Give Me Liberty

Rose Wilder Lane in her youth supported the Russian Revolution, but a trip to Russia quickly dispelled her illusions. She realized that the mass politics of socialism necessarily suppressed individual freedom. America was founded on a different principle: individuals should take responsibility for their own lives. On this principle, America became the wealthiest of all nations and the hope of the world. The New Deal of 1933 struck against American individualism, substituting for it the tired collectivist programs of Europe. In Give Me Liberty, originally published in 1936, Lane called for a return to American individualism and a repudiation of the New Deal.