https://amgreatness.com/2025/09/07/freedom-revealed-should-be-required-reading-for-dc-swamp-creatures/
Every now and then, a book comes along that doesn’t just add to the pile of political commentary—it slices through the noise like a clean, sharp blade. Freedom Revealed by Don Wilkie is one of those books. For readers tired of politicians who speak in platitudes about “our freedoms” while voting for another bloated spending bill, this work reads like a slap of cold water across the face.
The book is built around a bold thesis: freedom isn’t some warm-and-fuzzy abstraction; it’s a system. Like a machine, it has parts that either work together or jam. And here’s the kicker—once you see freedom this way, you realize how fragile it is and how reckless our political class has been in tinkering with the gears.
Most Americans think of freedom in sentimental terms—flags, fireworks, maybe a soaring anthem at a ballgame. But this book demolishes that shallow view. Freedom is mechanical: limited government, open markets, and individual responsibility. Remove or weaken one, and the machine sputters. The point isn’t poetic; it’s brutally practical. The book walks the reader through Franklin’s insights and shows that the republic’s design was never accidental. It was an engineering marvel, and we’ve been stripping it for parts.
One of the most engaging sections is the comparison between the marketplace and government. The marketplace, competitive and dynamic, drives down waste and breeds prosperity. Government, by its nature, is non-competitive and therefore breeds waste. Simple? Yes. Devastating? Absolutely. The book lays it out with examples anyone can grasp: competition improves service, lowers costs, and fuels prosperity; government expands rules, bloats budgets, and smothers initiative.
You finish these chapters shaking your head at the obviousness of it all—and wondering why lawmakers in D.C. can’t seem to grasp it. Or maybe they can, and that’s what makes the book sting.
Freedom Revealed argues that prosperity and the rise of the middle class didn’t happen because of government policy; they happened because government was limited enough to let the marketplace breathe. This is the kind of point that would make Adam Smith and Benjamin Franklin nod in agreement. The middle class isn’t the product of subsidies and entitlements—it’s the natural reward of citizens allowed to compete and innovate without bureaucrats choking them out.