Bretigne Shaffer's Truth and Fiction

Fiction and commentary about the beauty of civilization and the evils of the coercive state
Profile picture
  • Bretigne Shaffer

The One Way to Spot Vaccine Propaganda Feb 19, 2019

But you will never hear about any of these scientists and doctors from mainstream news outlets. Why not? Because what those outlets are engaged in is not journalism. It is something else.

By Bretigne Shaffer Vote3 1

Charly’s Voice Must Be Heard Feb 19, 2019

I don't usually post things I haven't read, but I'm making an exception here. I literally cannot read this. I started to, and I can't. But I do know what happened, and I want others to know about this. Charly was six years old when she passed away two weeks ago from seizures. She has the same condition our daughter has. The family called 911, and when the police came, the mother mentioned that they had been using THC to treat her seizures. Which is illegal in their state. Instead of behaving like actual human beings, the officers forced the...

By Bretigne Shaffer Vote3 0

On Catholic Schoolboys and Chinese Revolutionaries Jan 22, 2019

A vicious ugliness had stuck its head out of a hole in the earth and begun spitting venom at us all. Even if that ugliness slinks back into the hole, nobody is now going to forget that it is there. The viciousness isn't new. We saw it immediately after the 2016 elections, and probably most of us have seen it rear its slimy head at some point in our various lifetimes. But for me, for some reason, this particular incident stands out.

By Bretigne Shaffer Vote8 1

What Did Amal’s Life Buy for You? Nov 5, 2018

Until this very moment, I think I've believed that all human life was equally worthy, that no-one has more of a right to be here than anyone else, that no-one has the right to pass judgment on the value of another human life. When I saw the news that Amal Hussain - the seven-year-old Yemeni girl whose photo in the New York Times had drawn attention to the war-induced famine in Yemen - had died, and looked at the photo of her face, I realized that I don't believe that at all.

By Bretigne Shaffer Vote5 3

Gvtaren in the Field Sep 17, 2018

“Don’t raise your voice!” The Councillor with the stiff lion’s-mane hair bellowed into her microphone, her face shaking, but her coif remaining eternally still. Each of the guards leaned forward just slightly, their hands still on their hips. Gvtaren scribbled furiously in her notepad.

By Bretigne Shaffer Vote2 0

Remembering Andrea Aug 7, 2018

But this was no ordinary bookstore, and as proprietor, Andrea did much more than just “run a bookstore.” What she did, in fact, was to bring people together. This was kind of a big deal back in the eighties and nineties, when libertarians were still pretty small in number, and often very isolated.

By Bretigne Shaffer Vote1 1

Father Brown and the “Religion” of Libertarianism May 24, 2018

Of course, if the belief that no-one has the right to enslave another constitutes a religious belief, then so does its inverse: The belief that some people do have the right to rule over others, to make decisions for them, to use force to get them to do what they want them to. Those who sling the epithet of religiosity at libertarians are in fact every bit as religious as we are.

By Bretigne Shaffer Vote2 0

No, I Won’t Disavow My “Racist” Friend Oct 1, 2017

When the story emerged that Roger had made a donation to Duke’s campaign, and there were calls to boycott his restaurant, people who knew me asked for my thoughts. I tried to find a way to express them. But I couldn’t.

By Bretigne Shaffer Vote9 5

Hong Kong as a Model for a Free Society Sep 22, 2017

The irony is this: That even five months after becoming a part of the largest remaining communist nation on earth, Hong Kong remains a much freer place in many respects than does the United States. While the government of Hong Kong has maintained a policy of minimal intervention in the economy and people's lives for over a century, government in the United States has increased dramatically, both in size and in the degree to which it exercises control over the lives of its citizens.

By Bretigne Shaffer Vote2 0

In Which a Bunch of White People Lecture Me on the Black Experience and I Am “Outed” as a Casual Racist Sep 1, 2017

I wouldn’t ordinarily write an entire blog post about a conversation I’d had on Facebook – certainly not one as deeply stupid as this conversation became – but I think there’s something important to be learned from this particular exchange. I see it as sort of a snapshot of what is going on all over the country right now. So I hope you’ll bear with me.

By Bretigne Shaffer Vote12 11

Login