Little House on the Prairie is the gateway drug to Atlas Shrugged

[MillCreek]

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/2013/10/little-libertarians-on-the-pra.html

An interesting look at a classic of children's literature.  My wife tells me that the books are still popular with kids today.

[lee n. field]

Little House on the Prairie is the gateway drug to Atlas Shrugged

Damn bet it is.  Rose Wilder Lane, daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder (and probable ghost writer for her), was an early and mid century individualist writer.  What we'd call a libertarian, in her time.  

[RevDisk]

I should probably reread the series.

[Sergeant Bob]

I should probably reread the series.

I should probably reread the series! I did like the TV show in it's early days.

[zxcvbob]

I should probably reread the series! I did like the TV show in it's early days.

I kept waiting for Michael Landon to turn into the werewolf. 

[Tallpine]

The Little House books barely mention the obvious, which is that the impoverished Ingallses never could have gone to Dakota Territory without a government grant: Like most pioneers, their livelihoods relied on the federal Homestead Act, which gave settlers 160 acres for the cost of a $14 filing fee -- one of the largest acts of federal largesse in U.S. history.

The US government never owned the land in the first place.     Neither did the French, except perhaps for a settled area in and near New Orleans.  The Homestead Act was an attempt to lure people into the west in order to expand empire.

At worst the land was "stolen" from the Indians, although at first they never claimed ownership of any land.  Nobody owned it per their belief.  Funny that Indians still say that except for their own land which somehow they actually do own. 

[Sergeant Bob]

The US government never owned the land in the first place.     Neither did the French, except perhaps for a settled area in and near New Orleans.  The Homestead Act was an attempt to lure people into the west in order to expand empire.

 

I was thinking that as well. They weren't receiving a handout at all, and paid for the "privilege".

[MillCreek]

I kept waiting for Michael Landon to turn into the werewolf. 

By the way, kudos on the avatar.  Mr. Peabody and Sherman were amongst my favorite characters on Bullwinkle.

[BlueStarLizzard]

*snort*

I read those books from cover to cover several times over as a child. I've also read most of Rose's series (Little House on Rocky Ridge) which was written by Roger Lea MacBride (her only heir, no relation I belive)

I also read a lot of other fiction based in the same time period and am fairly familar with the history.

The US government wanted the west settled. Claim land was not a *expletive deleted*ing handout, and to imply it was pretty much prooves the author of that article is a *expletive deleted*ing idiot. You had to go out and live there for a year, which was no damn picnic.
Claim holders worked hard and long and proove themselves and paid for the privlidge.

To compare that to New Deal type legislation is as about as ludicrius as it comes.

(although, I belive that the little miss Gibson Girl had trouble with debt and she and Laura butted heads. MacBride was pretty good at capturing the diffrences between mother and daughter in his books, while still retaining the innocent quality of the orginals)

[lee n. field]

*snort*

I read those books from cover to cover several times over as a child. I've also read most of Rose's series (Little House on Rocky Ridge) which was written by Roger Lea MacBride (her only heir, no relation I belive)

I think he was the second Libertarian candidate for POTUS (John Hospers was the first).

(although, I belive that the little miss Gibson Girl had trouble with debt and she and Laura butted heads. MacBride was pretty good at capturing the diffrences between mother and daughter in his books, while still retaining the innocent quality of the orginals)

She was a looker in her younger days.

[Sergeant Bob]

By the way, kudos on the avatar.  Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman were amongst my favorite characters on Bullwinkle.

I had to repair that!

[Perd Hapley]

The Homestead Act was an attempt to lure people into the west in order to expand empire.

Yeah. It's not like 19th century people actually wanted some land they could farm, or anything.

You know, I sit four feet from a talkative conspiracy-monger for eight hours a day, but that's more laughable than anything I've heard him say.

[BlueStarLizzard]

Yeah. It's not like 19th century people actually wanted some land they could farm, or anything.

You know, I sit four feet from a talkative conspiracy-monger for eight hours a day, but that's more laughable than anything I've heard him say.

Fistful, homesteading was lonely and dangorous. The idea was to make it cheap enough land that someone would take them up on it.

Those who could have a afforded to do it the "easy" way (not that any of it was all that easy) already had their land.

Again, the process of prooving your claim was no walk in the park.

[Perd Hapley]

Fistful, homesteading was lonely and dangorous. The idea was to make it cheap enough land that someone would take them up on it.

Those who could have a afforded to do it the "easy" way (not that any of it was all that easy) already had their land.

Again, the process of prooving your claim was no walk in the park.

I'm not sure why you're telling me this. I didn't say it was easy, or a handout, or anything. 

[BlueStarLizzard]

I'm not sure why you're telling me this. I didn't say it was easy, or a handout, or anything. 

Because you snarked over the bit about being "lured", which is actually a very good way to put it.

The government lied about the ease of settling the land, propagated like it was the thing to do and basically bribed people with the promise of cheap land, only to have them find a true ordeal. People gave up everything to get out there and ended up stuck out there.

[Perd Hapley]

Uh, the point is that people wanted land, and wanted farms. And who's to say they didn't also want "empire" just as much as anyone in the government. In any case, homesteading programs helped people to get what they already wanted.

[zxcvbob]

Uh, the point is that people wanted land, and wanted farms. And who's to say they didn't also want "empire" just as much as anyone in the government. In any case, homesteading programs helped people to get what they already wanted.

A bleach blonde in red convertible on planet Schwartz?

[lupinus]

A bleach blonde in red convertible on planet Schwartz?

Earth Girls are Easy though

[zxcvbob]

I read that wrong.  I thought Fistful said "...what they always wanted"  (grumblegrumble wasted a perfectly good obscure pop-culture reference)

[MechAg94]

I thought you had to live on the land for five years and there was a requirement to develop it.  It has been a very long time since that came up.

[Tallpine]

There's no such thing as free land. You make these homesteads go you'll have earned every acre of it.

 

[Perd Hapley]

Before I got distracted with the homesteading argument, I was going to say, duh! Watch a few episodes of Little House. A lot of rugged individualism in there. Pa and "Manly" are always working 60-hour days for some reason or another. Hard work, too.

[freakazoid]

Before I got distracted with the homesteading argument, I was going to say, duh! Watch a few episodes of Little House. A lot of rugged individualism in there. Pa and "Manly" are always working 60-hour days for some reason or another. Hard work, too.

I image that 60-hour days would be hard work.

[Sergeant Bob]

I image that 60-hour days would be hard work.

Perzackly! Yes, I liked Nash Bridges.

[Perd Hapley]

I image that 60-hour days would be hard work.

Sorry. By "hard," I meant physically demanding.