not altruism, welfare, and collectivist thinking.
In chapters that span topics as varied as why health care is not a right to why profits and business success are morally good, Brook and Watkins use every page of Free Market Revolution to hammer home their viewpoint that the proper role of government is only to protect our natural rights and that any other role it plays is unjust, unconstitutional, and inefficient. Even if you don’t agree with all of it, it is certainly quite interesting and the proposals are surprisingly reasonable. In essence, it’s just a book about the virtue of capitalism and small government.
My Take on Free Market Revolution
Free Market Revolution is a book that every freedom-loving patriot should read. Although ostensibly and mainly about capitalism, the book is, at its core, about liberty. You know, the concept that our Founding Fathers started the American Revolution because of and risked dying for. Up until now, liberty, both personal and economic, has been a guiding force in the American mind. We used to fight for liberty and were willing to die for it. Now, not so much. Americans seem to have forgotten the importance of liberty. Well, the average person has forgotten. But, on the other hand, Brook and Watkins give great examples of why liberty is important and ways that Ayn Rand’s ideas will preserve and defend it.
Most of the examples given are framed around economic situations, but the book itself is premised on the idea that liberty is sacrosanct and no government policy should be able to strip it away.
To me, that was incredibly heartening to read. In the face of the Chinese flu, far too many Americans are supporting authoritarian policies out of fear. They don’t realize that Orwell was right about tyranny, don’t care about Big Government and the Chinese Flu, and are unwilling to stand up for their right to liberty. In that respect, they’re just like most Americans after the financial crisis; willing to tolerate rapid and egregious expansions of the federal government because it promises to create a more stable environment.
But Brook and Watkins are different; they prefer to live in what Thomas Jefferson termed the “tempestuous sea of liberty.” In Free Market Revolution, they show their contempt for the government and its army of bureaucrats. Rather than being ruled by fear, they’re ruled by common sense and the profit motive. That outlook was refreshing and much needed, especially in this atmosphere of economic tyranny and oppression. Because Americans have given up on liberty, it is fading away and fewer and fewer politicos talk about it anymore. But Watkins and Brook do defend liberty in Free Market Revolution. That makes it excellent and reading it is like breathing in a breath of fresh air.
Additionally, Free Market Revolution is a great book to read if you want to find more books about economic freedom. Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, The Virtue of Selfishness, The Road to Serfdom, and many more are all cited in it. Those books, and many more, are books that everyone should read; they’re great for learning about how to defend capitalism. And that’s what Free Market Revolution is all about; defending capitalism, especially from the lies leftists spread about it, such as the left’s lies about Robin Hood.
Capitalism built America. Capitalism and individual liberty made us the most prosperous and free nation to have ever existed; one where all you needed to succeed was a strong work ethic. Here, we have opportunities to succeed that are equal and available to all people. Not empty government promises that benefit only one group but cost everyone. Or, at least, that is what used to be the case in America. Now, even with the Trump Administration, we have a very intrusive government.
The only way to fight back against that intrusive government is to start supporting the free market revolution that was first brought about by Adam Smith and was revived from the socialist-horror of FDR’s America by Ayn Rand and her ideas. Free markets are the solution to any economic problem. Not government intervention. That’s the lesson to be learned from the histories of capitalism and socialism.
Capitalism, and with it free markets, created unbelievable prosperity and ironed out many societal problems. Socialism, on the other hand, killed tens of millions of people and created far more problems than it ever solved. That is the essence of the free market revolution and it is what readers of any of the books written by Watkins and Brook should take away from those books; capitalism is superior in every way to socialism.
Conclusion
Read Free Market Revolution. You won’t be disappointed. If you’re still on the fence about whether or not to read it, just read this end of book quote; it sums the book up perfectly. My guess is that after reading it, you’ll want to read the rest of the book:
“The first step to changing this country’s direction, then, is to educate yourself. Learn the case for capitalism. Learn its history, its economics, its philosophic foundation. Read the great economists. Read the Founding Fathers. And, above all else, read Ayn Rand.
When you know your case, then, make it: Speak out, in whatever way and on whatever scale is open to you. Tell people what capitalism is. Tell them how it works (and has worked). Tell them why capitalism is good.“
Right now, we’re in a battle for America’s soul. That battle spans every cross-section of American society, from economics to our culture. It is intense, fought at every moment, and is, unfortunately, one that the left is somehow winning. They are especially winning on the economic front; despite the unbelievable prosperity delivered by capitalism, socialism seems to rise in popularity every month. I think the reason for that is that not enough Republicans are willing to stand up for America and its institutions. Capitalism, individual liberty, and equality under the law are the bedrocks of American society. We need to defend them from the attacks of the radical left, which wants to do away with them entirely.
The battle for America’s soul and institutions can only be won if we conservatives are educated and willing to fight for our beliefs at any and every opportunity. Read Free Market Revolution to learn how to do so! it’s a great guide to capitalism and free markets for the young conservative or libertarian that wants to learn more about those topics!
By: Gen Z Conservative
