New Novel 'ANT FARM' Warns of Excessive Government Control

LOS ANGELES - July 23, 2014 - PRLog -- In the classic novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, farm animals are humanized and humans are demonized to demonstrate the dangers of forced equality. In his debut novel Ant Farm: A Novel About What’s Bugging Society (Headline Books), author Stephen Aaron Grey uses smaller creatures to make bigger points about political and social issues facing the world today.

“I’ve always been a huge fan of Animal Farm, but I felt that it didn’t really have enough of a pro-liberty message,” Grey said. “It was about the dangers of forced communism, but I believe there are similar dangers with any kind of government that has too much power. Ant Farm can symbolize a number of different societies present in the world today or throughout history.”

Though the characters in Ant Farm represent different types of insects, Grey decided to make the protagonists ants because he considers them a microcosm of a hard-working, well-functioning human society. In the novel, peace-loving ants are forced to flee a plantation run by evil cockroaches, only to face the same conflicts as before, in addition to new ones.

Among the issues the book explores are health care, foreign aid, military intervention, media influence, alternative energy, minimum wage, corporate greed, insurance, taxation, religious freedom, racism, gun control, the drug war, gambling and more.

Although he tries to avoid personal political labels, Grey acknowledges that many people would probably consider him a libertarian. However, he believes both conservatives and progressives will find different reasons to like, or perhaps disagree with, Ant Farm.

“Republicans and conservatives will love it because they tend to want limited state control on matters of the economy,” he said. “Democrats and progressives will probably like the parts of the book that promote more freedoms in the social sphere. There’s no question that I’m in favor of people being free, with little or no state intervention.”

Mark Edge, host of the nationally syndicated radio show Free Talk Live, called Ant Farm a “page-turner.” Jennifer A. Grossman, former speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush, said the book “breaks new ground artistically.” Former U.S. presidential candidate Gary Johnson said, “Too often, we seem to forget that liberty and personal freedom are the true American values. Ant Farm is a great and entertaining reminder.”

Ant Farm is the first novel by Grey, who is better known as an internationally acclaimed nightclub DJ under the stage name “Freaky Flow.” A graduate of the University of Toronto, he studied cinema and world religions, and has long been fascinated by how different societies function, a fascination which ultimately inspired him to write his book.

“Traveling the world and performing in different countries, I’ve gathered a general sense of what works and what doesn’t,” he said. “As I looked into the data and started studying issues on a deeper level, I concluded that letting people live freely, as long as they aren’t directly hurting other people, is a more productive way for society to function than forcing them to do things against their will.”

Ant Farm: A Novel About What’s Bugging Society is published by Headline Books and is available through Amazon at http://amzn.to/1wQWhm6. More information about Ant Farm is available at www.AntFarmBook.com and www.StephenAaronGrey.com.