It’s Not About the Squirrel; It’s About the State

By now, you may have heard about Peanut the Squirrel, who met a tragic end after being taken from his owner by New York State officials.

Peanut was a beloved pet and social media sensation, known for his adorable antics and the strong bond he shared with his owner, Mark Longo. In late October, officials from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) seized Peanut from Longo’s home, citing concerns over illegal wildlife possession.

Longo said the raid lasted five hours. 

By the end of it, Peanut was gone—caged up, dragged off, and later euthanized.

Mark and Peanut’s story is about so much more than the loss of a pet. It’s about the pervasiveness of the bureaucratic state and the lengths it goes to interfere in our lives—usually to our detriment. 

The bureaucratic machine, driven by policies and quotas, has become an immovable force that often crushes the little guy, not to actually protect the public, but to justify its own existence.

Peanut’s case has become a rallying cry for everyone who has ever felt the injustice of a system that only ever makes life worse, and that most of us are totally powerless to opt out of. 

How many times have we seen everyday people—those without the power or money to defend themselves—at the mercy of bureaucrats? Meanwhile, truly dangerous and politically connected elites escape totally unscathed, or are actually protected by those in power. 

The state allocates resources to cases like Peanut’s, while failing to deliver justice against serious crimes. 

Has anyone seen the Epstein client list? Yeah.

It’s why so many Americans have had enough.

Peanut’s story isn’t unique. In ways big and small, harm-by-bureaucracy has become a fact of life. 

Think of hardworking immigrants trying to come here legally who face mountains of red tape and years of being stymied at every turn. Meanwhile, illegal immigration is encouraged—even facilitated—by those who hope to fill the country with a permanent voting block that will ensure their bad policies become permanent fixtures of American life. 

Political insiders receive cover for their crimes, while anyone who questions them becomes a target. 

The message to the everyman is clear: rules for thee, but not for me.

From Hollywood to the boardroom to our own cities and towns, unqualified candidates are pushed into roles they’re not qualified for, all in the name of “progress,” while those who have earned their place through merit are pushed aside.

Government-approved misinformation is propagated by the media, while ordinary citizens voicing different views are accused of spreading “disinformation,” and silenced. 

The hypocrisy is maddening, and every incident of unfair treatment chips away at our sense of justice and community.

For those of us who value personal responsibility and independence, it can be really disheartening. 

This systematized, even weaponized, injustice is exactly what The Tuttle Twins and the Fate of the Future teaches kids to recognize and resist. 

In it, the twins learn that when an idea is sound, it doesn’t need coercion to catch on. They learn that the government relies on force, rather than persuasion, because that’s how they maintain control and force ideas, systems, and rules on good people who would never accept them otherwise.

Kids should learn that meaningful change doesn’t come through force; it comes through reasoned, effective persuasion—something the bureaucratic state has long since abandoned (if it ever used it to begin with).

In The Tuttle Twins and the Leviathan Crisis, Ethan and Emily find themselves in the midst of a game where fear and misinformation are used as weapons to expand control. They learn that freedom is fragile and can be easily lost when people make decisions based on fear or confusion. 

This lesson is so important for kids today because they are growing up in a world where, all too often, fear is used as a pretext for taking away freedoms. Just look at how governments have grown during crises like wars, economic downturns, and pandemics. 

Just look at how the State of New York justified killing a guy’s pet because some squirrels, somewhere, might possibly carry rabies. 

If our kids understand these lessons, they will make better choices as adults. They won’t be able to be manipulated by fear or by the pretext of so-called authority. 

We need to teach them to recognize the broader patterns that those who seek and wield unrighteous dominion over others always use. Because once they can easily see a tyrant for what he is, they can think, act, and respond accordingly.

Peanut’s story, while heartbreaking, has touched people so deeply because it is representative of a much bigger issue that people are angry and frustrated about. 

Many of us have spent the last five years being silenced, threatened, and punished by the leviathan state and its ghoulish enforcers who seek to impose their will on us in what seems like every aspect of our lives. 

Peanut simply gives a face and a tangible example to that anger and frustration.

If the State can barge into your home, empty all your closets, kidnap your pet, and then kill it, then what can’t it do?

What can’t it do, indeed.

When you read Tuttle Twins books with your family, you’re teaching your kids to question, to think critically, and to understand why our freedoms matter, and then to apply what they know to the way they see and interact with the world around them.

The journey to reclaim our liberties and dismantle this bloated, unjust system won’t happen overnight, but we can start by teaching our kids the lessons that many adults don’t even know. 

We can raise a generation that values persuasion over coercion, truth over fear, and liberty over the empty promises of the security State.

I’m encouraged by parents like you who are standing up for freedom, and who take seriously the responsibility of teaching their kids how to be good stewards of the life and liberty they have.

I’m hopeful that we’re going to win.

— Connor