Isabel Bowler Paterson (January 22, 1886, Manitoulin Island Canada -- 1961) was a journalist, literary critic, author, and libertarian advocate. She is one of the three founding mothers of libertarianism, and the one to whom the other two were intellectually indebted. January 22 is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... Manitoulin Island is the worlds largest freshwater lake island, with an area of 2,766 square kilometres (1068 square miles). ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... See also Libertarianism and Libertarian Party Libertarian,is a term for person who has made a conscious and principled commitment, evidenced by a statement or Pledge, to forswear violating others rights and usually living in voluntary communities: thus in law no longer subject to government supervision. ...

Her most famous work, a 1943 treatise on political philosophy, economics, and history titled The God of the Machine, reached conclusions and espoused beliefs that many libertarians credit as a foundation of their philosophy. Her biographer Cox (2004) believes Paterson is the "earliest progenitor of libertarianism as we know it today." Ayn Rand (another foremother although not a libertarian herself) wrote that The God of the Machine "does for capitalism what Das Kapital does for the Reds and what the Bible did for Christianity". See also Libertarianism and Libertarian Party Libertarian,is a term for person who has made a conscious and principled commitment, evidenced by a statement or Pledge, to forswear violating others rights and usually living in voluntary communities: thus in law no longer subject to government supervision. ... Ayn Rand (IPA: , February 2 [O.S. January 20] 1905 – March 6, 1982), born Alissa Zinovievna Rosenbaum, was best known for developing the philosophy of Objectivism and for writing the novels We the Living, Anthem, The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged. ... Das Kapital (Capital) is a very large treatise of political economy written by Karl Marx in German. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... The Bible (Hebrew: תנ״ך tanakh, Greek: η Βίβλος hē biblos) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Word of God, The Word Scripture, Scripture), from Greek (τα) βίβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the name used by Jews and Christians for their (differing but overlapping) canons of sacred texts. ... Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life, teachings, and actions of Jesus of Nazareth, known by Christians as Jesus Christ, as recounted in the New Testament. ...

Life

Born Isabel Bowler in rural Ontario, her family emigrated to nearby rural Michigan when she was a child. She became an American citizen in 1928. Paterson's family was quite poor and she had 8 siblings. As a teenager, she worked as a waitress, stenographer, and bookkeeper, working at one point as an assistant to future Canadian Prime Minister R. B. Bennett. This hardscrabble youth probably led Paterson to attach great importance to productive "self-starters". Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Official languages English (French has some legal status) Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 106 24 Area Total  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water    (% of total)  Ranked... Official language(s) English de-facto Capital Lansing Largest city Detroit Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 11th 250,494 km² 385 km 790 km 41. ... For the British composer named Richard Bennett, see Richard Rodney Bennett. ...

Although very articulate and well-read, even erudite, Paterson's formal education was no more than two years in a rural schoolhouse. Very limited formal schooling was something she shared with fellow libertarian foremother Rose Wilder Lane, who acknowledged Patereson as an influence. Rose Wilder Lane Rose Wilder Lane (December 5, 1886–October 30, 1968) was an American writer and the daughter of author Laura Ingalls Wilder. ...

In 1910, she married K. B. Paterson. The marriage was not happy, and they parted in 1918.

She began her journalism career at the Inland Herald (Washington state), first as secretary to its publisher, then as an editorial writer. She then wrote for several Vancouver papers. In 1913, she published her first books, two western novels. After World War I, she moved to New York, where she worked for the sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who was then producing statuary for the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine and who would later sculpt the memorial at Mount Rushmore. She wrote for two New York newspapers, the World and the American. Mt Rushmore, Black Hills, South Dakota (John) Gutzon Borglum (March 25, 1867 –March 6, 1941). ... The Cathedral of St. ... This article is the current U.S. Collaboration of the Week. ...

In 1921, Paterson became an assistant to Burton Rascoe, the new literary editor of the Herald Tribune. From 1924 to 1949, she wrote a column (signed "I.M.P.") for that paper's Books section. That column, notorious for its sharp wit and its goring of sacred cows, was where she first articulated many of the ideas in The God in the Machine. These ideas, especially free trade, were also foreshadowed by the historical novels she wrote in the 1920s. Curiously, The God in the Machine was published in the same year as Rand's The Fountainhead and Lane's The Discovery of Freedom. Albert Jay Nock noted at the time how three women, not men, were leading a classical liberal and individualist counterattack on the spirit of the New Deal and wartime collectivism. The Fountainhead, Centennial edition. ... Rose Wilder Lane Rose Wilder Lane (December 5, 1886–October 30, 1968) was an American writer and the daughter of author Laura Ingalls Wilder. ... Albert Jay Nock (October 13, 1870 or 1872 - August 19, 1945) was an influential American libertarian author, educational theorist, and social critic of the early and middle 20th century. ... Liberalism is a political current embracing several historical and present-day ideologies that claim defense of individual liberty as the purpose of government. ... Individualism is a moral, political, and social philosophy, which emphasizes individual liberty, the primary importance of the individual, and the virtues of self-reliance and personal independence. It assumes that a person can be socially and culturally free of upbringing: deep-structure language(s), family(s) of origin, and both... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: New Deal The New Deal is the name given to the series of programs implemented between 1933-37 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the goal of relief, recovery and reform of the United States economy during the Great Depression. ...

Paterson opposed most of the economic program, known as the New Deal, American president Franklin D. Roosevelt put into effect during the 1930s, and advocated less government involvement in social and fiscal issues. She also led a group of younger Herald Tribune employees who shared her views, one of whom was the young Ayn Rand. Paterson and Rand promoted each other's books and also conducted an extensive polemical correspondence, touching on religion and philosophy. This correspondence ended with a 1948 quarrel. Rand, an atheist, was critical of Paterson's attempts to link capitalism with religion. Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: New Deal The New Deal is the name given to the series of programs implemented between 1933-37 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the goal of relief, recovery and reform of the United States economy during the Great Depression. ... FDR (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... Fiscal municipality in Huesca, Spain The term fiscal refers to government debt, expenditures and revenues, or to finance (particularly financial revenue) in general. ... Ayn Rand (IPA: , February 2 [O.S. January 20] 1905 – March 6, 1982), born Alissa Zinovievna Rosenbaum, was best known for developing the philosophy of Objectivism and for writing the novels We the Living, Anthem, The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged. ... For information about the band, see Atheist (band). ...

Paterson influenced the post-WWII rise of articulate American conservatism through her correspondence with the young Russell Kirk in the 1940s, then with William F. Buckley, the young founder of National Review, in the 1950s. In her retirement, Paterson declined to enrol in Social Security. Russell Kirk (1918, Plymouth, Michigan – 29 April 1994, Mecosta, Michigan), was an American political theorist, historian, moralist, social critic, and man of letters, best known as the father of modern conservatism. ... William F. Buckley may refer to: William Francis Buckley, U.S. Army officer and CIA operative William F. Buckley, Jr. ... National Review (NR) is a conservative political magazine founded by author William F. Buckley Jr. ... For specific national programs, see Social Security (United States), National insurance (UK), Social Security (Sweden) Social security primarily refers to a field of social welfare concerned with social protection, or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment, families with children and others. ...

Quotation

• "If there were just one gift you could choose, but nothing barred, what would it be? We wish you then your own wish; you name it. Ours is liberty, now and forever."

Bibliography

• 1913. The Magpie's Nest
• 1913. The Shadow Riders
• 1924. The Singing Season
• 1926. The Fourth Queen
• 1930. The Road of the Gods
• 1933. Never Ask the End.
• 1934. The Golden Vanity.
• 1940. If It Prove Fair Weather.
• 1943. The God of the Machine.

Biography:

• Cox, Stephen, 2004. The Woman and the Dynamo: Isabel Paterson and the Idea of America. Transaction Publishers.

External Links

• Cato Institute: Isabel Paterson 1885-1961. The source for most of this entry.
• Cato Institute: The God of the Machine.
• Doherty, Brian, Review of Cox (2004), Reason, February 2005.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Isabel Paterson