A Strange Liberty: Politics Drops Its Pretenses

by Jeff Deist

A Strange Liberty calls for the relentless pursuit of decentralization in whatever manner this course is still open to decent, freedom-loving citizens. Quoting from, among others, the late Angelo Codevilla, a bold scholar of government and an unabashed critic of our democratic decadence, Deist proposes that states that oppose federal overreach and woke indoctrination react against these evils through noncompliance. He shows again and again that the federal government’s behavior has been blatantly unconstitutional for a very long time. As the book chronicles, the Department of Justice, the IRS, and other federal agencies have all been repeatedly unleashed on those whom the one-party state wishes to target. In light of this situation, state governments should not be obliged to serve slavishly a federal administration that is making war on some of its citizens. Up until Joe Biden’s election, it was in fact the Left, with media incitement, which was calling for resistance to the federal government, on behalf of marijuana use, sanctuary for illegals, and gay marriage before that. Why shouldn’t the Right or the non-Left have the same right to disobey federal directives which are coming from a regime that is openly hostile? Jeff here has given outraged citizens a voice and extolls them to pursue this practice of resistance through state or local governments where they can. Although he knows it’s not clear this strategy will be sufficient to work against federal overreach, he encourages us to get out of our chairs and be proactive in finding ways to push back.


In A Strange Liberty , there is more of the mood and wit of H.L. Mencken’s American Mercury than the spirit of National Review . This anthology does not just duplicate the positions of a previous generation. It is a creative return to truths that were never lost and should be given an active voice again.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History

342 pages, Paperback

Published February 21, 2023

Reviews

[Alec Piergiorgi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: 3.5/5

An incredibly enjoyable and fresh series of perspectives on a decently broad array of topics, moving from secession to culture to immigration to political strategy with relative ease. Deist has served as an instrumental leader of the Mises Institute and from the couple of times I've met him, is a friendly person as well. I'm not sure how much of a grand "original" thinker he is, but I do consider him to be a great "distiller" of the important ideas from men like Mises, Rothbard, Hoppe, and others.

My largest criticism of the book is that, as it serves a collection of essays/speeches, there is a decent amount of overlap between the different sections. While this cannot be avoided to some extent as there are constant themes that pervade each section, there are particular phrases that repeatedly come up and led to a handful of pieces seeming a bit redundant. I thought the layout was decent enough, separating sections by topics, but the actual structure could've been altered to spread things out a bit more.

I still think there is plenty here for anyone not familiar with Deist specifically or the tradition which the Mises Institute is a part of to learn and digest. The book is also a fantastic jumping off point, as Deist makes frequent reference to thinkers and other books that anyone more interested in those specific ideas to delve into.

The best sections, which included the most interesting combinations of his thinking and ideas from others, were "Secession and Decentralization," "Immigration and Borders," "Strategy," and "Speeches." My favorite chapters specifically probably include, "Getting Liberalism Wrong," "Market Borders, Not Open Borders," "An Immigration Roundtable," "Inflation: State-Sponsored Terrorism," "The Imposers and the Imposed Upon," and "The Biggest Myth."

[Philip Lavery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really amazing books! It was one of those books that was hard to put down, I would find myself losing track of time because I couldn’t put the book down. Jeff always has a interesting perspective on current events because of his vast knowledge of history and economics.
He also shows great respect to the great thinkers who helped shape the freedom movement. A Strange Liberty is a must read for anyone regardless of your knowledge of history or economics.
I hope this book is a best seller because it’s the kind of book Americans need to read.

[Richard Haynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Introduction to the Austrian school of economics and libertarian ideas. Very interesting.