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Suggest an Entry under this Topic |
| Biography |
| Faculty Profile - Southwestern Law School: Butler Shaffer, Professor of Law |
| Associations |
| Eris Society |
| Archived Articles |
| Butler Shaffer Archives: Past articles by Butler Shaffer on LewRockwell.com |
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| Writings |
A Letter From Butler Shaffer, 19 Oct 2001
Related Topic: Individual Liberty
"One positive feature of the post-September 11th mess has been the discovery of who is, and who is not, devoted to individual liberty. It’s all so easy to espouse liberty principles when there are no apparent costs associated with doing so. It becomes much tougher when the costs begin to escalate." |
A Passion for Life, 1 Nov 2003
Related Topic: Life
"If life is to be experienced as our nature has prepared us, we must learn to live with passion; with a sense of focused, self-directed energy. The study of economics reminds us that life is a subjective process of learning, making choices, taking actions. ... To live with passion is to live an internally directed life that exhibits a fiery, creative, exploring spirit." |
Alternative Medicine Is Libertarian Medicine, 2 Dec 2006
Related Topics: Health Care, Life, The State
"There are a number of factors contributing to ... decentralization in health care. (1) The rapidly increasing costs of traditional medicine ... (2) An awareness ... that equally or even more effective health alternatives and remedies are available ... (3) An attraction to the more individualized treatment afforded by alternative methods ... (4) A growing awareness of the role of self-healing and individualized health maintenance practices." |
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Another Meaning To September 11th, 19 Sep 2001
Related Topics: September 11, 2001, Personal Responsibility
"The terrifying events of September 11th provided perhaps the most chilling evidence of the failure of the political model. After having trillions of dollars siphoned from our incomes to pay for the most powerful and sophisticated weaponry known to mankind; after years of having our persons and baggage subjected to searches at airports ..." |
George Carlin: A Four-Letter Threat to Authority, 24 Jun 2008
Related Topic: Humor
A tribute to George Carlin (and Lenny Bruce) on their irreverent attitude towards authority and Carlin as a "standup philosopher"
"To most people, Bruce and Carlin were nothing more than dealers in four-letter words; men who loved to shock the sensibilities of others. But there was a deeper meaning in their humor, and modern libertarian thinking would not have been possible without their important groundwork. Each man understood, at least implicitly, that the authority some men presume to exercise over the lives of others depends upon the subjugated regarding their managers with an unquestioning reverence and awe." |
Impeach the American People!, 17 Nov 2006
Related Topics: The State, Founding Fathers
"To most people, government may have been established by contract but, once created, the state became a free agent, able to extend its decision-making authority in any direction it chose ... The obligation of 'the people' to insist upon its rulers abiding by the terms of the 'agreement,' dissolved into the duty to be obedient to whatever state authorities mandated." |
Law as 'Reason' or as 'Violence'?, 17 Nov 2001
Related Topics: Law, Bill of Rights, Rights Retained by the People
"There have been times in which 'law' was, indeed, a means for peacefully resolving disputes. The ancient system known as the 'law merchant,' for example, developed among men of commerce as a way of settling quarrels in the marketplace. ... Over time, the political system took over the roles of these merchant judges, and 'law' became more completely politicized." |
Memorial Day Alternative, 16 May 2007
Related Topic: Films
Short summaries of anti-war films with rankings in terms of importance
"Memorial Day is one holiday on which I often hold an 'Anti-War Film Festival,' ... Joyeux Noel ... The King of Hearts ... Paths of Glory ... Oh! What a Lovely War ... Johny Got His Gun ... All Quiet on the Western Front ... The Deer Hunter ... Gallipoli ... Shenandoah ... Catch-22 ... Slaughterhouse-Five ... Dr. Strangelove ... Wag the Dog ... The Quiet American ... Aftermath: The Remnants of War ... The Americanization of Emily ..." |
More Anti-War Films, 21 May 2007
Related Topic: Films
More short summaries of anti-war films with rankings in terms of importance, follow-up to "Memorial Day Alternative"
"... a number of anti-war films to be watched over the Memorial Day weekend ... Why We Fight ... Children of Men ... Breaker Morant ... Platoon ... Full Metal Jacket ... A Very Long Engagement ... The Battle of Algiers ... Duck Soup ... Hearts and Minds ... Grand Illusion ... Das Boot ... Letters From Iwo Jima ..." |
Sy Leon, R.I.P., 11 Sep 2007
Related Topics: Voting, Robert LeFevre, Murray N. Rothbard
Recollections of the life of Sy Leon, Rampart College and the libertarian movement of the 1950s/1960s
"Through the League, he actively promoted the inclusion of 'none of the above' as an alternative to listed candidates for every office. While his ideas have led a few states to include such an option as a non-binding statement ... Sy had a far more powerful thought in mind. If 'none of the above' received the majority of votes for any office, that position would remain unfilled until a candidate more suitable to the electorate could be found." |
The Control Cult, 21 Apr 2007
Related Topic: The State
"Members of the control cult have always found themselves attracted to the agency whose raison d'etre is to subdue all of humanity to its coercive mechanisms of control: the state. What problem, or catastrophe, or even fear thereof, is not met with the aforesaid chant of bureaucrats: 'we will find out what went wrong and fix it, so it doesn't happen again'?" |
The Delusion of Limited Government, 14 May 2002
Related Topic: Limited Government |
The Voting Ritual, 24 Oct 2006
Related Topic: Voting
"Rather than dutifully going to the polls to select from a narrow list of options provided you by political interests that you neither know nor control, you might want to inquire into who is providing the cast of characters — and writing the script — for a performance you are expected not only to attend, but to cheer." |
Why Are We Afraid To Be Free?, 27 Nov 2001
Related Topics: Individual Liberty, Personal Responsibility
"Let me begin by distinguishing the concepts 'freedom' and 'liberty.' Freedom is a state of mind that is not in conflict or contradiction, a mind that has integrity (i.e., is integrated into a consistent whole). Liberty describes a social system in which free men and women live and cooperate with one another." |
Why I Do Not Vote, 14 Nov 2000
Related Topic: Voting
"When we vote in an election, ... Our motivations for such participation – even if they be openly expressed as a desire to bring state power to an end – do not mitigate the fact that our energies are being employed on behalf of the destructive principle that liberty and social order can best be fostered through the coercive machinery of the state." |
| Interviews |
| Antiwar Radio: Scott Horton Interviews Butler Shaffer, by Scott Horton, 13 Apr 2007 |
| Books Authored |
| Calculated Chaos: Institutional Threats to Peace and Human Survival, 1985 |
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