Before we greet 2016 with a hangover, it is helpful to first use our brains to think how culture has furthered the cause of liberty in 2015.
My book of the year is non-fiction but for those who cannot read anything without imaginary characters, or pictures for that matter, it is short; so short that it has the word 'short' in the title:
A Short History of Man: Progress and Decline by Hans-Hermann Hoppe
is an outstanding work which views the history of man from a perspective of private property, utterly shattering the glass floor of Marxism. You will feel confident enough to have a deep discussion with anthropologists and political scientists after reading this book. Containing Hoppe's brilliant essay, From Aristocracy to Monarchy to Democracy, the case against liberal democracies and for natural order is laid out powerfully. The best part? It's free!
(You can purchase a hardback copy here: http://amzn.to/1LzzuTQ)
The most Libertarian movie of the year is probably also the best movie of the year. You would be forgiven for asking what exactly is Libertarian about this movie:
Max Max: Fury Road
makes critics use words like tour-de-force. George Miller returns to direct and apparently had the story stewing in his mind for many years; truly, this is his best and the practical effects are white-knucklingly envigorating. But the plotline is what fascinates the most. If you haven't watched it, watch it! If you have, rewatch it! But I would recommend reading Hoppe's excellent book (above) before you do. Miller has apparently thought a considerable amount about human prehistory and how the State came into being. Immortan Joe is the villain who treats others as property, developing a superstition about himself in order to convince his primitive serfs that he has some supernatural power over life, death and the afterlife and, therefore, must exercise a monopoly over violence and control who has property rights, i.e. govern coercively.
The Feminist message is present but, ultimately, the female characters need Max to save them. However, he is no white knight and his character was despised by most women I discussed the film with. He is not a romantic character and does not help for sexual profit. The women have no gynocentric leverage with such a character and are entirely dependent on his whim. Instead, Max purely desires personal redemption, entering their lives, dominating the scene, and leaving to go his own way. The character is very masculine and not at all a husband/utility to be bagged by some damsel in distress. The irony is that he is titled and considered mad but self-described as driven only by survival, making him the sanest and most prudent one on the scene, though he hardly says a word. Max's heroism derives from the selfish impulses of his conscience.
If you can take the hints of Matriarchal, 'earth-mother equals good' imagery at the end with a pinch of salt, the movie is a visceral feast depicting the Libertarian message that Statism is a superstition and that even the wildest and most selfish of men behave and trade peacefully in a post-Neolithic Revolution situation.
As for gaming, we have to look for something which allows maximum liberty for the player and moral dilemmas with a plethora of consequences, politically or otherwise:
Fallout 4 ticks the boxes and is notorious for presenting a number of ideological groups vying for political power in an alternate nuclear-apocalyptic reality; their superfluous endeavours are the landscape you have to traverse as well as a gritty world so vast you could play it for a year and still find novelties.
