One winter, a farmer ran out of firewood. He walked to the edge of his property, looking for a dead tree. The weather was bitter cold, but he found a tree.
He snapped a couple of twigs to make sure it was dead. Then he sawed it down, chopped it up, and hauled it home. The firewood warmed his home for the rest of the winter.
That spring, he came upon the trunk of the dead tree he'd cut for kindling. New shoots and leaves sprouted from the trunk. The tree had been dormant, not dead. The tree's core, its taproot, was alive.
"I learned an important lesson," said the farmer. "Don't chop down a dead tree during winter."
It's a simple and profound lesson.
Many people make major decisions during a low point in their lives. Some make critical career choices when things are going poorly in their company. Still others break off romantic relationships when they hit a bad stretch.
"Don't chop down a dead tree during winter," warns the farmer.
This is a vital lesson for libertarians. Especially today.
"I'm burnt out," a longtime libertarian activist told me. "I've spread the word, run for office, and worked on many, many libertarian projects. I've done as much as I can, given as much as I can, and I don't have anything left. I still receive my libertarian newspapers and magazines in the mail, but I hardly ever read them anymore. I'm out of energy, and I'm out of hope."
I know how he feels. I've suffered the dark night of the soul more than once. I went through a season in hell just a few years ago. I've felt helpless and hopeless about liberty in the face of current events and seemingly unstoppable government growth.
But I've learned the farmer's lesson. I did not chop down the tree of liberty during winter.
Albert J. Nock and H.L. Mencken weathered the winter. They suffered through World War I, alcohol Prohibition, the establishment of the Federal Reserve System, and the launching of the income tax.
They did not chop down the dead tree during winter.
Ayn Rand, Isabel Patterson, Rose Wilder Lane, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and Henry Hazlitt weathered the winter. They experienced Roosevelt's New Deal and his launching of the welfare state, World War II, the Soviet Empire, and more.
They did not chop down the dead tree during winter. And liberty is richer and more robust for it.
It is winter for liberty and small government in America. But we can get through it. We can preserve and protect the tree. We can nurture and grow it.
Spring will come. We must make ourselves ready for the opportunities it brings.
Michael Cloud is author of the acclaimed book Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion, available exclusively from the Advocates.
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