by Matthew McCaffrey
Mises.org
The Netflix series Stranger Things is the surprise hit of the year. It’s especially refreshing for libertarians, who can finally enjoy a show where the main villain is government itself: at last, the antagonist isn’t the market or even a corrupt politician, just government. Maybe its best plot twist is that there’s nary an evil corporation to be seen.
Given the amount of evil perpetrated by states through the ages, you’d think it’d be easier to market stories about government evil. Sadly, even Stranger Things seems to get away with it only because it takes a nostalgic and conspiracy-minded approach that focuses less on the practical evils of the state.