Harry Potter: A Libertarian Story

*Warning* Spoilers abound for all of the Harry Potter movies and spin-offs.

A few years ago, I was watching the (at the time) newest Harry Potter film, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them . It was a fairly entertaining film, although I do think it suffered from Star-Wars-Prequel-itis in that it sometimes seemed more focused on using CGI to bring another world to life instead of simply telling a compelling story. There were also two plot “twists” that seemed blindingly obvious from very early on in the movie. However, the thing that really stood out in my mind as I walked out of the theater was how antagonistic MACUSA (the governing body for witches and wizards in the United States) was.

That’s when I realized that the Harry Potter movies (and original books) are a libertarian story.

What do I mean by that? At its political heart, libertarianism is about the shortcomings of governments and how they are often ineffective and/or inefficient at accomplishing things relative to individuals or private groups. In the real world, think of the difference between the Post Office and FedEx. At its philosphical heart, libertarianism is about consensual interactions between individuals and being opposed to the initiation of force. To libertarians, government is force, which makes it a morally unappealing solution to most problems. The portrayal of the bodies in charge of governing the wizard population in the Harry Potter books makes me think that J.K. Rowling has a little bit of a libertarian streak in her.

With the new Harry Potter film (is it correct to call it a Harry Potter film when the film takes place several decades before he is even born?) Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald coming out this week, I felt like now was a perfect opportunity to dive into this theory a little more.

I present my evidence below.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Let’s start with the movie that spurred this theory and the surprising development that really drove home to me how brutal and cold-hearted the wizarding government in America is (I suppose technically this should be “was” since the story happened decades ago, but for the sake of simplicity, I’ll stick with present tense): The speed and ease with which Newt and Tina were sentenced to death and the complete lack of defense they were provided. It starts when Tina, a MACUSA employee (and former auror) turns in Newt and his suitcase full of magical (but forbidden) creatures to MACUSA president Seraphina Picquery. Instead of being thankful, and based off of extremely flimsy evidence that turns out to be wrong, Picquery orders Newt and Tina to be arrested. Then, Director of Magical Security Percival Graves orders them to be put to death with absolutely no trial at all and based off of what appears to be no evidence at all. This apparently isn’t some overreach by a power-hungry bureaucrat, though, as MACUSA officials move immediately to carry out the death sentence without thinking twice about it at all. To reiterate: Two innocent people are arrested, sentenced to death and have their sentences executed in the space of what appears to be a few hours with no semblance of a trial or any ability to defend themselves. This isn’t just a horrible justice system. This is no justice system at all. The callousness was so shocking that when Picquery and her MACUSA aurors were faced with the task of subduing the sympathetic Credence in the climax of the film, I wasn’t surprised at all that they chose to kill him.

The government abuse extends far beyond their lack of a justice system. One of the driving elements of the plot is the desire for the wizarding world to remain a secret from the non-wizarding world. Attempting to stay a secret by itself isn’t necessarily a problem; the problem is the lengths that they go to in order to maintain this secrecy. This is best exemplified by Rappaport’s Law, which is explained by J.K. Rowling on the Pottermore website:

Rappaport’s Law enforced strict segregation between the No-Maj and wizarding communities. Wizards were no longer allowed to befriend or marry No-Majs. Penalties for fraternising with No-Majs were harsh. Communication with No-Majs was limited to that necessary to perform daily activities.

–Rappaport’s Law by J.K. Rowling

This is government enforced segregation and it is as distasteful in practice as it sounds. The case of Jacob Kowalski and how he is treated at the end of the movie perfectly illustrates this. Although his presence is played off for comedic effect, Jacob is very much a tragic figure in the movie. He’s a good man yearning for a better life whose only mistake was to try to help return an Occamy egg that Newt carelessly left behind. From there, he gets forcibly pulled into the wizarding world where he is assaulted by one of Newt’s (illegal) magical creatures and inadvertently framed for robbery multiple times. By the end, he has bravely risked his life to help capture the missing “fantastic beasts” and stop the plans of Gellert Grindelwald. A reasonable  response might be to give him a medal for saving their lives. Instead, MACUSA not only forcibly wipes his memory, but the memory of all of the No-Majs in the vicinity.

First Wizarding War

It’s not just America that has a bad history of a hostile and ineffective magical government. The First Wizarding War provides a prime example of how utterly helpless the Ministry of Magic was at dealing with Voldemort. Just read the history of the war on the Harry Potter wiki and note mentions of the Ministry of Magic:

• With many Death Eaters occupying strategic positions within the Ministry of Magic itself, they used blackmail and the Imperius Curse to expand their influence and destabilise the government, which was desperately trying to keep order and continue to maintain secrecy from the Muggle world.
• Minister for Magic Eugenia Jenkins was ill-prepared to lead during wartime, and it seemed that the Ministry was incapable of gaining the upper hand.
• In 1975, Eugenia Jenkins was ousted as Minister for Magic and replaced by Harold Minchum, a hardliner who placed more dementors around Azkaban. The ruthless Bartemius Crouch Senior rose rapidly through the ranks until he became the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Minchum and Crouch began to make headway, though the Death Eaters still retained the advantage.
• In 1980, Minister for Magic Harold Minchum was removed from office due to his failure to end Voldemort’s rebellion and was replaced with Millicent Bagnold.

That’s three different Ministers of Magic in less than a decade, with none of them having any notable success against Voldemort’s rebellion. In the end, the most significant resistance that Voldemort and his Death Eaters faced came not from the Ministry and its highly trained aurors whose job it was to combat dark wizards, but instead from a private group of volunteers known as the Order of the Phoenix. While the Ministry was infiltrated by Death Eaters and a highly dangerous place to be, the safest place ended up being a school.

Second Wizarding War

The Ministry didn’t fare much better during the Second Wizarding War either, and due to the fact that the original Harry Potter books take place during this time, we have a more intimate look at its failure.

• Although it was constructed far earlier, we learn about the horrors of Azkaban Prison and the Dementors used there as guards during the second wizarding war. From the Harry Potter Wiki: “Most of the prisoners inside its walls died of despair, having lost the will to live. This is due to the presence of Dementor guards on the island. Dementors drain people of all happiness and leave them with their worst memories. Long-term exposure can also lead to insanity.” I know the wizarding governments don’t likely have an 8th Amendment to prevent cruel and unusual punishments, but even still this seems a bit extreme.
• After Harry claimed that Voldemort had returned, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge refused to believe him or take any proactive measures.  Fudge also started an ongoing campaign to discredit both Harry and Dumbledore by using his influence to have the Daily Prophet serve up slanderous stories.
• Soon after, the Ministry of Magic appointed the cruel Dolores Umbridge as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who, among other things, forced students to drink truth serum and literally tortured Harry for the crime of lying (a crime that he was innocent of).

House Elves

Not much needs to be said here. While the plot line is played partially for laughs (S.P.E.W.), it’s hard to ignore that house elves are essentially slaves. The fact that they’re slaves isn’t even particularly sanitized in the Harry Potter universe, as many of them are treated quite poorly. It should be noted that while this is apparently sanctioned by the Ministry of Magic, it appears to be a larger problem with wizarding culture in general, as even Hogwarts and its generally progressive head-master Dumbledore had house-elves who cleaned and prepared meals.

There’s also a fair amount of allusion towards discrimination on behalf of the Ministry of Magic towards centaurs, merpeople, and other beings of “near human intelligence“.

Your Thoughts?

So what do you think? Am I being unduly harsh on the Ministry of Magic and MACUSA? Or have I convinced you? Can you point out any significant positive action that either government took in the Harry Potter movies? Or is it just a long march of incompetence, ineffectiveness, and outright malice? I think you know where I stand. I’ll be interested in seeing if the streak continue in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. My guess is that it does.