Liberty for All

Americans are increasingly dismayed with a broken political system and the big institutions they blame for a Darwinian economy (in which it’s getting harder to get ahead). What they’ve lost sight of is the importance of self-reliance and personal initiative in every individual’s quest for prosperity. The Liberty Trap pushes past the usual go-nowhere policy prescriptions to probe what ordinary people can do to build their own self-reliance and enhance their odds of success. In a wry and entertaining narrative, Rick Newman embarks on a quest to improve his own self-reliance by camping with “doomsday preppers,” deconstructing the “rugged individualist” that politicians so often invoke, and detailing the ways we unnecessarily shackle ourselves. The result is a guide to enriching your prospects—and your life—by harnessing every freedom available.