Socialism vs. Capitalism: Interview with Fiction Author Inspired by Whittaker Chambers’ Seminal Classic “Witness”

New author Layne Hansen discusses his new Whittaker Chambers-inspired fictional book, Careful Measurements, where the protagonist moves to a town where all people start off having the same income.  What would that look like – utopia or tragedy?  And what parallels does that have with the rise and new popularity of Democratic Socialism today?  Find out today in our exclusive podcast author interview with Layne Hansen!

SHOW NOTES

• 2:55 Layne Hansen explains Whittaker Chambers’ journey into and out of communism, his role in the Alger Hiss case, and how Chambers pushed Reagan towards becoming a conservative.
• 6:06 Hansen explains why he chose a Chambers quote about communism as the inspiration for the title of his book, and how it points out the authoritarian need that some people have to control other people’s lives.
• 7:30 Hansen recollects how the discourse around income equality during the 2008 election inspired the concept for the social experiment depicted in Careful Measurements.
• 11:57 Hansen is asked about a recent University of Chicago survey in which 61% of Democrats 18-34 have a positive view of socialism. Hansen points out how the collapse of the USSR a generation ago has helped socialism come back from the dead, along with the biased bubble of academia.
• 17:17 Hansen provides a few key ideas he’d like readers to take away from reading Careful Measurements, especially about the struggle between multiple generations of socialists and conservatives desiring to keep America free.

OUR GUEST AUTHOR – Layne Hansen

• Layne Hansen is named after his father’s best friend Bob Layne, who was killed in Vietnam. He is a veteran of the United States Army, joining shortly after 9/11. Both of his grandfathers also served in WWII — one in the European theater under Gen. Patton, and the other in the Pacific theater under Gen. MacArthur.
• He holds degrees in political science and has avidly followed American and world politics since the 2000 election. Hansen was also part of the Tea Party movement from its inception, and is currently part of the Convention of States movement.
• His writing has been featured at AmericanThinker.com. Layne loves baseball, reading, writing, and spending time with his family. He is married, a father of four, and hails from Ogden, Utah.

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BOOK OVERVIEW – Careful Measurements

• Careful Measurements follows the story of Patton Larsen, an emotionally wrecked man thrust into a new social experiment on the remote Utah-Idaho border. Larsen is one of 30,000 people living a new town, dedicated to finding out what would happen if everyone were given completely equal opportunities and economic status, as is desired by socialists.
• As the stakes rise and a cabal of socialists try to maintain power by force, a secret from Larsen’s past becomes the pivotal hinge on which the entire conflict rests. Careful Measurements tells the story of one man’s fight against social control — and the measures he is forced to take to preserve his freedom.

RESOURCES

• Witness by Whittaker Chambers
• University of Chicago’s GenForward Survey of Americans 18-34 (PDF)
• Layne Hansen’s author page

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