Robert LeFevre
Encyclopedia
Robert LeFevre was an America
n libertarian
business
man, radio
personality, and primary theorist of autarchism
.
in 1911, but when he was a child LeFevre's family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota
. LeFevre attended Hamline University
studying English and drama. He then worked at a variety of jobs during the Great Depression
, such as acting and radio announcing. During World War II, LeFevre served as an officer in the education and orientation division of the Army Air Corps
before being discharged in 1945 after spending a year in Europe and being injured in an accident. After the War, LeFevre went to California and worked in the real estate business and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1950. He then became radio and television broadcaster becoming involved in anti-communist causes.
, which he ran until 1973, in Colorado Springs, Colorado
. In 1965, after a flood devastated the campus, the school and college moved to Santa Ana, California. The Freedom School was designed to educate people in LeFevre's philosophy about the meaning of freedom
and free-market economic
policy. LeFevre added Rampart College
, an unaccredited
four-year school, in 1963. Both institutions shared the same campus, and had a press, The Pine Tree Press, which published works for both, including a newsletter for the Freedom School, the Rampart Journal of Individualist Thought (1965–68), and a tabloid for the Press itself.
After Rampart College's closure in 1975, LeFevre carried on his work in South Carolina
under the patronage of business giant Roger Milliken
, and he also published Lefevre's Journal from 1974 to 1978. In 1979, LeFevre selected Freedom School graduate Kevin Cullinane to take over the teaching of Freedom School Seminars, including the Milliken Contract. Cullinane, who taught the principles of LeFevre's philosophy to students at Academy of the Rockies, which he had founded in 1972, taught Freedom School from 1979 until 2005 as part of Milliken's management training. He expanded its reach to include Sherman College, Wofford College, and individual seminars from coast to coast. Freedom School continues today from Tennessee, where Cullinane moved in 2000 to found Freedom Mountain Academy.
Notable teachers at the Freedom School or Rampart College include Rose Wilder Lane
, Milton Friedman
, F.A. Harper, Frank Chodorov
, Leonard Read
, Gordon Tullock
, G. Warren Nutter
, Bruno Leoni
, James J. Martin
, and Ludwig von Mises
.
Notable graduates include Roy Childs
, Kerry Thornley, Roger MacBride
, and Fred and Charles Koch.
is above the law
of the state
and that for American
society
to prosper economically, free-market reforms were essential. He also believed that bestowing the good deeds of society on its government
was no different from rewarding criminals for abstaining from illegal activity. All government consists of custom
s and institution
s that control our lives by stealing
our property
, restricting our freedom, and endangering our lives with the rationale of protecting us from ourselves.
during the 1960s at the Freedom School
, later Rampart College
. Brian Doherty
summed up the insights of LeFevrean lectures as delivering "the universal law that if you trespass on someone else's property, you'll make him mad, and you wouldn't want that, would you?" Although often forgotten by libertarians today, LeFevre "preached a thoroughgoing pacifism that held it to be an impermissible violation of the property rights of an assailant to destroy the ropes he'd tied you up with (just so long as they were his ropes) and just as bad to take a necklace back from a blackguard who stole it from you as it was for the blackguard to take it from you in the first place.
Given his dedication to pacifism, LeFevre also spoke out against war as a product of the state. He once gave a speech called "Prelude to Hell" to a local Lions Club about what it would be like for a typical American city to get nuked as a result of "those mighty, terrible, pointless conflicts that the modern state inevitably creates." According to Doherty, LeFevre was "capable of facing down angry lieutenant colonel
s, who raged at his pacifistic refusal to fight for the flag, and explaining his theory of human rights so patiently, so guilelessly, that in the end the crusty colonel had to admit that LeFevre was right to stand his ground."
According to Robert Smith, LeFevre became convinced of the power of non-violent resistance after a run-in with a union. "I remember him telling the story," says Smith, "of union goons busting into a radio station he worked at. And he just fell flat on the ground and lay there. They were so nonplussed they walked out without beating the shit out of him. That convinced him of the principles of nonviolence."
in which the initiation of force or fraud is considered morally wrong, but that the use of force in defense when it is initiated by somebody else is acceptable. LeFevre went further and took a pacifist stance, believing that any use of force is morally wrong. The other point concerns the matter of voting
and political parties
. While many libertarians believe these are acceptable, and indeed some are organized into the Libertarian Party
, LeFevre believed voting itself was an act of aggression and opposed participation in electoral politics.
LeFevre favored the abolition of the state but used the term "autarchism
" (self government) to describe his politics, to distinguish it from anarchism
. In part this was because of the association of anarchism in the public eye with violence, but LeFevre did not consider himself an anarchist, and in his "LeFevre Commentaries" bluntly stated that he was not an anarchist.
, claim that Robert LeFevre's movement was a basis for Robert A. Heinlein
's book The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
, and that LeFevre was the basis for the character Professor Bernardo de la Paz, organizer of the Lunar revolution.
Note that the website hosting the following essays, F.A.E.M. (First Amendment Exercise Machine), contains other articles with many controversial remarks that may be offensive. These are unrelated to the beliefs of Robert LeFevre.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
n libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
man, radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
personality, and primary theorist of autarchism
Autarchism
Autarchism is a political philosophy that upholds the principle of individual liberty, rejects compulsory government, and supports the elimination of government in favor of ruling oneself and no other...
.
Early life
LeFevre was born in Gooding, IdahoGooding, Idaho
Gooding is the county seat and largest city of Gooding County, Idaho, United States. Its population was 3,384 at the 2000 census.The city is named for Frank R. Gooding, a local sheep rancher who became a prominent political figure in Idaho in the early 20th Century, serving as both Governor of...
in 1911, but when he was a child LeFevre's family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
. LeFevre attended Hamline University
Hamline University
-Red Wing location :Hamline was named in honor of Leonidas Lent Hamline, a bishop of the Methodist Church whose interest in the frontier led him to donate $25,000 toward the building of an institution of higher learning in what was then the territory of Minnesota. Today, a statue of Bishop Hamline...
studying English and drama. He then worked at a variety of jobs during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, such as acting and radio announcing. During World War II, LeFevre served as an officer in the education and orientation division of the Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
before being discharged in 1945 after spending a year in Europe and being injured in an accident. After the War, LeFevre went to California and worked in the real estate business and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1950. He then became radio and television broadcaster becoming involved in anti-communist causes.
Freedom School
In 1956, LeFevre founded the Freedom SchoolFreedom School
The Freedom School was located in Colorado, United States, offering a series of lectures by libertarian theorist Robert LeFevre from 1957 to 1968. LeFevre extended this work to the related Rampart College, an unaccredited four-year school, in 1963. Both shared the same campus...
, which he ran until 1973, in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...
. In 1965, after a flood devastated the campus, the school and college moved to Santa Ana, California. The Freedom School was designed to educate people in LeFevre's philosophy about the meaning of freedom
Freedom (political)
Political freedom is a central philosophy in Western history and political thought, and one of the most important features of democratic societies...
and free-market economic
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
policy. LeFevre added Rampart College
Rampart College
Rampart College was a libertarian educational institution established by Robert LeFevre in Colorado, United States in 1956. The college was an unaccredited four-year school for classical liberals and individualist anarchists...
, an unaccredited
Unaccredited institutions of higher learning
Unaccredited institutions of higher education are colleges, trade schools, seminaries, and universities which do not have formal educational accreditation....
four-year school, in 1963. Both institutions shared the same campus, and had a press, The Pine Tree Press, which published works for both, including a newsletter for the Freedom School, the Rampart Journal of Individualist Thought (1965–68), and a tabloid for the Press itself.
After Rampart College's closure in 1975, LeFevre carried on his work in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
under the patronage of business giant Roger Milliken
Roger Milliken
Roger Milliken was a U.S. textile heir and businessman. He served as President and then CEO of his family's company, Milliken & Company, from 1947 until 2005...
, and he also published Lefevre's Journal from 1974 to 1978. In 1979, LeFevre selected Freedom School graduate Kevin Cullinane to take over the teaching of Freedom School Seminars, including the Milliken Contract. Cullinane, who taught the principles of LeFevre's philosophy to students at Academy of the Rockies, which he had founded in 1972, taught Freedom School from 1979 until 2005 as part of Milliken's management training. He expanded its reach to include Sherman College, Wofford College, and individual seminars from coast to coast. Freedom School continues today from Tennessee, where Cullinane moved in 2000 to found Freedom Mountain Academy.
Notable teachers at the Freedom School or Rampart College include Rose Wilder Lane
Rose Wilder Lane
Rose Wilder Lane was an American journalist, travel writer, novelist, and political theorist...
, Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman was an American economist, statistician, academic, and author who taught at the University of Chicago for more than three decades...
, F.A. Harper, Frank Chodorov
Frank Chodorov
Frank Chodorov was an American member of the Old Right, a group of libertarian thinkers who were non-interventionist in foreign policy and anti–New Deal...
, Leonard Read
Leonard Read
Leonard E. Read was an American economist and the founder of the Foundation for Economic Education, which was the first modern free market think tank in the United States....
, Gordon Tullock
Gordon Tullock
Gordon Tullock is an economist and retired Professor of Law and Economics at the George Mason University School of Law. He is best known for his work on public choice theory, the application of economic thinking to political issues...
, G. Warren Nutter
G. Warren Nutter
G. Warren Nutter was a U.S. economist, known primarily for his work on political economy, industrial concentration, price theory, and Soviet economic history, and for co-founding the "Virginia school of political economy".-Biography:...
, Bruno Leoni
Bruno Leoni
Bruno Leoni was an Italian classical-liberal political philosopher and lawyer.Besides being editor for the political science journal Il Politico, Leoni was also involved as secretary and later president of the Mont Pelerin Society...
, James J. Martin
James J. Martin
James J. Martin was an American historian. He was educated at the University of New Hampshire and the University of Michigan, earning a Ph.D. in history in 1949....
, and Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises was an Austrian economist, philosopher, and classical liberal who had a significant influence on the modern Libertarian movement and the "Austrian School" of economic thought.-Biography:-Early life:...
.
Notable graduates include Roy Childs
Roy Childs
Roy A. Childs, Jr. was an American libertarian essayist and critic.Childs counted among his early influences Ayn Rand, Ludwig von Mises, Rose Wilder Lane, and Robert LeFevre....
, Kerry Thornley, Roger MacBride
Roger MacBride
Roger Lea MacBride was an American lawyer, political figure, and television producer. He was the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in the 1976 election....
, and Fred and Charles Koch.
Views
LeFevre believed that natural lawNatural law
Natural law, or the law of nature , is any system of law which is purportedly determined by nature, and thus universal. Classically, natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze human nature and deduce binding rules of moral behavior. Natural law is contrasted with the positive law Natural...
is above the law
Positive law
Positive law is the term generally used to describe man-made laws which bestow specific privileges upon, or remove them from, an individual or group...
of the state
State (polity)
A state is an organized political community, living under a government. States may be sovereign and may enjoy a monopoly on the legal initiation of force and are not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. Many states are federated states which participate in a federal union...
and that for American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
to prosper economically, free-market reforms were essential. He also believed that bestowing the good deeds of society on its government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
was no different from rewarding criminals for abstaining from illegal activity. All government consists of custom
Convention (norm)
A convention is a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted standards, norms, social norms or criteria, often taking the form of a custom....
s and institution
Institution
An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given human community...
s that control our lives by stealing
Theft
In common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...
our property
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
, restricting our freedom, and endangering our lives with the rationale of protecting us from ourselves.
Pacifism
LeFevre was also famously a pacifist, and taught his brand of libertarianismLibertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
during the 1960s at the Freedom School
Freedom School
The Freedom School was located in Colorado, United States, offering a series of lectures by libertarian theorist Robert LeFevre from 1957 to 1968. LeFevre extended this work to the related Rampart College, an unaccredited four-year school, in 1963. Both shared the same campus...
, later Rampart College
Rampart College
Rampart College was a libertarian educational institution established by Robert LeFevre in Colorado, United States in 1956. The college was an unaccredited four-year school for classical liberals and individualist anarchists...
. Brian Doherty
Brian Doherty (journalist)
Brian Doherty is an American journalist. He is a Senior Editor at Reason magazine. He is the author of This Is Burning Man: The Rise of a New American Underground , Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement and Gun Control on Trial: Inside the...
summed up the insights of LeFevrean lectures as delivering "the universal law that if you trespass on someone else's property, you'll make him mad, and you wouldn't want that, would you?" Although often forgotten by libertarians today, LeFevre "preached a thoroughgoing pacifism that held it to be an impermissible violation of the property rights of an assailant to destroy the ropes he'd tied you up with (just so long as they were his ropes) and just as bad to take a necklace back from a blackguard who stole it from you as it was for the blackguard to take it from you in the first place.
Given his dedication to pacifism, LeFevre also spoke out against war as a product of the state. He once gave a speech called "Prelude to Hell" to a local Lions Club about what it would be like for a typical American city to get nuked as a result of "those mighty, terrible, pointless conflicts that the modern state inevitably creates." According to Doherty, LeFevre was "capable of facing down angry lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
s, who raged at his pacifistic refusal to fight for the flag, and explaining his theory of human rights so patiently, so guilelessly, that in the end the crusty colonel had to admit that LeFevre was right to stand his ground."
According to Robert Smith, LeFevre became convinced of the power of non-violent resistance after a run-in with a union. "I remember him telling the story," says Smith, "of union goons busting into a radio station he worked at. And he just fell flat on the ground and lay there. They were so nonplussed they walked out without beating the shit out of him. That convinced him of the principles of nonviolence."
Influence on libertarian movement
LeFevre was influential in the early libertarian movement, but differed from modern libertarians on two counts. Most libertarians hold to a non-aggression principleNon-aggression principle
The non-aggression principle , or NAP for short, is a moral stance which asserts that aggression is inherently illegitimate...
in which the initiation of force or fraud is considered morally wrong, but that the use of force in defense when it is initiated by somebody else is acceptable. LeFevre went further and took a pacifist stance, believing that any use of force is morally wrong. The other point concerns the matter of voting
Voting
Voting is a method for a group such as a meeting or an electorate to make a decision or express an opinion—often following discussions, debates, or election campaigns. It is often found in democracies and republics.- Reasons for voting :...
and political parties
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
. While many libertarians believe these are acceptable, and indeed some are organized into the Libertarian Party
Libertarian Party (United States)
The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
, LeFevre believed voting itself was an act of aggression and opposed participation in electoral politics.
LeFevre favored the abolition of the state but used the term "autarchism
Autarchism
Autarchism is a political philosophy that upholds the principle of individual liberty, rejects compulsory government, and supports the elimination of government in favor of ruling oneself and no other...
" (self government) to describe his politics, to distinguish it from anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
. In part this was because of the association of anarchism in the public eye with violence, but LeFevre did not consider himself an anarchist, and in his "LeFevre Commentaries" bluntly stated that he was not an anarchist.
In popular culture
Some, such as Brian DohertyBrian Doherty (journalist)
Brian Doherty is an American journalist. He is a Senior Editor at Reason magazine. He is the author of This Is Burning Man: The Rise of a New American Underground , Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement and Gun Control on Trial: Inside the...
, claim that Robert LeFevre's movement was a basis for Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
's book The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, about a lunar colony's revolt against rule from Earth....
, and that LeFevre was the basis for the character Professor Bernardo de la Paz, organizer of the Lunar revolution.
Quotes
- "An anarchist is anyone who believes in less government than you do."
- "If men are good, you don't need government; if men are evil or ambivalent, you don't dare have one."
- "Government is a disease masquerading as its own cure."
- "A limited government is a contradiction in terms."
External links
- LeFevre's essay, "Who Was the Original Aunt Jemima and What Did She Do?"
- LeFevre's essay, "Autarchy"
- LeFevre's essay, "The Nature of Man and His Government" (1959)
- LeFevre articles on The Voluntaryist website. The Voluntaryist is a newsletter devoted to LeFevre's views of libertarianism.
- Audio archive of 50 LeFevre commentaries hosted by the Ludwig von Mises Institute. These commentaries have made their mark in the history of libertarian ideas for their clarity, eloquence, and pedagogical value. Drawing on great thought from all ages, and specifically influenced by Rothbardian political economy, Robert LeFevre asks and answers fundamental questions about the relationship between man, property, society, and the state.
- Guide to the Robert LeFevre papers from 1946–1981 at the University of Oregon.
- The Freedom School New school established in January, 2010 dedicated to carrying on in the LeFevre tradition.
Note that the website hosting the following essays, F.A.E.M. (First Amendment Exercise Machine), contains other articles with many controversial remarks that may be offensive. These are unrelated to the beliefs of Robert LeFevre.
- LeFevre on principles
- LeFevre on freedom
- LeFevre on the genesis of property
- LeFevre on the moralityMoralityMorality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
of ownership - LeFevre on the communityCommunityThe term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
and private property - LeFevre on CapitalismCapitalismCapitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
- LeFevre on the American RevolutionAmerican RevolutionThe American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
- LeFevre on moneyMoneyMoney is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...