Novel ‘ANT FARM’ Explores Government Oppression, Personal Freedom

LOS ANGELES - Aug. 29, 2014 - PRLog -- A police officer in Ferguson, Missouri fatally shoots an unarmed teenager, leading to riots which draw attention to the growing militarization of law enforcement agencies. War between Israel and Hamas triggers debate over political oppression. A young mother is threatened with prison after accidentally crossing state lines with a licensed firearm in her car.

From peaceful pot smokers being busted to ISIS militants slaughtering religious minorities in Iraq, there is no shortage of news about the powerful controlling the weak. Increasingly, lines are blurred between the reasonable use and excessive abuse of authority in the pursuit of order.

Author Stephen Aaron Grey explores a wide range of political and social issues in his debut novel Ant Farm: A Novel About What’s Bugging Society (Headline Books). Though it does not address specific current events, the story is eerily relevant to much of what is happening throughout the world.

“My book aims to illustrate how the actions of any government can have a negative impact on the people it claims to represent,” Grey said. “Of course, society needs to have controls. But Ant Farm explores the questions: Who is best equipped to implement those controls? Who is best incentivized to provide affordable, quality government-like services? What happens when these services are forced on people without their consent?”

Grey was inspired by George Orwell’s classic novel Animal Farm, in which farm animals rise up against their human masters and, eventually, each other.  In Grey’s Ant Farm, the main characters, ants, escape from a plantation run by evil cockroaches, only to encounter unexpected problems in their new world, as the leaders gain more power.

“I think Animal Farm is about the dangers of communism, whereas Ant Farm is more about all kinds of oppression,” Grey said. “I believe society is better off, when people are free to do as they choose, as long as they aren’t harming anyone else.”

Grey tries to avoid political labels, but agrees that most pundits would consider him a libertarian. However, he does not consider Ant Farm to be partisan propaganda.

“There are things about this book that conservatives will like and other things that progressives will probably agree with,” he said. “I’m more interested in getting people to learn about issues and think about how all kinds of laws affect them, perhaps in ways that aren’t obvious.”

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.”

Stephen Aaron Grey is better known as “Freaky Flow,” an internationally acclaimed nightclub DJ. A graduate of the University of Toronto, he studied cinema and world religions, and has long been fascinated by how different societies function, which motivated him to write his book.

“Traveling the world and performing in different countries, I have observed a general sense of how different societies function,” he said. “That alone does not make me an expert, but I started to realize that letting people live as they want to, as long as they aren’t hurting others, is more productive than trying to force 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.com at http://www.amazon.com/Ant-Farm-Novel-Bugging-Society/dp/1.... More information about Ant Farm is available at www.StephenAaronGrey.com.