The best spy novel I ever read...

...wasn't even a novel. It was Witness, the memoirs of Whittaker Chambers. Published in 1952, Witness is the story of Chambers's life as a Communist and a spy for the Russians. It's also the story of his repudiation of Communism. According to Wikipedia:

Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. called it one of the greatest of all American autobiographies, and Ronald Reagan credited the book as the inspiration behind his conversion from a New Deal Democrat to a conservative Republican.

Nearly sixty years after its publication, Witness is still a great read. I recommend it highly.

But this post isn't a book review. It's about ideologies and personal conversions. (And an observation about America today.)

I see parallels between the popularity of Communism during the Great Depression and America's renewed interest in libertarianism in these economic hard times.

(I also feel a bit of a kinship with Chambers in that he and I both renounced an ideology in mid-life. For Chambers it was Communism; for me it was libertarianism.)

Chambers's tale is a cautionary one, particularly for today. Like so many young Americans in the 1920s, Chambers was seduced by an ideology which -- like all ideologies (and religions) -- offered answers to all the questions of the universe. And, as the economy suffered in the '30s, Communism made even more sense to Chambers. So much so, in fact, that he became a spy for the Soviet government.

Gradually, however, Chambers grew to have doubts about Communism and went into hiding in the late '30s, eventually rejoining society. (That's only the first half of the book; I'll let you read the rest. Spoiler alert: Alger Hiss goes to jail and Richard Nixon becomes vice president.)

One of the reasons I so enjoyed Witness was that I could relate to it on a personal level. While I was never a spy (or lived nearly as colorful a life as Chambers), I was enthralled with my own ideology, libertarianism. I guess it began by growing up in a Republican house (a Goldwater one, no less) and reading The Conscience of a Conservative in high school. I moved on to Ayn Rand, Reason and Liberty magazines in my twenties, and even was a member of the Libertarian Party for a while.

But, like Chambers, I slowly developed doubts about my world view. And while I can't pinpoint any seminal moment or tipping point, the last straw for me was TARP. From everything I've read, without the government's bailout of the banking system the global economy would have certainly crashed. And that was it for me -- government was necessary.

But, despite TARP, the economy fell into recession anyway -- a Great One, in fact. And so just as I was abandoning libertarianism, millions of my fellow Americans were drawn in. I understand; it's natural to embrace ideologies, particularly during times of great stress.

So the tea party movement emerged and Ayn Rand fanatics like Paul Ryan took over the Republican Party.

How long will America's current fascination with libertarianism last? Until the economy fully recovers. And that could be a while.

But just like Chambers and so many others eventually turned away from Communism, so will Americans ultimately lose interest in the extreme libertarian philosophy that's gripping today's Republican Party -- and the nation. Like me, Americans will some day rediscover pragmatism.