Comments on: Was J.R.R. Tolkien a Libertarian?

By: A Timely Lord of the Rings Analogy | theConstitutional.org

A Timely Lord of the Rings Analogy | theConstitutional.org — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 01:38:15 +0000

[...] was not a libertarian. But he was extremely suspicious of government, an attitude reflected in The Lord Of the Rings and even more in some of his other works. There is [...]

By: Freedom starts at home « Learning from Dogs

Freedom starts at home « Learning from Dogs — Mon, 03 May 2010 07:02:40 +0000

[...] as a description of the political and economic philosophy taken seriously by such great minds as J.R.R. Tolkien, Henry David Thoreau, Thomas Jefferson and William Lloyd Garrison. In fact, de Cleyre’s political [...]

By: Samuel123

Samuel123 — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:53:18 +0000

If Tolkien doesn’t believe in ‘bosses,’ he can’t be a libertarian.

By: Elijah

Elijah — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:21:23 +0000

How much of an Anarchist was he? Well, All he wanted to say on the subject was written in the tri-ology. An epic journey towards true Anarchy. Frodo’s mission was to melt the damn ring in the volcano, but along the way he used it to save himself, though every time he used it he got sicker, darker and was viewable to the evil one. ring=power over man=government. All the characters symbolize different types of people who would want to use the ring (government).

By: Jake Was Here

Jake Was Here — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:12:07 +0000

Tolstoy has been wrongly (in my view) labeled a “Anarcho-Socialist” since he advocates the generous sharing of one’s resources to help ameliorate poverty. What separates him from genuine Socialists, however, is that he does not support the use of force to achieve this redistribution of wealth, he believes it ought to be voluntary, and that Christians, following the commands of Christ, would do so voluntarily.

Both he and Tolkien, then, could be considered Chestertonian distributists — they believed in individual rights and in the maximum distribution of private property through a free market.

By: Lucas

Lucas — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:47:42 +0000

I think he in lived in the spirit of libertarianism.

I’ve not read any letters, but I’ve read LoTR a dozen times at least and the Silmarillion twice. But to see why Tolkien believes essentially in private, voluntary societal structures one only has to look at the Shire before Saruman corrupted it.

It had no ‘government’, Tolkien says, noting that the various families of the various burroughs basically govern themselves. If a person gets out of line, his mother or uncles will deal with them- note Frodo describes the scouring of the Shire as “the family” putting Lotho back in his place (which is to say, out of political power). Obviously there is no regulatory structure or war machine, although the unusually peaceful nature of hobbits has something to do with this.

Of course, Tolkien also believed in Platonic corruption over time, so no more utopian hobbit villages for us moderns.

By: Norman

Norman — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:28:47 +0000

That is very interesting, Jay, thanks for sharing that!

By: Jay

Jay — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:02:18 +0000

Great quote and conversation. I teach a class on LoTR at Concordia College in Moorhead. Tolkien’s unconstitutional monarchy phrase can be best discerned by his own presentations of the various kings in his fiction, Aragorn II being the quintessence of what he thought about how a king should rule: The pericope at the end of the novel which relates a conversation between Gandalf and Barliman Butterbur captures Tolkien’s view of monarchy: Butterbur worries that this new king announced to him by Gandalf will be meddlesome in the affairs of Bree. Gandalf assures him that the Breelanders will be left alone, and only that the king’s highway will be re-opened, and that when he comes, they will see that he wants them to be left alone, too. Such a king is worthy of much honor.

That view, coupled with his philosophical anarchism, and furthermore married to his quite old-fashioned and traditional Roman Catholic faith, make him an unusual ally regarding liberty. My own libertarian journey has been largely inspired by my study of LoTR.

Cheers, Jay

By: One Ring to Rule Them All | LibertarianChristians.com

One Ring to Rule Them All | LibertarianChristians.com — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:08:30 +0000

[...] 10 Books for Christian Libertarians – Christmas 2008 Edition (17)Unprecedented Obama Lust (12)Was J.R.R. Tolkien a Libertarian? (11) Apr [...]

By: Tsu Dho Nihm

Tsu Dho Nihm — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:03:55 +0000

I think, in many ways, The Lord of the Rings was about the dangers of political power.

I recommend the following article by Alberto Mingardi:
http://www.mises.org/article.aspx?Id=899&month=41