Shepard the Voluntaryist is an American author, podcaster, entrepreneur, and prominent advocate of voluntaryism and anarcho-capitalism. A former police officer and SWAT team member, he transitioned from state enforcement to full commitment to the principles of voluntaryism—the consistent application of the Non-Aggression Principle (NAP) to all human interactions—around 2008. His work emphasizes moral consistency, the rejection of political authority as institutionalized aggression, the superiority of voluntary cooperation and free markets over coercion, and the philosophical roots of anarcho-capitalism as articulated by thinkers such as Murray N. Rothbard, Lysander Spooner, and Larken Rose.
From an anarcho-capitalist perspective, Shepard exemplifies the intellectual journey many in the movement undertake: recognizing that the state’s monopoly on force is incompatible with natural rights, private property, and self-ownership. His writings and media appearances argue that true liberty arises only when all interactions are voluntary, with no exceptions for government agents, and that markets and private governance can peacefully replace the state’s functions.
Biography#
Limited public details exist about Shepard’s early life, as he maintains a degree of privacy while engaging publicly on ideas. He served as a police officer and SWAT sniper before questioning the ethical foundations of his role. Exposure to libertarian philosophy, logic, Stoicism, economics, and critiques of statism led him to voluntaryism circa 2008. He has described this shift as a moral awakening, realizing that the initiation of force—core to government operations—violates the same ethical standards he was expected to uphold.
Now a husband, grandfather, and semi-retired entrepreneur with successful businesses, Shepard lives in the Denver, Colorado area. He hosts intellectually rigorous discussions that reject coercion, theft, and dishonesty while celebrating individualism, personal development, entrepreneurship, and peaceful voluntary exchange—the practical application of anarcho-capitalist principles in daily life and society.
His interests include liberty, propaganda analysis, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), mentoring, and Stoic philosophy as tools for living a principled, voluntaryist life. Shepard has collaborated extensively within the voluntaryist community, including with Larken Rose and Keith Knight, contributing to broader efforts to dismantle the “most dangerous superstition” of political authority.
Prominent Works#
Shepard’s output centers on clear, accessible explanations of voluntaryism and anarcho-capitalism, often drawing from his law-enforcement background to illustrate the state’s contradictions.
Anarchy Exposed: A Former Police Officer Reports on His Investigative Journey into Anarchy (2021, Openly Voluntary Publishing, co-credited with Larken Rose). This book details Shepard’s analytical shift from cop to anarchist. Borrowing heavily from Rose’s framework in What Anarchy Isn’t, it uses detective-like rigor to expose the moral and practical failures of statism while affirming anarchy as peaceful, voluntary order. It is positioned as an entry point for skeptics, emphasizing that anarcho-capitalism is not chaos but the highest form of civilization based on consent and property rights.
“I Was a Police Officer, Now I’m a Voluntaryist” (chapter in The Voluntaryist Handbook, edited by Keith Knight). A personal essay recounting his journey and arguing for moral consistency across all individuals, regardless of badge or uniform. It appears alongside works by Rothbard, Hoppe, Spooner, and others, reinforcing the anarcho-capitalist canon.
Let’s Think! (radio show and podcast, hosted since at least 2020 on Openly Voluntary and KHNC 1360 AM in Colorado). The program features conversations on philosophy, morality, relationships, entrepreneurship, individualism, and voluntaryism. Episodes tackle topics like the fallacy of the social contract, logical fallacies in statist arguments, anarcho-capitalist theory, and practical applications of NAP-based living. It serves as a platform for intellectually consistent discourse free of political cultism.
Shepard Thinks / Stoic Voluntaryist YouTube channel (@shepardthinks). Hundreds of videos cover voluntaryism definitions, critiques of government, book discussions (including from the Voluntaryist Handbook), Stoic principles applied to liberty, entrepreneurship tips, and rebuttals to common objections against anarcho-capitalism. The channel promotes rigorous reasoning and moral clarity in service of a stateless, voluntary society.
Additional contributions appear on Openly Voluntary (including rules for enlightened discourse and fallacies explained) and in guest appearances on shows like Brain Cleavage, Disenthrall, and collaborations emphasizing restitution, memes as cultural tools, and the root philosophy of anarcho-capitalism.
Philosophical Contributions#
Shepard’s work consistently frames voluntaryism as the ethical core of anarcho-capitalism: all human action must be voluntary, with no initiation of force, fraud, or coercion. He highlights how the state violates this universally, creating a class of imposers versus the imposed-upon. His emphasis on logic, Stoicism, and entrepreneurship underscores the positive vision of anarcho-capitalism—prosperous, innovative societies built on private property, free markets, and mutual benefit rather than political power.
Shepard the Voluntaryist continues to advocate for a world of pure voluntarism, inspiring others to reject the state’s illusions and embrace the radical yet commonsense ethics of anarcho-capitalism. His journey from enforcer of the state to defender of true liberty remains a powerful case study in the transformative power of consistent principles.