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Boundaries of Order: Private Property as a Social System

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"Boundaries of Order" is a profoundly subversive look at property and social behavior. Shaffer posits that property, indeed, underpins all such behavior.

Shaffer is a "wraparound" libertarian, so far right he's left, or is it the other way around? In any event, he is vehemently anti-war, anti-state and even anti-institution, arguing that sclerotic institutional bureaucracy is the enemy of liberty and thus ultimately of us all. His notion of "property" far transcends real estate, though, and his discussion over three chapters of "boundary", "claim" and "control" is alone worth the price of the book.

This book carries the potential to enrage across the political spectrum, which to my mind is reason enough to recommend it. It is far more than that, however, and I urge those puzzled by our society's inability to "form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity" to read Shaffer's book.

This penetrating and lucid book explores the nature of "property", it's relation to the individual and to society. Shaffer is clearly a classical liberal, is familiar with the legal system (he's a law professor), and also embraces the ideas of complexity theory. He presents an excellent and compelling philosophical, historical, and scientific argument: by recognizing and respecting property boundaries, society will flourish without the need of a coercive top-down (vertically structured) "command and control" centralized state institution. The resulting "bottom-up" (horizontally structured) society would have orderly network-like qualities that could expand, adapt and change in unpredictable ways.

As a long-time student of the late astrophysicist Andrew J. Galambos (who innovated Volitional Science) I enjoyed his intelligent dance in and around property with hardly a misstep. Occasionally he hints at the deeper significance of property.

Had a great time reading this book.

This book opens you up to the possibilities of order created by individuals and society without the intervention of government imposed order.

Most people think that anarchism means society without whereas, anarchism is really society without government imposed order. Of course, free-market leaning people are not against rules, law, and order, or even against those created by people. But, against a set of rules, law, and order, created by governments as a result of trying to help. These phenomenons will come about by themselves and will be better benefit society because they will be create on the level that is demanded, and not across the board as government structures are formed.

Once upon a time, I held the notion that free-markets, individualism, private property ownership, and the growth of technology promoted a sense of "atomism," alienation, and exploitation. Since our contemporary environment is saturated with this line of thinking, I tend to believe this story will be familiar to so many people. Whether we're enrolled in grade school or higher education, are simply watching the news, or even just talking political turkey over Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends, the assesment that individual freedom and liberty requires "regulation" by an overarching, political force seems a matter settled to most minds.

It is this settlement upon these articles of faith Butler Shaffer's _Bounderies of Order_ attempts to unsettle, though not by simply muddying the proverbial waters. Shaffer's book seeks to discard the bottle altogether be the waters contained therein appear as separated into "left" and "right," or muddied as they are presently within our political institutions. It is this whole arrangement, the institutions themselves, bottling us into sometimes separated, sometimes muddy, contents upon which Shaffer casts his critical, but, thoroughly life-affirming eye.

_Boundaries of Order_ is written with a bold, yet warm, hand. It is friendly, accessible, and well-thought. Shaffer delivers his message with calm deliberation, while rigorously chipping away at the intellectual apologetics of the State by offering us something closer to a phenomenological account of our lives than an account grounded solely in critical argumentation. Don't get me wrong, however, this book is logically sound through and through, yet it retains the authenticity of an embodied, perspectival approach to reasoning rather than using the pretense of an epistemological pyramid scheme all too common in the tradition of Western philosophy.

In fact, Shaffer demonstrates it is just this type of pyramidical, Platonic, scheme upon which the State is predicated and which we must willingly engage aggressively if civilization is to continue and thrive. Instead of the age-old centralized top-down scheme, the author invites us to consider the possibility of a horizontal, decentralized model of society built upon the premise of private property. His notion of private property builds upon the facts of our biological existence, or "self-ownership," which proves, in Shaffer's able hands, far more nuanced than the notion is often credited by its detractors ( I used to be such a detractor). Shaffer not only uses his "phenomenological" approach as support for his thesis, but also more recent theories in the natural sciences such as chaos theory, emergence, and complexity. In addition, it cannot be understated how much free-market economics facilitates the emergence of such a decentralized society.

In sum, this is a wonderfully engaging book, particularly for those who see in free-markets and private property nothing but the Earth-destroying greed, atomism, "consumerism," and "exploitation" we hear so often as descriptors. If nothing else, this work will challenge that view, but it may just cause many to think and consider differently the condition of our world, the role of the State in that condition, and possibilities lying outside institutions (such as the State) perpetually seeking only their own privileged status. Upon unmasking our hidden desires to dominate others through statism we are forced to ask ourselves: Who has the exclusive, authoritative, power of decision-making over me and my life?

After reading this book, I have a much more profound understanding of what property rights really means. It is the essential, inherent, first order of the day for every living thing. Each one defends his property from all invaders. If one has no property rights, one descends below the highly regarded worm.

Each life needs space with which to raise offspring, maintain a food source, etc. With the loss of property and thus the rest of our rights - for the many spring from the one - we are but slaves living in abject poverty, with a few toys served up as passifiers. Subservient to the master providing gruel, or basic white bread and water.

The dissolusion of family leads us to commit acts that would not normally occur. The family, with inherent rights, defines the Boundaries of Order. The State has had this very destruction in its sights for decades. Their plan is nearly complete.

Boundaries of Order by Butler Shaffer is a must read for anyone concerned with loss of property rights, and thus all the others that spring from the most necessary right. It's not just for the spotted owl, or the Prebble mouse. Each of those needs space in order to survive as do humans. The loss of space, rights, property, can be linked to the sickness we are experiencing now. The mental illness of not knowing there are invisible shackles around your ankles. The vast restrictions put upon us creates the sociopathic disorder we are seeing in our military machinations. This effect "trickles down to those creatures we desire to save above man". For if man has been stripped of rights, you can be sure that plants and animals will be lost first.

As an aside: Notice big corporations force you to apply for a job online, via multiple choice answers to questions that should be questioned. They seem to be seeking sociopaths. You have no right to question, add explanations, etc. You are but a number in the bottom line in the machine of social disorder.

This book had some good ideas on property rights and organizational structures, but the content density was a little too low. It probably should have been about 1/3 the length.