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The Wizards of Ozymandias: Reflections on the Decline and Fall
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Butler Shaffer has, over the course of several years, written 51 wonderful essays observing the dissolution of Western culture and civilization. They have been assembled in the The Wizards of Ozymandias a captivating work full of entertaining epigrams and anecdotes, as well as enlightening commentary on current events, and historical episodes, that will keep you engaged and immersed from the first to last page. Shaffer's intellectual prowess and deep well of life experience enlightens and rouses introspection at every turn. It is immediately evident that the author has been writing on law, economics, and history for decades. This book will challenge you to more deeply contemplate the ideals of liberty. The title may be foreboding, but for all that, the book is an uplifting and gratifying read.
Butler Shaffer has, over the course of several years, written 51 wonderful essays observing the dissolution of Western culture and civilization. They have been assembled in the The Wizards of Ozymandias a captivating work full of entertaining epigrams and anecdotes, as well as enlightening commentary on current events, and historical episodes, that will keep you engaged and immersed from the first to last page. Shaffer's intellectual prowess and deep well of life experience enlightens and rouses introspection at every turn. It is immediately evident that the author has been writing on law, economics, and history for decades. This book will challenge you to more deeply contemplate the ideals of liberty. The title may be foreboding, but for all that, the book is an uplifting and gratifying read.
- GenresPolitics
310 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
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53 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 8, 2015
Three and half stars. This was good, but after the brilliance of Boundaries of Order I was disappointed. This is a vast collection of articles and essays, while there are moments of brilliance, it is largely repetitive. I know that we are told that we must hear things three times to remember, but after nine times or 18 times... it does get monotonous.
I felt that Chapter 37 "Bring Back Discrimination" was worth the price of the ebook. So in that light, everything else was a bonus. I am not turned off Shaffer by any means, but I am very glad that I read "Boundaries of Order" before I tackled this.
I felt that Chapter 37 "Bring Back Discrimination" was worth the price of the ebook. So in that light, everything else was a bonus. I am not turned off Shaffer by any means, but I am very glad that I read "Boundaries of Order" before I tackled this.
October 25, 2020
Shaffer provides his own summary of this book: “If there were but one message I would hope readers would draw from my writings it would be an awareness of how we condition our minds to make our lives subservient to institutional interests.” Our institutional focus, worship even, is killing the creative forces that created our society. I’ve noticed it, too, and often associate it with the rise of the all-important role of “expert” over a century ago. Institutions are full of experts.
Another theme to this book, though, is one central to my own work and research: the disconnect between corporate ownership and management. He discusses this idea several times and points to institutionalized thinking as its direct cause. And Shaffer’s discussion of how the government used fear (regarding 9/11) to deepen its institutionalized control over the masses could have been just as easily been written about Covid-19.
I think my favorite chapter is 45, “An Outbreak of Order in NYC.” It illustrates very simply how, reacting to the emergency landing by Capt. Sullenberger of US Airways Flight 1549, it was the people in the area who came to the rescue, not any government first responder. “The National Transportation Safety Board will make its routine ‘investigation’—to reinforce the supervisory mindset that, in finding out ‘what went wrong,’ the government will be able to ‘keep this from happening again.’” We can’t rely on government in situations like that because it’s impossible to prepare for such spontaneous occurrences. We rely, instead, on the spontaneous order that emerges in any complex society and we ought to acknowledge that fact more than we do.
But as much as I appreciate Shaffer’s views, this is not a cohesive book. It seems to be, more likely, a collection of blog posts and articles published as standalone pieces. It lacks an internal thread of consistent forward movement and, instead, tends to repeat not only certain ideas, but specific phrases.
As I read this, I’m continually struck by the fact that Shaffer was preaching to the choir. Nobody who needs to read this will ever pick it up, and even if they did, the stiff, academic language would fail to engage the young or distracted, the very people who need to understand these truths. This book receives the same criticism that I lay on book-writing economists: what is really needed today is a translation of these concepts into a more modern, accessible form of language.
Another theme to this book, though, is one central to my own work and research: the disconnect between corporate ownership and management. He discusses this idea several times and points to institutionalized thinking as its direct cause. And Shaffer’s discussion of how the government used fear (regarding 9/11) to deepen its institutionalized control over the masses could have been just as easily been written about Covid-19.
I think my favorite chapter is 45, “An Outbreak of Order in NYC.” It illustrates very simply how, reacting to the emergency landing by Capt. Sullenberger of US Airways Flight 1549, it was the people in the area who came to the rescue, not any government first responder. “The National Transportation Safety Board will make its routine ‘investigation’—to reinforce the supervisory mindset that, in finding out ‘what went wrong,’ the government will be able to ‘keep this from happening again.’” We can’t rely on government in situations like that because it’s impossible to prepare for such spontaneous occurrences. We rely, instead, on the spontaneous order that emerges in any complex society and we ought to acknowledge that fact more than we do.
But as much as I appreciate Shaffer’s views, this is not a cohesive book. It seems to be, more likely, a collection of blog posts and articles published as standalone pieces. It lacks an internal thread of consistent forward movement and, instead, tends to repeat not only certain ideas, but specific phrases.
As I read this, I’m continually struck by the fact that Shaffer was preaching to the choir. Nobody who needs to read this will ever pick it up, and even if they did, the stiff, academic language would fail to engage the young or distracted, the very people who need to understand these truths. This book receives the same criticism that I lay on book-writing economists: what is really needed today is a translation of these concepts into a more modern, accessible form of language.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews