T.C. Marti's Blog, page 5

Does a new Steampunk novel play on an upcoming surveillance state in America?

Before I say anything, I have to make a confession. I never intended to review Dirt Town by Paula Baker and Aidan Davies. Back when I first joined their mailing list, I mistakenly clicked on an ARC link, so I was delivered a copy, which I, in turn, lost into cyberspace.

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Yeah, lucky me, right? Anyway, after reading K.J. Fieler’s gaslamp fantasy that contained some steampunk elements, I’ve since fallen head over heels for the genre, and part of me wants to write my own books in it.

But that ain’t happening anytime soon since I got Cursed Mage at bat, Spirit and Water on deck, and The Arcane Prophecy in the hole. Since they’re all sub-genres of fantasy, each in their own respective series, might I add but with a ton of cross-over, there’s no way I’ll be writing anything in any different genre. At least for the foreseeable future.

So, I have to get my good old steampunk fix through other authors, and Paula and Aidan might have something cooking. Maybe. This is a book I know I’m probably either going to either:

A) Really love, or,

B) Really love and hate myself for it

Why the latter? Oh, let me give you the rundown of what this work’s all about. And seriously, once you get to the bottom of this, you’ll know exactly what my dilemma is.

Dirt Town’s book blurb tilts this book in one of two directions

Here’s Dirt Town’s book description from the Zon:

Magic fuels privilege.

Robots enforce oppression.

One young doctor will ignite a revolution.

Doctor Aldrich Durante has everything: prestige, wealth, and the comfort of Upper Cairnisle, where robot guards patrol the streets and automatized carriages glide along glittering avenues. But his world unravels when he meets Fia, a daring orphan from the slums of Dirt Town.

Their chance encounter forces Aldrich to confront the dark truths of his society—grinding poverty, ruthless rulers, and machines designed to control, not protect. When Fia’s life is threatened by a dangerous loan shark, Aldrich steps in, risking his career and status to save her.

As injustice ignites a fire in Aldrich’s heart, he and Fia join forces against the corrupt Magisters who wield magic like a weapon. In a city teetering on the edge, their bond becomes a beacon of hope. But defying the system comes at a cost, and time is running out.

Can Aldrich and Fia spark a revolution before they’re silenced forever?

This book is either going to make me recommend it or give a few lectures

On one hand, this book’s blurb made me think of one of Ryan McMaken’s latest articles over at the Mises Institute: The New Hysteria: The Regime Pivots from Russians to Immigrants. Oh, and by the way, McMaken’s been rocking and rolling with his content lately, so there’s a weekend binge-read for me waiting to happen over at Mises when I’m not devouring fiction.

Anyway, the article talks about some of the technocrats who’ll be surrounding Donald Trump during Term No. 2 and, yeah, let’s just say our civil liberties ain’t gonna be in good shape if the likes of Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Larry Ellison have it their way. You might remember one of Ellison’s most Orwellian quips, which McMaken included in his piece:

“Citizens will be on their best behavior because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on.”

That said, one reason I’m so hesitant to read new books or consume anything from an entertainment standpoint unless I either know the work or the authors lately is that there’s always the chance laissez-faire and free markets are wrongfully scapegoated.

But when the State intervenes in markets, it’s kind of hard to pass that off what Dr. Robert Malone calls “surveillance capitalism” as laissez-faire. Hence, let’s hope the authors didn’t get this one wrong.

Not that it’ll be a deal-breaker for me, but I’ve thrown books across the room and have scoffed and shaken my head a few times because the authors’ knowledge of economics and government rivals my knowledge of tennis.

Which is to say, I know nothing about tennis, even if I think I know the object of the game is for the player to get the ball past their opponent.

So, will this book call for some ‘collectivist utopia’ in which the ‘right people get into office and put evil capitalists in their respective places? Let’s hope not. Or, will it acknowledge that interventionism is, can, and will, in reality, lead to cronyism that’s often mistaken as laissez-faire? Let’s hope so.

Looking forward to the read

The plot looks intriguing and it mirrors that of my own work, which is why, despite my miscue, I want to read it once I wrap up Spirit Legacy for like the seventh time. Yeah, my reading time remains tacked to the 18th-19th respective hours of my day, so it’ll be a minute before I get this one up even if I was probably supposed to before it was actually published.

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Anyway, fingers crossed! Let’s hope I can give this book a solid breakdown and not have to sit here and point to the likes of a real economic expert Ryan McMaken, just to throw a name out there, about everything that’s wrong with the book’s message. In the world of fiction writing, which in case you haven’t noticed, has been primarily hijacked by the Left, you just never know.

Still, it’s steampunk, and I like my steampunk. Oh, and before I go, be sure to check me out on MeWe as I’ll be posting updates to all my reviews plus shorts there, too.

Cursed Mage Cover Reveal: Book I in the Catenarian Chronicles

Every now and again, I like to stop and talk a little about my own books when I got them up for a discount at the ‘Zon and other outlets. When I’m on the cusp of a book launch, I also like talking about (but never reviewing) them. So forgive me if you were expecting something else today.

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But I wouldn’t be talking about Cursed Mage if it wasn’t at least tied into other works, this one coming from the good old paranormal, ghostly, and occult (Germanic/Nordic Runes, nothing weird lol) genre. Yeah, I’m one of those people.

A fascination with the paranormal since it used to scare the bejesus outta me when I was in grade school to today when I can’t get enough of purportedly haunted locations. And no, before you ask, I don’t hunt ghosts and no, I don’t watch paranormal-based television.

Oh, and here’s a fun fact: There are two of supposedly the most haunted places in America between 45 minutes and an hour down the road from me. You may or may not have heard of them:

The Bellaire House

West Virginia State Penitentiary

I also don’t live far from a hollow that used to be called Purgatory Road. Anyway, there’s this old farmhouse up that way that’s supposed to have like a pentagram of trees in its front yard and it’s supposedly the scariest home in West Virginia’s northern panhandle.

Just for the record, I’d seen the place from the street and yeah, there’s a nice, little group of trees in the front yard. I wasn’t sure if they were actually shaped in a pentagram or not, but I ain’t exaggerating when I’ll say that this house seemed to glow in the middle of what was a dreary October night when me and a few friends ventured up to Purgatory in October 2016. But then again, there was also a lot of flashing eyes that came from the flock of deer hanging out.

Anyway, you can obviously see my fascination here with paranormal fiction and how EE Holmes’ classic is one of the pinnacles. That helped inspire Cursed Mage, and I recently got the final draft for the e-book cover.

Cursed Mage’s cover glances at dark fantasy, paranormal, and occult fiction

Hats off to the cover designer, Hampton Lamoureux, for creating such a dynamic cover that captured all the elements of what I was looking for. From the dark, dreary but no too dreary background complete with a college campus and a college-aged model on the front looking rather mysterious, I couldn’t have been happier with the design.

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The book contains a good deal of runic talismans (there’s the occult magic for ya) and elemental magic, which the cover also hints at - Think Avatar: The Last Airbender. So, anyway, enough of my talking about good old spooky stuff. Here’s the finished product, and I’m SO GLAD that it turned out so well.

Libertarian messages run rampant in Cursed Mage

Because of course, they do, right? Hey, you know anything with my name on the cover’s gonna have some good old libertarian themes. And if you read the two-year prequel, Deceived Mage (not necessary to read for those who just want Kaija’s story, hence the dramatically different covers), you’ll already see those themes playing out.

But here, I’ll give you a nice, little rundown without letting the infamous spoilers slip:

Two major political parties - the Mercenaries and the Auguries

Hints that the fictional superpower nation of Vimsinew contains an interventionist foreign policy

Special ‘institutions’ exist for narrative dissenters

Dark, hidden secrets that only those in the political class know about

Hints that universities are breeding grounds for indoctrination

There are more, obviously, but trust me, I’d be writing a nonfiction counterpart to this novel just to cover them all, and where I got the ideas behind them. But anyway, I’m currently aiming for at least a trilogy here, and all of the above bulleted points will emerge in greater detail throughout Books II and III.

Anyway, I’ll keep everyone updated on the work’s final touches, including some of my favorite early reviews (the good and the bad), cool character art that I concocted with Venice AI and Canva, and even some of my favorite character quotes.

Had some fun with Venice and Canva and came up with THIS!

And now, I guess there’s only one thing left to say: Is it March yet? No, really, is it March yet? Because I’m currently ‘enjoying’ the coldest winter that’s hit the northern panhandle since 2015 and my car’s heater likes to mysteriously malfunction when it’s 10 degrees out.

What Albus Dumbledore and Justin Trudeau don't have in common

Two of my favorite characters in the Harry Potter Series, after Severus Snape, are Albus Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort. While the superficial one will look at Dumbledore and Voldemort as two polar opposites, I'm gonna tell you right now that it ain’t the case.

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These two are a Venn Diagram in so many ways. Here are just a few things Dumbledore and Voldemort have in common:

They were resourceful, but they ultimately acted and operated alone

One sought to kill Harry, the other sought to sacrifice Harry

“Like a pig for slaughter.” - Severus Snape

Both were powerful wizards who, at one point or another, sought wizard supremacy

Both made immoral decisions regarding other people

Voldemort’s are self-explanatory, as he was never afraid to kill

Dumbledore didn’t mind tossing others aside. For example, he had no problem with the Ministry sending Sirius Black to Azkaban without trial

Both were, without a doubt, the brightest wizards in their respective times at school and afterward.

That said, it still doesn’t take a genius to realize that, despite his ultra-flawed nature, Dumbledore was the better man for one reason and one reason only: He stopped pursuing power when his sister, Ariana, was killed. Dumbledore knew that, because of the actions in his younger days that ultimately led to Ariana’s death, couldn’t be trusted with power.

It’s why he never accepted the post for Minister of Magic. Hagrid let Harry know that the Wizarding World wanted Dumbledore for Minister on multiple occasions, but stated something along the lines of, “He could never leave Hogwarts.”

Yeah, it wasn’t until Book 7 did we find out why that was. And this brings me to the current discussion and how we can intermingle fiction with real life, following Justin Trudeau’s decision to resign (at some point, the last I heard) as Canadian Prime Minister. A few days back, I came across an article at FEE by Patrick Carroll outlining Trudeau and his ultimate legacy. And it got me thinking about one of Dumbledore’s most notable quotes in Harry Potter:

“It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it.” - Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

What the Justin Trudeau Experience can teach everyone, not just Canadians

Before I go any further, I should point out that I’m not Canadian. That said, the entire Trudeau lesson should apply to everyone, not just those north of the border. I’m saying this because I’m sure there’ll be ‘gatekeepers’ out there asking this: “Yeah, well, are you Canadian?”

Seriously, that ill-advised mindset would be akin to those telling me I can’t comment on Napoleon in France, Hitler in Nazi Germany, Mao in China, or Stalin in the Soviet Union, just to name a few. I can even roll with more current names, like Maduro in Venezuela. Or, if we could put a decent human being in there and someone who actually knows how to lead, Javier Milei in Argentina.

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Anyway, Trudeau is the picture-perfect example of what a corrupt human being is: Someone who sought power when they were young and, unlike Dumbledore, attained, and got so drunk on it that it led to some atrocious decision-making.

As libertarians, we can look no further than Trudeau’s response to the Freedom Convoy a few years back. If you need me to give you a layman’s summary on the issue, Trudeau threatened to freeze bank accounts of protestors and those associated with them for openly opposing mandatory You Know What jabs. Yeah, the man basically turned into a dictator reminiscent of something outta the CCP if he wasn’t already one to begin with.

I was kind of shocked Carroll didn’t include this tidbit in his article (maybe I just missed it). But whatever. Trudeau’s shortcomings in other areas summed up his tenure as PM that maybe Carroll just didn’t feel like reminding people. Let me give you a rundown of what Carroll wrote, and I’m linking much of what he linked in his article:

Support for the Liberal Party clocking in at a whopping 16 percent

Implemented a gender-balanced cabinet just for the sake of implementing a gender-balanced cabinet 10 years ago, “Because it’s 2015.”

Scandal after scandal plagued Trudeau’s tenure as PM

Canada’s GDP numbers have stagnated under Trudeau

Justin Trudeau should’ve idolized Albus Dumbledore

Quoting Patrick Carroll’s piece directly, and, by extension, Douglas Adams, we get this.

“…[I]t is a well-known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it,” writes Douglas Adams. “…anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”

It’s something that Trudeau, in all of his arrogant posturing, couldn’t figure out himself. Now, he’ll leave a tarnished legacy in Canada, much unlike Javier Milei in Argentina, whose policies are making the place a viable country again.

Anyway, the point here is, Dumbledore knew about his shortcomings, so he limited his power to that of the Hogwarts Headmaster, though he did hold a few other titles. A position that, considering if you’re the safety-first crusader these days or the liberty lover, garnered mixed reviews from both those living in the Wizarding World, and real-life readers here in the Muggle World.

Dumbledore knew he’d likely abuse any power he attained, so he wisely stayed away from it. Trudeau had been so drunk on power that I’d be surprised if he didn’t receive a massive dopamine rush every time he managed to implement draconian measures in Canada.

Of course, we can contrast many politicians all over the world with Dumbledore, and it’s one reason why he’s one of my favorite characters in Harry Potter, despite his flaws. But, for those we contrast, we can come to one conclusion: Dumbledore is by no means perfect, but he’s a heck of a lot better than most of the garbage that plagues our capital cities.

In Twilight’s Hush is more than just the coolest-sounding book title ever

Yeah, it’s hard to believe we’re about to reach the halfway point of the 2020s, but here we are, a meager 12 months away. Less than, technically. Still, since I’m one of those readers who likes to reread books he’s devoured in the past every few years, and 2025 is one of them, I doubt I’ll find a better-sounding title than In Twilight’s Hush.

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And before you ask, that includes titles for my own books. But then again, my Elementals of Nordica Series will be going through a rebrand at some point, and I’ve always thought those titles were garbage to begin with since I had no idea what I was doing when I wrote those books. That said, it’s not like I think highly of them.

So, that leaves me to talk about Book IV in the Gabriel McRay Series by Laurie Stevens. To date, this book is going on five years old. And as I write this, it’s the latest for a series in which each installment can be read as a standalone. For readers who can’t stand starting at Book I, you don’t have to here.

When I first reviewed In Twilight’s Hush way back in 2021, it was the first I’d heard of the series when I snagged a complimentary copy and it was clear from the get-go I didn’t need to read Books I-III to understand what the heck was going on. But, now that I think of it, I wouldn’t mind giving those books a look-in since they, you guessed it, contain a libertarian theme or two.

Libertarians might like what In Twilight’s Hush offers

I literally get chills every time I type in that title. This work, which is a psychic thriller of all genres, tells a story that you might be familiar with if you’re a fan of all things missing persons related.

And speaking of missing persons, remind me to add Missing 411 by David Paulides to my TBR since I’ve been talking about reading the guy’s work for the last four years as opposed to just listening to old podcasts regarding some crazy cases.

Maybe reading this book earlier that year is what got me hooked to Missing 411. Well, that and the Freaky Folklore podcast that talked about the mysterious disappearance of Stacey Ann Arras which I crossed in September 2021. That particular case occurred in the 1980s, if I’m not mistaken, and so did the cold case here, involving a girl named Nancy Lewicki who went missing in 1988.

Here’s where it gets good for libertarians

Obviously, unless a book or a series is well-known, I’m not handing you any spoilers. But, let’s just say that a well-respected member of the Los Angeles Community might just know a thing or two but isn’t telling us.

Well-respected as in, politically connected. You might call that a spoiler, but since just about every character, in one way, shape or form seems to have political connections here to varying degrees, it’s not much of a spoiler.

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But for me, it gives us yet another example of how corrupt those at the top can be if they don’t want something discovered. And when we pertain this to real life, we can pick out a few instances off the bat and still have plenty to talk about.

Likelihood of the COVID lab leak theory prevailing in one way or another

US war crimes of the 21st century (See Enough Already by Scott Horton)

Domestic crimes by past US presidents

Ultimately, it shows that power attracts those who are ill-suited for it and that there’s almost always a 100 percent chance those people will grow even more corrupt.

Yeah, I’ll concede another micro-spoiler: If you read In Twilight’s Hush, you might feel some antagonistic sympathy. Still, we’re talking about one character who used their position and societal standing to try and make this case run cold for as long as they could. Ultimately, it caught up to them.

An awesome title and an action-packed book

My old review blog was called Action-Packed Book Reviews, and it held one niche: Stories that held little to no exposition and moved faster than fast. In Twilight’s Hush does just that, but it’s a story that has a much, much deeper meaning for libertarians out there, regardless of whether that was Laurie Stevens’ intent. I’m going to assume it wasn’t.

For non-libertarians, it’s still worth the read, given the immense character arc in the work. It’s low on politics overall unless you know where to look (thankfully, might I add), high in adrenaline-pumping scenes, and it comes with a compelling subplot.

Or, at least one that I find compelling that definitely has nothing to do with me picturing myself as Gabriel and his love interest as my current celebrity crush. Hey, I can dream, right?

Liberty Belles Series looks like a true winner and an excellent add to the TBR list

Tracy Lawson has been one of my favorite authors since I first picked up her Resistance Series back in 2019. For libertarians out there, it’s a series you’ll love and one I can’t wait to share right here later this year. It’s been around for a while and it’s beyond timeless, especially in the wake of the You Know What that gained ground in 2020.

A few years ago when I had a blog on my author website, I also conducted a written interview with Lawson. I’ll have to conduct a deep dive for and try to locate it as it’s been a while. But if I find it, I’ll happily post it here at some point.

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And if you remember, I also reviewed her historical fiction novel, Answering Liberty’s Call. On Monday, I made plans to add even more of Tracy Lawson’s books to my brewing TBR list. And this one bodes well with that 2025 New Year’s Resolution I made a few days back, adding more books geared toward kids to counteract a lot of what they’re exposed to these days in government schools.

Long story short, the Liberty Belles Series is a children’s version of Answering Liberty’s Call, so the works go hand-in-hand. That said, if you’re a parent and would like to share Anna Stone’s story with your kids, or if you teach in a microschool, learning pod, or homeschooling environment, you might want to consider Liberty Belles. This is especially true if you’ve already read and enjoyed Answering Liberty’s Call.

A story based on true events that hit home with the author

Something I love about this work is that it’s based on true events. In her January 6th, 2025 email, Tracy shared a compelling story with her readers regarding the work. Here’s an excerpt from that email:

“I got my first good look at the Declaration of Independence at a local McDonald’s. I was nine years old. The Bicentennial celebration was in full swing, and Colonial America and Revolutionary War themes were popular, well, everywhere.

“As I sat in the red plastic booth with my Happy Meal, staring up at the life-sized reproduction on the wall over our table, I saw my name. Well, my last name, anyway.

“Someone named Thomas Stone signed the Declaration of Independence three lines below John Hancock. I wondered if my family was related to him, but dismissed the idea. How could we possibly have ties to someone who forged America's founding document?

”Many years later, I learned I am indeed related to Thomas Stone, a signer of the Declaration of Independence from Maryland. He’s my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather’s second cousin, and that makes him my second cousin seven times removed. Does that make me feel better about myself?

“Probably, say psychologists.”

Spoiler Alert: Tracy Lawson is in the right

Lawson then pointed to a study conducted at Emory University to drive this point home, and it’s something I can personally attest to. Thanks to some research on Find a Grave of all places and verifying through written records, I managed to discover that my own ancestors were members of the good old Society of Friends.

That’s right. This rough-around-the-edges loose cannon is descended from the Quakers, something I thought was rather cool. But, it made sense, as my ancestors settled in the Middle Colonies, they came from Northern England, and are buried in Friends Cemeteries.

My great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was the contractor who built the Aisquith Street Meeting House, the oldest Friends Meeting House that remains in Baltimore County, Maryland, to this day. And yeah, if you research it, you’ll also discover my real last name as opposed to the Marti or Martikainen monikers.

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I was listening to one of the lectures over at Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom, and it was also said that the Quakers were the ‘most libertarian’ of those original groups that came over from England. This isn’t to say they were completely libertarian, but I might have a bit of an inkling that I inherited some of their spirits…maybe…

A lot of good to take in

As noted a few days back, building that child-friendly TBR list was one of my more ambitious resolutions this year, especially since I primarily read darker content. That said, Liberty Belles will certainly make its appearance, and it’s not the only work out there liberty-loving parents will enjoy.

Books like The Tuttle Twins have also piqued my interest, and they’re all just a handful of what I have in store for 2025. Overall, this is now going from ‘this is gonna be a fun year’ to one that will take me on several adventures.

3 unforgettable characters in Spirit Legacy who libertarians will love

While you don’t see much of her in Spirit Legacy, Jess Ballard’s mother, Elizabeth, is someone whose character grows in layers as the Gateway Trilogy progresses. But, you learn something significant about her in Spirit Legacy, and it’s something that all libertarians can point to: Trusting official narratives for the sake of trusting the ‘experts’ on an issue isn’t always a good idea. In fact, it’s not often the case.

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But, I wanted to save that ‘official narratives’ article for another time. Perhaps when I once again finish the Gateway Trilogy. Instead, I’d rather talk about three characters in Book I who you will meet and get to know, even if one of them isn’t fully fleshed out until Books II and III.

Each character you’re going to read about, though, either A, isn’t a fan of the current establishment, B, was a victim of the establishment, or C, gives off vibes that she’s one of those ‘by the book’ types, only for her actions to prove otherwise.

Dr. David Pierce

Oh yes, Dr. David Pierce is a character you’ll fall in love with immediately for one reason only: It’s heavily implied most academia at St. Matt’s look down on him because of the subject matter he’s obsessed with: parapsychology. I mean, just take this quip from everyone’s favorite left-leaning outlet, Wikipedia: “Criticized as being a pseudoscience, the majority of mainstream scientists reject it.”

Of course, this means Pierce has a bit of a chip on his shoulder, and he’s not shy about it. Pierce likes to, in turn, criticize just about everything about St. Matt’s, at one point saying something along the lines of, “If there’s one thing the administration doesn’t like, it’s bad publicity,” in response to when he recalled Evan Corbett’s death.

Yeah, Pierce is quite the enigmatic character, and he’s the only professor in the school who will believe that Jess is really seeing and interacting with Evan. The Dean, for example, referred Jess to a ‘shrink’ when Jess first claimed to have talked with Evan.

Heck, the Dean even went as far as to insist that Jess toe an official ‘line’ and simply claim she’d mistaken the name. That said, you’re getting a bit of closed-minded academia here on the part of the St. Matt’s staff, regarding a well-respected Dean of Students, and the open-minded David Pierce, who likes to consider all options as opposed to accepting and bowing down to a mainstream viewpoint.

Hannah

Hannah is the one character you’ll feel for more than anyone else. And, she’ll also make you hate the state a little more as the trilogy progresses. But, even in Spirit Legacy, you’ll get an inkling of why that is.

For one, and for the life of me, I’ve never understood this in the many times I’ve read Spirit Legacy, is why the Durupinen dispatched two prominent members, one of whom you’ll find out later is on the Council, to tab Jess and her Aunt Karen to rescue the poor girl from a psych ward.

Hannah obviously doesn’t need to be in one, but having seen and interacted with spirits since her first memories, every family that took her in thought the girl was crazy. That said, Hannah’s institutionalized and drugged up to the point she can barely stand straight, even if she’s perfectly sane.

Anyway, the Durupinen are like the paranormal version of the CIA (or MI6, since they’re technically in the UK). These people have more money and power than the deep state, yet they can’t use their power and influence to bail a girl out of a place she doesn’t belong?

If this didn’t unveil just how inept the Durupinen Council is, don’t worry, because things get a whole lot more interesting in Spirit Prophecy and Spirit Ascendency. Still, E.E. Holmes gives you a nice, little preview in Spirit Legacy when you’re literally going to say, “WTF?” when Catriona and Lucida make up some lame excuse before bailing on Jess and Karen.

Tia Vezga

When you first meet Tia Vezga, you’re going to utter one sentence: Likable, but forgettable. Tia, Jess’ roommate and her sidekick for most of the work, comes across as a paper-thin character.

One who is the ultimate perfectionist, almost like a female version of Danny Tanner from Full House. The girl is a pre-med major who likes to freak out about the smallest things, and is the last person you’d think would believe that Jess can see and interact with spirits.

Someone like Tia would certainly come across as the “follow the science” type of person we all couldn’t stand during the You Know What of 2020. Even if, in hindsight, we all know how “well” lockdowns, for example, turned out.

Instead, Tia, much to Jess’ surprise, not only believes, but offers to help Jess get to the bottom of why a spirit is reaching out to her.

This showed me something that I’ve come to know about libertarians: The fact that they’re not afraid to look deeper into just about any issue that the mainstream media (MSM) tries to force down their throats.

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What kind of character is Tia?

Heck, half the articles and nonfiction books I read these days provide simple alternatives to what MSM loves to tout as successful or a failure. Take the jobs reports that MSM tried telling us was proof that the Biden-Harris Administration’s economy was booming throughout 2024.

Many of those reports claimed jobs increased monthly in staggering numbers, except in October. But these were Establishment Survey numbers. They never told us most of the new jobs were either:

Government jobs

Part-time jobs

Phantom jobs (my term)

The latter refers to the ‘Birth-Death Model’ that Ryan McMaken of the Mises Institute points to. Jobs that are supposedly going to be created with new businesses springing up, but in actuality, those jobs don’t technically exist yet, if they’ll ever exist.

McMaken also pointed to the more accurate Household Survey, which told us that job growth per household, despite the Establishment Survey’s monster numbers, stagnated in a best-case scenario. Of course, the progressive media would never admit this, knowing most of the normies out there would just go along with those “monster,” six-figure gains in job growth and assume everything to be fine.

What I’m getting at is this: Tia’s not the kind of character who will take any claim at face value. Well, unless it comes to relationships, then she’s likely to make premature assumptions.

But, given the way this pre-med, science-first character believed Jess and realized without much convincing that there’s more out there in that particular world than science may understand, it shows that she’s a deep, critical thinker. One who is likely to look at every side of an equation before jumping to a conclusion just because it may fit her worldview.

Books fueling early 2000s nostalgia have joined the New Year’s Resolution party

Do you want to know why the masses set themselves up for failure when they make a New Year’s Resolution? One reason is that they’re not specific. Nor are their goals measurable. Nor attainable. Nor relevant. Nor are they on a time clock.

I first heard of S.M.A.R.T. goals shortly after I ordered a few textbooks that would kick off what was once a promising career as a personal trainer all the way back in 2009. Not long after I graduated high school if you want the truth. When I landed my first real personal training gig in 2012 at age 21, I was well-versed in them, and it was probably why I managed to work almost full-time as a trainer at such a young age.

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It was September 2012, and the old 24-hour fitness center in Northern West Virginia was where I ultimately spent some of my best days. Leaving that job in January 2017 in search of greener pastures that ultimately, following a plethora of starts, stops, sputters, stalls, and a pandemic, led me back to my original passion: writing.

Well, writing and reading. Strange how things work out. But throughout my four-and-a-half, or nearly-four-and-a-half years at that fitness center, I saw a lot, and I mean a lot of failed New Year’s Resolutions. While I’m no longer a trainer, I still spend a good two hours in the gym a day, and I’ll surely see it again. The resolutions, that is.

This is why, if you look at the subheading of this article, I put some specifications there:

Books for readers between ages 10 and 14

25, to be exact

By December 31st

Why this New Year’s Resolution will work in my favor

Before I talk to you about why that will be the case, let’s talk about why I saw so many fail in the gym and continue to see that today. I know, this is a book review page, but bear with me. Anyway, most of these people say they just want to exercise more and eat better, and nothing more.

Yeah, that means they already set themselves up for failure. I didn’t want that to happen when it came to this particular book reading goal, so instead of saying that I’d like to dig into and add books that are suitable for readers between the ages of 10 and 14, I wanted to add some specifications.

I needed a number that I could hit, which was 25. For me, that’s almost one book every other week. Now, this doesn’t mean I need to read them all this year, as some books that I have in mind, like Holes by Louis Sachar, just to throw a work out there, I’ve read about a million times.

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There’s also a timetable on it: by December 31st. This means that Recommended Reads list which I’ll have available at Goodreads and right here as well must have that number by December 31st.

It’s not just a goal with specifications, but one that’s measurable, given the number that I presented. It’s also more than attainable, as what’s 25 books, really? Relevance is self-explanatory, and there’s a timetable on it.

Now, it’s your turn

As you read this, it’s already January 3rd, 2025, the day after most New Year’s Resolutions begin, right? Or, maybe it’ll be January 6th, since it’s the first Monday of 2025. So, my question to you is this: Did you just say something out of the blue that you were going to do this year, or did you get specific?

If not, you still got time. I’ll be lenient and say you have until the 6th. So, if your goal is to read more books, why not write down the following:

I will read X pages per day

I will read X pages by day by (specific time)

I will read X pages per day before (or after) (insert activity)

Easy, right? Hey, even the toughest New Year’s Resolutions can be easy if you allow them to be. As for me, I thankfully have a few books that I know I’ll be adding to that Recommended Reads list, including A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck and its sequel, A Year Down Yonder.

Books like The Giver and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, Nothing But the Truth by Avi, and Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt will also be tagging along. All seven Chronicles of Narnia books by C.S. Lewis will grace the list, too, and I also crossed a few other forgotten gems that gave me early-2000s nostalgia.

And yes, I know, very, very few of these books that I mentioned were written in the early 2000s. But that was when I discovered them, even if I actually didn’t read a few of them until sometime later. But still, it’s where the nostalgia comes from.

Anyway, you may’ve noticed that I’ll already have plenty of books to add to that list, to the point I’ll get to 25 in no time. So, once this goal is inevitably reached, what then? Why not increase to 30, 35, 40, and even more should I get there?

Ultimate failure ain’t a bad thing

As you can see, the Resolution will just keep increasing until the clock strikes 11:59 PM on December 31st, 2025. That said, this Resolution is destined to fail since I’ll be upping the ante every time I accomplish another goal.

But who cares? Hey, if there’s another lesson I’ve learned about working out for what will be my 21st year pumping serious iron (started when I was 14), it’s that failure ain’t a bad thing. Sometimes, it’s good, because you know you still have a little more work to put in. And yeah, I’m the old-school type here, so I love that lactic acid, work ‘til I drop mindset.

It doesn’t just come in the gym; but in life. That said, I’ll clear 25 books long before Lord Voldemort celebrates his next birthday while he’s still stuck in limbo. The real burning question is: Will I fail at 30, 40, or even 50 books until I fail?

In the meantime, I’ll just keep setting those S.M.A.R.T goals just like you should be doing, and I’ll succeed numerous times before failure is ultimately reached. And that ultimate failure will be a beautiful, beautiful thing.

What makes the Gateway Trilogy so enticing for libertarians?

Whether an author purposefully injected libertarian themes into their work isn’t the point as far as I’m concerned. J.K. Rowling is hardly a libertarian, yet you can find so many examples of it in all seven of her works that you could write a book on it alone, complete with backing from some of the greatest libertarian thinkers of the age.

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Maybe that’ll be my magnum opus. But for now, another series that happens to involve a castle portraying itself as a school in the UK of all places, has once again caught my attention. I didn’t want to say England because Hogwarts is technically located in Scotland while Fairhaven Hall is in England.

Anyway, some readers may take messages that both works are left-leaning, but I’ll digress. Take Harry Potter, for example. It’s no secret that the Wizarding Community was marginalized so much that it enticed the Hogwarts Founders into creating the school in the first place. Just take this quote from HarryPotter.com:

The tenth century was a dangerous time for witches and wizards, who were being persecuted by Muggles hostile to magic. Therefore, Hogwarts was built somewhere in the Scottish Highlands, and concealed with numerous charms and spells to make it impossible for Muggles to trespass. For instead of an enormous school, any passing Muggle would only see ruins and signs warning them of danger.

That marginalization played a part in Salazar Slytherin’s mistrust in Muggle-borns and Muggles alike, and it’s why I’ve mainly seen him as a ‘social justice warrior,’ even if many would disagree. Then, you had dark wizards like Gellert Grindelwald, Albus Dumbledore (in his younger years), and Tom Riddle (Lord Voldemort), seek wizarding supremacy as a way to lead witches and wizards out of hiding to at least some degree.

Sure, Voldemort had more ulterior motives, like immortality, but I’m sure you’re catching the gist. It was a hatred toward Muggles because of the way they treated their wizarding brethren that led to Grindelwald and Dumbledore’s plans to achieve supremacy, and later, Voldemort’s.

Gateway Trilogy might spit on tradition

Then, you have the Gateway Trilogy, which one could spin into themes like doing away with specific traditions. Many in the Durupinen (Doo-ruh-pine-en) Sisterhood were perfectly fine, for example, of conserving such traditions, for example, of leaving Caomhnoir (kehv-noor) training to men only. Women, meanwhile, were only allowed to train as Durupinen.

There’s also the entire role of the Caomhnoir. They can’t have a friendly relationship whatsoever with the Durupinen they’re sworn to protect. They’ve also been compulsively lied to about them, being told that the Durupinen are nothing more than temptresses, which sowed the Caomhnoir’s distrust in them from a very young age before they even stepped foot into Fairhaven.

Obviously, you can see where some of this is going. It’s tradition that in this sisterhood (Durupinen) and brotherhood (Caomhnoir), there is a hierarchy, and that certain groups of people have nothing more than a cordial (at best) relationship with one another. Our protagonist, Jess Ballard, predictably seeks to change things, which becomes more prominent in the sequel series, the Gateway Trackers.

Some readers may only see these as the actual themes, which hint a little that they’re shifting left. But, for me, these issues in the trilogy and sequel series are petty compared to the real, deeper message here that becomes apparent later on: There is no ‘good guy.’

Gateway Trilogy opens the door for Corrupt vs. Evil

Depending on what day it is and what mood I’m in, I’ll sometimes rank the Gateway Trilogy, Gateway Trackers, or the combined World of the Gateway ahead of Harry Potter. One of my reasons for this is that instead of the classic Good vs. Evil trope that’s been told about a thousand times, E.E. Holmes instead hits us with something else: Corrupt vs. Evil.

Hmm, where’ve we seen that before in real life? Maybe it’s in a place called Washington D.C.? A place where it seems like regardless of who’s elected into public office, we see the following:

Perpetual War

Increased Deficits and Inflation

Assaults on Civil Liberties

And that’s just the shortlist. Then, we can take this thing worldwide, something I implied with my ‘Perpetual War’ quip and talk more about American Imperialism.

Anyway, the Gateway Trilogy and its successor series hit home on this, albeit on a smaller scale. You got the corrupt Durupinen vs. a group of dangerous thugs who call themselves the Necromancers.

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The ‘Good Guys’ (or Girls) are beyond corrupt

Yeah, the Necromancers want to use spirits for some sick purposes. But that hasn’t stopped the Durupinen from engaging in acts like Leeching, for example. So, what is Leeching?

Well, when you first meet the Durupinen, they all look like supermodels, regardless of their age. And trust me, some of these women are ancient, but they’re in the bodies of someone who is twenty, thirty, and forty years old, depending on their preferences.

Anyway, when the Durupinen cross a spirit from the physical realm and into the spirit realm, they ‘Leech’ some of that spirit’s essence, as though they’re entitled to it. This allows many (but not all) Durupinen to maintain their youthful looks. But it also runs the risk of a spirit to get, and I’m paraphrasing, ‘trapped in the aether.’

Oh, and in Book II, Spirit Prophecy, Jess Ballard discovers something that the Durupinen did that’s so barbaric that I won’t mention it here. Let’s just say that these people will go to some disturbing lengths just to protect themselves and subjecting their victims, regardless of their age, to some brutal torture even in the afterlife. There, that’s your hint.

Yeah, their sworn enemies, the Necromancers, are even worse, as I’ve mentioned. But the Durupinen are clearly no angels. And just from these two instances alone, it’s easy to conclude that these people, at least those running things at the bureaucratic level, are pure evil. So much, you may even rank them one small tier below the Necromancers.

Two sides of the same coin

And that brings me to why libertarians would find the Gateway Trilogy so enticing. Yeah, there is the mantra in the Gateway Trackers sequel series of ‘just electing the right people will make things right,’ and trust me, that method did lead to some changes.

Just like you’ll find ‘some changes’ in American society depending on who’s in the White House and who’s got control of the House and Senate. But, the main issues don’t change, such as regime-change wars.

Enough Already by Scott Horton alone shows us it doesn’t matter who’s running things, there will always be a war to fight, regardless if there’s a Republican or a Democrat in the White House. Either one that directly involves the US or a proxy war. Let’s just make an ‘including, but not limited to’ list of wars mentioned in Horton’s work:

Iran-Iraq War

Soviet-Afghan War

Iraq War I

Iraq War I.5

War in Afghanistan

Iraq War II

Libya

Syria (been in the news a lot lately)

By the way, it’s the most interesting part of Horton’s book and it’s absolutely jaw-dropping.

Yemen

Iraq War III

Russo-Ukrainian War

Gaza War

Not to mention, ongoing beef with Iran and China.

Yeah, you may get the die-hards on the right and die-hards on the left pointing fingers at the other side of the aisle and claiming “It’s their fault!” My advice: Don’t let ‘em lie to you. They’re both responsible. And again, this is just one of many examples we can use here, but I’m not one who’s going into all the intricacies since it’s not my niche.

But if you want more fun and get your daily fix, the Mises Institute and the Ron Paul Institute are just two of many outlets you can check out.

Similar takes are coming up

Now that the Holidays are almost in the rearview, I’ll have a little more free time to tackle not just the Gateway Trilogy, but a whole lot more. Regardless of which books, trilogies, or complete series I’m reading, expect similar takes as I cross them and jot down a few notes for a deep dive.

I can’t wait to share them all with you in the new year, so stay tuned and catch some libertarian themes in my favorite books that many readers may not have known existed.

Background goal for The Arcane Prophecy: Inspire readers to embrace revisionist history

While picturing an alternative form to government or heavily regulated private education is first and foremost the top goal of The Arcane Prophecy, my upcoming young adult academy fantasy I’m planning to unleash into Kindle Unlimited in September 2025, revisionist history is a secondary, yet every bit as important, theme.

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During my latest story edit for the work, I recently crossed one of my favorite passages that involves my main character, Yote Diamondback, writing a handwritten letter to her mother. The passage states the following:

She also stressed that she was one of the top, if not the top, students in Dr. Grimbane’s gathering, and how she was getting a unique take on history in a gathering Dr. Hayek Angelsin led. And before you ask, I named Dr. Angelsin Hayek for a reason.

Why they never taught us these things in Kenborne, I’ll never know, Yote wrote. But I’m more than willing to learn more about how not just Aurora but the entire region has thrived in a society where, somehow, everything is privately owned and nothing is publicly funded.

Or, as Angelsin calls public funds, “stolen funds.” Lol. You would think chaos, but that hasn’t been the case. It’s really been interesting to get a new take on how things can operate.

Hence, my own little love affair with revisionist history. While Dr. Wanjiru Njoya of The Mises Institute is far and away one of my go-to sources, I also wanted to point to a small book, a pamphlet really, by none other than Thomas J. DiLorenzo to further stress the importance of revisionism.

This book, entitled Axis of Evil: America’s Three Worst Presidents, is an easy-to-read, 15-page sprint that talks about some of the most dictatorial and evil people to have ever sat in the Oval Office.

Abraham Lincoln

Woodrow Wilson

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Yep, I can hear official narrative and American Mythology lovers grinding their teeth, scoffing, or throwing a fit at this one. But, let me give you a brief rundown of DiLorenzo’s pamphlet in quick, bulleted points. At the end of this article, you’ll know why revisionist history is at least worth a look, even if you choose not to embrace it.

Note, that in many instances, I’m paraphrasing DiLorenzo. So, if you read Axis of Evil: America’s Three Worst Presidents, you’ll some similar wording. I just thought I’d give you all a heads up. But, these bulleted points only cover the basics, so, you’ll still want to check out the work, which I linked above for your convenience (or, watch the video) to get the full scoop.

Abraham Lincoln’s Atrocities

His army murdered 50,000-plus southern civilians in War Between the States

Used excessive violence to “preserve” the Union

Ordered total destruction of entire cities

Promoted commanders committing such acts that extended to plundering and rape

Favorite general quipped the mass murder as “a beautiful sight.”

Supported the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

Supported the Corwin Amendment and lied about never seeing it

Threatened states refusing to collect federal tariffs on imports with violence

The Confederate states particularly opposed this

Suspended writ of habeas corpus in April 1861

This applied to Northern civilians who openly disagreed with his actions

Censored over 300 newspapers that also critiqued him and his policies

Giving credit where it’s due, I did learn about this in the eighth grade

Initially had no intention of ending slavery during the War Between the States

Wished to deport blacks from North America

Emancipation Proclamation exempted:

West Virginia

Louisiana Parishes

Anywhere Union Army-occupied area in the South

Lincoln also wished for the proclamation to be finite when the war ended

Economic policy views advocated:

Protectionism

Raised tariff rates 10 times

Corporate welfare

1862 Pacific Railway Act

Central banking so subsidize protectionist and corporate welfare policies

Signed America’s first military conscription law

Signed to discourage desertion

Also ordered deserters to be executed by firing squad into pre-dug graves

Ordered Union soldiers to fire on and kill draft protesters in 1863

Married into the Todd Family, which owned slaves

Upon inheriting the slaves, Lincoln sold as opposed to freeing them

DiLorenzo also added that Robert E. Lee married into a similar family. And upon his (through his wife’s) inheritance, Lee freed these slaves instead of selling them.

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Woodrow Wilson and His War Socialism

Campaigned in 1916 of how “He Kept Us Out of War,” and then went to war

Responsible for 116,516 deaths and 320,000 wounded because of that war

Prolonging this war had devastating effects in the 20th century

Rise of the Soviet Union

Based on funneling American tax dollars for Russian Provisional Government to remain in the war

DiLorenzo used the word ‘enter,’ but ‘remain’ adds clarity here

Such an act gave the anti-war Bolsheviks quite a bit of leverage

Hitler in Europe due to:

Treaty of Versailles

Allies refusal to engage in peace talks when US entered war

Lied about “saving democracy”

DeLorenzo noted Germany had the following going for it, and this is one I’ll quote directly.

“However, Germany at the time had freedom of the press, including criticism of the kaiser; a broader voting franchise than England’s rule of law; and due process. And the kaiser had fewer executive powers than the American president did.”

Implemented ‘War Socialism’ in America

National Defense Act of 1916

Army Appropriations Act

War Industries Board

Espionage Act

Military Conscription (1917)

Resegregated military

Public criticisms of Wilson and his policies led to prison sentences

Ex. Eugene Debs

Censored communication via telephone and telegraph

Let’s not forget…

Creation of the Fed

Sixteenth Amendment

Seventeenth Amendment

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Prolonging the Great Depression

Economic Fascism

National Industrial Recovery Act

Agricultural Adjustment Act

Skyrocketed prices

Rendered price-cutting illegal

Less livestock was raised and fewer crops were grown

New Deal policies also grew unemployment

Payroll taxes for social security

Unemployment insurance

Minimum wage laws

Union-favoring laws

Unemployment Percentages

1929 - 3.2

1939 - 17.2

Both National Recovery and Agricultural Adjustment Acts were rendered unconstitutional in 1935

Provoked Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

Ex. Cut Japan’s oil supply

Knew about the impending attack

Attacked civil liberties at home

Thousands of Japanese Americans were forced into concentration camps

Investigated anyone who criticized New Deal policies

Friend of FDR’s named Hugo Black encouraged intimidation of Republican donors

As a side note, Black spent time in the Ku Klux Klan

FCC waged war on FDR critics in the radio industry

The TBR list is growing

While I primarily like to focus on fiction, there’s just no denying how much my TBR list has grown in all things nonfiction, especially with the many works DiLorenzo cited in this booklet. Now, I’m not putting a timetable of when they’ll get read, due to time constraints and the fact I have 50-plus books on my list as it is, so 2026 (or later) would be a solid guesstimate of when I’ll get to them.

But still, it’s best to put them on the list now or else my brain will do what it does best, and that’s to find a notorious way to forget things. Anyway, the sources DiLorenzo has shared show us just how much work he’s put into this small project, and, upon checking out his Goodreads profile, there are many, many more of his own works I wouldn’t mind devouring.

But, bit by bit, slow and steady, right? I’ve heard such a mentality wins races

Official Breakdown and Review: Education Without the State by Tom Woods - Part II

One of the greatest purposes behind my own fiction is to give readers a simple alternative to what’s been force-fed down their throats. While my upcoming young adult academy fantasy, Arcane Elemental Academy, is first and foremost intended to entertain, there are real-life inspirations behind it.

If there’s something I never enjoyed as a kid, it involved being coerced into hopping onto a school bus just so I could somehow exercise my “right” to walk through a building full of cinder block walls in a single-file line, in silence, and take part in classes whose subject matter I’d never use again.

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Oh, and for those subjects I did show some interest in, yeah, I could only undertake them for a finite time each day. Then, it was off to study some material that I couldn’t have cared less about and, to this day, still couldn’t care less about.

Such is the case with government schooling, an institution that the political left has throttled, even if I’ve crossed some readers who like to pretend otherwise. That same political left took over my love for sports, but that’s a discussion for another time.

Anyway, the purpose of breaking down and reviewing works like Tom Woods’ Education Without the State serves two purposes. One, it’s nonfiction that inspires my own fiction, and two, as mentioned earlier, to provide you with a simple alternative that opposes what’s been routinely drilled into our heads since birth - and that’s the false notion that the state should “provide” education.

If you missed Part I, you can catch it here. And if you’re all caught up, let me break down and give you my honest thoughts on Part II. Oh, and now that I’m somewhat finding my groove with reviewing these smaller, to-the-point books, this one’s a little more in-depth than Part I, if you wanted an understatement.

Chapter 3How private schools educate the world’s poor

If you’re interested in listening to the transcript between Tom Woods and James Tooley, you can do so on Episode 238 of Tom Woods’ Podcast. It’s a show whose episodes I devour weekly and, alongside Human Action and Radio Rothbard, has become one of my go-to destinations.

Anyway, onto the breakdown. This one is a continuation of Woods’ conversation with Pauline Dixon, if you want the short answer. But, there was much more to be uncovered here, starting with the opening when Tooley stated how surprised he was by just how little people knew about how capable the world’s poor were of taking education into their own hands.

Personally, I love this opening, because it completely derails the assumption that people can’t improve their well-being without the state. Tooley also pointed out that this wasn’t a regional thing, but had been going on in parts of Africa, India, and China.

The kicker? Those schools were also performing better than government schooling, if there were any. Tooley conceded that the pay wasn’t great for these teachers, but the staff generally wanted to be there. And it’s very, very telling when those the schools employ are happy to be working there.

Tooley also stated that yes, the schools were recognizable. That’s also telling, as the general consensus could have easily been that these schools were held in random, unmarked buildings. But that wasn’t the case.

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Best yet, Tooley had the statistics to back up the fact that the schools in these countries he discussed fared better than their government-run counterparts. No, that’s not a surprise to me, but to those buying into official narratives, it’d be a wake-up call. If you wanted further evidence, it’s something Tooley outlined in his book, The Beautiful Tree. And best yet, he noted these comparisons went beyond just test scores, and that’s huge.

The take on China

This one intrigued me because lately, I’ve often thought of China as a wild card. Yeah, the regime and the entire CCP blow, yet they always seem somewhat tolerant of free markets in what I might call a sweet taste of irony.

And it seems like the private schools in China also operated in that gray area. They’re independent, and as Tooley said, “tolerated.” He also went on to talk about how the accessibility to government schools in these remote areas of China was kind of off the radar, necessitating the need for entrepreneurs to step in and provide a solution.

Well, you can guess what happened, I’m sure. They took action, and those remote villages had more convenient private schools to attend. Ditto for the “migrant population” that ventured into cities (like Beijing), who couldn’t get into government schools. Once again, the private sector had the answer.

While the government has had a “tolerance” for these schools’ existence, you can guess that they’re still required to spread the (presumably) CCP’s ideology. There are definite downers, but nevertheless, Tooley gave us a keen look-in that even in a place like China, private schools can prevail.

Responding to common objections

First, let me applaud Tom Woods here for the way he paraphrased the general objection:

“Their friends say, look, I understand we don’t want price controls on milk. We get that. But we do need government provision of schools, because otherwise everyone would be illiterate and worshiping Thor.”

I loved the “worshiping Thor” part, given the fact I rarely leave my home these days without my Thurisaz (ᚦ) rune necklace - Thor’s rune. Just thought I’d throw that out there. Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

Here’s a quick bullet list of what I picked up with Tooley responding to said objections. And, in many cases, I’m paraphrasing, but you’ll also see me mixing in my own thoughts.

Low-cost private schooling existed in the West before the government takeover

This alone gives us compelling evidence that government schooling isn’t necessary.

Tooley also brought up parents educating kids as natural as “feeding and clothing them.”

BIG PLUS HERE. In my own experience, my mother educated me well before she handed me off to the state when I was pre-school age, to the point I knew basic Spanish. And no, my mom has no ancestry in any Spanish-speaking country.

I was waiting for the objection of, “What about parents who won’t educate their kids?”

Tooley had a number on hand, and it was “maybe five percent in England and Wales in the nineteenth century.”

Ooh, and another favorite objection of mine: Equality, equity, and social justice

Public schooling doesn’t even remotely serve social justice, and Tooley said something similar.

Evidence? Hey, I’ve worked in areas that had money and areas that didn’t have money. You probably don’t need to guess which areas had the better schools.

Tooley also laid out an outline for helping the poor here in the West, but I think he answered that objection well throughout his discussion with Woods.

Thoughts

For me, there was a lot of myth-busting going on here. Not only did Tooley find common denominators in different regions of the world; he also tore apart the argument for state-mandated education in the West.

This chapter alone could hand us a well-crafted argument that ultimately shows there’s no need for the state to stick its nose in education. Or, as I like to call it, indoctrination.

Chapter 4School vs. Education

Okay, let me just say that School Sucks is the absolute best name for a podcast ever. While I couldn’t find the actual podcast itself - keep in mind that this interview also took place more than a minute ago on Episode 303 - it’s still legendary in and of itself.

That said, I wanted to begin with a story: Back when I was in the fourth grade, this would have been the 2000-01 school year, Blink 182 just released a song called All the Small Things. Yeah, you’re welcome if I made you feel old. Well, I distinctly remember me and my friends replacing the lyrics of “truth care, truth brings,” with “school sucks, and things.”

Yeah, maybe I was rather aware of just how despicable state education was years before I graduated from high school in 2009. So, Mr. Brett Veinotte, thanks for the nostalgic moment! Veinotte also dropped the mic early in this interview, reminding us that real education doesn’t need to occur in what most would refer to as a school.

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It’s chapters like these that make me mentally kick myself for not discovering Tom Woods’ podcast earlier. But it’s better to be late than never, right? “Self-directed, intrinsically motivated” are just two words (or phrases) Veinotte hit a home run with.

And it’s something I can relate to, with my day job at the time of this writing stemming from 1,000 percent self-direction and intrinsic motivation and exactly 0 percent from my own studies. Yeah, talk about wasting a few years of my life earning a piece of paper or two that said I passed a bunch of courses for about $30 grand.

What if a kid just isn’t interested in learning math, science, etc.?

Veinotte dove into a story about a kid who was a fanatic of the TV show Ancient Aliens. While it would be rough to base a curriculum that stemmed from the show, Veinotte managed to find some interesting areas to study.

Astronomy

Evaluating evidence

Archaeology

Anthropology

Yeah, those few subjects alone would’ve made my own experience in government schools much more worthwhile. In fact, in the rare event when something exciting did occur when I was in middle school, the portion of my “education” I despised the most for various reasons, I can point to a pair of instances when it actually was fun:

Unit 2 of my fifth-grade science class, which discussed astronomy

The time in my sixth-grade history class when a classmate’s mother conducted a presentation. That woman happened to be an archaeologist.

A little about the School Sucks Podcast

As mentioned earlier, I couldn’t find a working link to this anywhere, so maybe I’m missing something. But, the conversation also turned to Brett Veinotte’s podcast, and something here caught my attention.

“So when I started the podcast in 2009, I blurted out I feel like the first 20 episodes: what my problems were with school, what I believed to be the hidden lessons of school—obedience, conformity, and as a result of that, a kind of political or philosophical or intellectual apathy. I wound up doing a big series right out of the gate about understanding politics, because I wanted people to understand that I wasn’t pursuing political solutions. I didn’t believe in the idea that the public schools could be reformed. We did a series on how kids are made to feel defective if they can’t conform to that environment of school, and some of the consequences of nonconformity, and how students could protect themselves from that.”

This quote sums up what I’ve read and heard from quite a few who have experience in working in the schooling sector, be it government/state-funded or private. That schools almost contain that hidden agenda while masquerading as a place of education, and that agenda, obviously, is what I bold-faced in the top half of Veinotte’s quip.

We can also agree that it’s a similar experience to what we all went through during our own days in government schools. I also like how Veinotte touched on the idea of ‘reform,’ as it’s been a word thrown around for quite a while.

“If only we could reform schools” is my way of paraphrasing it. Sadly, school reform, as we’ve seen, will benefit one group at the expense of another. Look no further than common core, critical race theory, and gender theory, and you’ll have caught my gist.

Other topics the show covered involved history, problems and solutions, productivity, logic, grammar, self-esteem, plus tidbits on homeschooling and unschooling. Overall, it sounded like a podcast that, while seemingly covering quite a few topics, to me looked like one that sat in a niche, before it expanded to what could be covered while remaining within that niche.

Takes on homeschooling

Something I really liked from this section was that we also didn’t see Veinotte completely go to bat for homeschooling. Sometimes, when I listen to podcasts or indulge in audiobooks, they can be slanted more into a “homeschooling can do no wrong” sector, but this wasn’t the case for that.

While I would 1,000 percent rather roll with homeschooling than government schooling, it’s also nice to see someone discuss potential pitfalls such as, for example, some parents perhaps having too much on their shoulders in such a setting.

So, if you’re looking for a decent balance between the pros and cons of each, Chapter 4 in this book has you covered.

Thoughts

Early on, Veinotte also talked about how we’ve become so conditioned as a society that education is something that occurs in an uncomfortable setting, that many who’ve gone through the process want nothing to do with it. He’s not wrong, and you only need to survey a few random people to draw that conclusion.

Heck, survey guests at the next Christmas party you attend, and I guarantee that you won’t get many favorable responses. Personally, the Sorting Hat put me in Ravenclaw (House of intellect, wit, learning, and creativity), so I guess that explains why the passion never died.