J.R.R. Tolkien on "the most improper job for men"

Blazing Reader,

On this day, November 29, 1943, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a letter to his son Christopher, in which he revealed:

"My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning abolition of control, not whiskered men with bombs). The most improper job of any man is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and less of all those who seek the opportunity.”

Over the last decade, my political views have taken the same anarchistic route as my favourite fantasy writer. 

Of course, by anarchy, Tolkien isn't referring to the common misconception of a society without rules. Anarchy actually means "without rulers" — in other words, without the use of force. All other forms of political philosophy, to a greater or lesser degree, are based on the use of violence to get people to do things they might otherwise refuse to do (e.g. hand half their income over to a bureaucrat). 

In the same letter, Tolkien jokingly states that he would arrest anyone who used the word "State" except in the inanimate sense and if they did not recant, execute them! 

You can read more in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

John C.A. Manley

P.S. The second last chapter of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings provides an often overlooked example of the inherently oppressive nature of government and the power of individuals to overcome it. Check out this two-minute audio excerpt from Much Ado About Corona to find out what I mean.

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona, All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of philosophical fiction that are "so completely engaging that you find yourself alternately laughing, gasping, hanging on for dear life." Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber.