I Chose Liberty - Ludwig von Mises Institute

Jeremy Shearmur 333
Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. My essay on privateering, the for-profit use of
private armed ships in time of war, will soon appear in a book edited by Hans-Hermann
Hoppe. A short version of that essay was published as an op-ed in several newspapers and
has been cited not only by various columnists and think-tank researchers but also by
Representative Ron Paul on the floor of Congress.
In addition to my publications in academic journals, I have been very pleased to contribute
a number of essays to The Free Radical, an outstanding New Zealand magazine
founded and edited by Objectivist Lindsay Perigo.
To bring this autobiographical sketch to an end, I would like to offer some hopefully
encouraging observations for the benefit of young libertarians and/or Austrians seeking an
academic career. It is not necessary that you do your graduate work at an elite university, nor
that you achieve a faculty position at such an institution. There can be no doubt that both
are helpful, but neither is ultimately essential. I have done neither, and yet I have achieved
some reasonable degree of success in my field. Many will also advise you to hide your libertarian
sentiments and your interest in Austrian economics, at least until you have obtained secure
employment. That might be prudent under certain circumstances, but I did not do that either.
What is essential is that you follow your mind and heart wherever they lead you. Treat your
own independent judgment as something sacred. And please keep in mind Herman Melville’s
admonition: “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.”
Larry J. Sechrest was professor of economics and director of the Free Enterprise Institute at Sul Ross
State University in Alpine, Texas.
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JEREMY SHEARMUR
HOW I BECAME ALMOST A LIBERTARIAN
I was born into a middle-class English household in Woodford Green, Essex, a
suburban area just outside the borders of London. My father was the headmaster of a
state school for educationally subnormal children, and my mother a teacher. I was (by
far) the youngest of three children, and my father died when I was seven years old. After
this things became financially quite difficult. I also suspect that the early death of my
father led to my becoming psychologically resistant to arbitrary male authority, and thus