I write fiction to challenge my worldview

Most authors write fiction to reinforce their worldview. Screw that. I’d rather challenge my worldview before I reinforce it.

I became Rothbardian in 2024 after reading Chaos Theory by Bob Murphy. The short read answered my biggest question: How do you fund defense without a government-funded military? Murphy had the answer. I won’t dive deep into the subject in this piece. You can read Murphy’s work for more information. But I was able to say, “Finally, I can take the step from Misesian to Rothbardian libertarianism.”

Two months later, I started writing my YA academy fantasy, The Arcane Prophecy. It wasn’t long until I quipped, “I’m putting the Rothbardian worldview through the grinder in this series.” That was when the plot had to challenge a society where there is no public sector — everything is privately owned, including military and defense.

We’re conditioned to distrust the private sector as the malevolent bad guys, trust the public sector as the benevolent good guys, and openly criticize the former while praising the latter. In that regard, finding ways to challenge my anarcho-capitalist worldview is a godsend. I wasn’t about to deem the setting, the Arcane Elemental Academy and the surrounding Aurora Village, a utopia.

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Too many authors write fiction to pad their worldviews

Way too many times, we see authors market their worldview as superior. Superior and flawless. The opposing worldview, which often displays what they think are capitalist but are, in actuality, mercantilist elements, is seen as evil. The evil king, evil corporation, evil corporate-government mercantilism, or simply evil gas, oil, or mining companies robbing people of their land — you get the picture.

What usually happens? The hero or the hero and their band of misfits ultimately challenge the evil one, they rumble, the villain dies or is exiled or whatever, and the hero and their misfits engage in reform. Reform could mean anything they find utopian. Even turning society into a commune, where everyone shares everything and works to fulfill human needs. Something that has yet to work on a macro scale.

Still, they ignore basic economics and go out of their way to pad their worldview. I wasn’t about to do that. Not with The Arcane Prophecy or any book I write. I also mention Murphy’s work in Book III of my Sentrys of Terrene trilogy: Rise of the Sentrys. There, two main characters adopt Chaos Theory’s principles to bring a market-based approach to Terrene. But even then, I leave things open-ended.

Therefore, I’m bucking the trend of showcasing Rothbardian society. Nah. Let’s challenge it. And, by extension, challenge my own viewpoints. Make things go wrong in it, and come up with solutions to fix it.

Mainstream libertarian fiction misses the mark

Harry Potter is one of my favorite series. It’s also flawed. While Potter epitomizes libertarian fiction — especially Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix — it stops short since government reform is one of its themes. It implies that J.K. Rowling believes in systems and institutions, as long as “the right people” are in charge.

The series ends with “All was well,” unless you’re in the tribe that embraces Cursed Child as canon. But we won’t dive into that debate. Rowling clearly missed the point where, in any government monopoly, the “wrong people” can retake power. Especially if they’re rather cunning.

That reality made me skeptical about Libertarian Party reform, classical liberalism, and even the Misesian viewpoint. Even a micro State could grow exponentially into a super State, and that’s what I’d like to avoid if we achieved a stateless Rothbardian society. But I’m not about to accuse it of being utopian.

Utopian societies don’t freaking exist

Another point I’m driving home with Arcane? There’s no utopia. You have the series’ setting in the Northern Region of a fictional nation called Etharia. Within that region’s seat, Aurora Village, sits the Arcane Elemental Academy. Its Rothbardian approach differs from Etharia’s mercantilist ways, but it’s not necessarily a foil for Etharia.

One of my main themes is to distinguish capitalism from its evil cousin mercantilism. But the overarching theme are the flaws within Rothbardian capitalism, and how markets must work to resolve those flaws. Of how issues can and will continually spring up no matter what system, or lack of a system, is in place.

That’s what makes Arcane Elemental Academy alive, and it makes Rothbardian society real and relatable. It’s not a perfect society and it never will pretend to be one. And if you want a front row seat, regardless of your worldview, then check out The Arcane Prophecy at The Rebel Lore Vault.

Get The Arcane Prophecy now and take a deep dive into Arcane and Aurora