Pippi Longstocking showed us the way. Astrid Lindgren, a woman whose tax rate hit an absurd 102% (yep, over 100%), once penned a satirical takedown exposing the obvious theft of progressive taxation, which actually led to a rewrite of the absurd tax laws. One of the main reasons for this absurd tax bill (aside from the regular old Jante-Law-type Swedish envy) was the enormous success of her most beloved book character, Pippi Longstocking. Pippi is the ultimate fearless anarcho-capitalist icon, embodying self-ownership, voluntaryism, and resilience against institutional overreach. Born to a seafaring pirate king (her birthright as heir to adventure and independence), she inherits a chest brimming with sound money gold coins. No fiat funny paper for Pippi. Only hard assets that can't be inflated away by central banks. Using her cunning and raw physical strength alone, Pippi fiercely defends her property, Villa Villekulla, against would-be attackers, such as nosy neighbors or bumbling cops trying to "civilize" her, on a daily basis. Pippi spits on authority at every turn, refusing public schooling and politely telling the people who want to put her in an orphanage to go f themselves. She educates herself through real-world exploits, trading stories and skills voluntarily with her normie friends, Tommy and Annika. Always taking matters into her own hands, she barters, explores, and innovates without permits or regulations. She never initiates force, yet she’s never afraid to defend her inherent right to be left alone. Her unlicensed pet monkey and horse are her sovereign companions. She's an agorist living completely off-grid, and a one-girl revolution ready to debunk the involuntary nature of statist bullshit at every turn. In conformist Sweden, where fitting in is held in higher regard than anything else, and folks avoid conflict like the plague, Pippi is the ultimate anomaly. She flips the script on passive obedience, inspiring kids and adults alike to question all rules to this day. No wonder she’s popular there...

Replies (30)

As someone who just listened to all of these stories on drives with my 6 year old daughter I greatly appreciated this post
Wow, I’m going to have to revisit that story. I don’t remember any of that lol.
Kat's avatar
Kat 0 months ago
She was one of my childhood heroes 😍
Read the books to my kids as bedtime stories. Highly recommended 👌🏻
Irwin's avatar
Irwin 0 months ago
All kids watch it here in Sweden indeed. I wish the adults read through the lines; same as you. Fitting in really hits hard. Conflicts too. How can we break the conformity?
Diyana's avatar
Diyana 0 months ago
I loooooveeeed Pippi Longstocking or Пипи Дългото Чорапче in Bulgarian as a kid... But seriously I don't remember any of this... I am needing a refresher cos I love to see her from this angle. I guess I haven't thought of her forever (this was my 6 year old era maybe?!?) to acknowledge that her rebel self does indeed represents exiting the system and living in sovereignty. View quoted note →
PAKES's avatar
PAKES 3 weeks ago
The OG ancap, written by a socialist
doublebubble's avatar
doublebubble 3 weeks ago
I read Pippi Longstocking to my kids when they were around 10 & 8. It was the perfect age and they were utterly spellbound. Then we watched the entire Swedish TV version on some pirate website I found 😅 I never thought of the story in this context (anarchist, anti-state). Also, the gold coins! Fascinating!
Nightwalker01's avatar
Nightwalker01 2 weeks ago
Now bring Astrid Lindgren to Norway, please. Swedes acted adequately, while Norwegians did not. Instead 'we' tightened up the rules. The jokes we had about Swedish people has faded - actually they ended completely, since a while ago. Funny because it's true.