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.