After a long year of struggle against the forces of Mordor, Frodo and his company of brave hobbits finally return home to the Shire. On their adventures they faced trials beyond their imaginations, and were glad to return to some well-deserved rest and comfort. But it was not to be.
The land of free and happy hobbits had turned into a miserable place run by thieving ruffians led by "the chief". Those who stood up to their rule were imprisoned or killed and the others have resigned to following orders out of fear. Sound like any place you can think of?
I first began my "Middle Earth Anarchy" series with no intention of turning it into a series. But as I continued reading through The Lord of the Rings I came across a treasure trove of great liberty-minded content. If you haven't already done so, I would encourage you to read the following posts before continuing here:
The Scouring of the Shire
This turn of events in the Shire may come as a surprise to you if you've only seen The Lord of the Rings movies. In the books, Saruman used his influence from Isengard to corrupt the Shire. Then after being released by Treebeard, he travels to the Shire himself and runs things personally.
He fells trees, pollutes the land and air, and steals and hoards as much as he can from the hobbits.
Thankfully Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin return just in time to restore anarchy (or near-anarchy) to the Shire and remove the unjust ruler and his thugs from their place of power.
The Free Man Mentality
What struck me most about this chapter was the attitudes of the four hobbits upon returning to the shire. They were, of course, sad to see their home ravages. That wasn't surprising. What was really striking was the way they waltzed into the Shire, not like they owned the place, but like they owned themselves.
Thugs, guards, sheriffs... anyone who tried to stand in their way would be met with jeering. "Who are these ridiculous folk who think they rule us?" you can almost hear the hobbits thinking.
They make no effort to show the "proper respect" to the new "authorities" of the region. They talk to them the way they would talk to normal thieves and bandits, because that's all a government is: a collection of thieves and bandits. They deserve no respect.
Their confidence in their own self-ownership is enough to rally the other hobbits together to their cause. Citizens always outnumber their governments. If they rise together, the rulers stand no chance.