Gary Chartier
A libertarian thinker who weaves together threads of anarchist theory, radical theology, and market-based ethics to challenge state authority.
Born 1966 (age 60)·American theologian, philosopher, legal scholar, and political theorist·Birthday: December 30·Generation X
Biography
Gary Chartier operates at a crowded intellectual crossroads, drawing from law, philosophy, and theology to build a case for a society without rulers. As a professor and associate dean at La Sierra University, his academic work is anything but ivory-tower abstraction; it's a systematic project aimed at dismantling justifications for state power. Chartier identifies as a left-libertarian, arguing that truly free markets, shorn of corporate privilege and state subsidy, would naturally lead to more egalitarian and cooperative outcomes. His writing often engages deeply with Christian ethics, suggesting that anarchist principles align with a radical reading of the gospels. While his ideas place him outside mainstream political thought, his influence is growing in circles that question the necessity of centralized coercion, offering a rigorous, philosophical blueprint for a voluntary social order.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Gary was born in 1966, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Gary Was Born
The biggest hits of 1966
#1 Movie
The Bible: In the Beginning
Best Picture
A Man for All Seasons
#1 TV Show
Bonanza
Gary's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1966Born
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1971Started school
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1979Became a teenager
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1982Could drive
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1984Could vote
Apple Macintosh introduced
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $59,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"When Doves Cry" — PrinceBest Picture: Amadeus
1987Turned 21
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1996Turned 30
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 40
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2016Turned 50
Donald Trump elected president; Brexit vote
Gas: $2.14/galHome: $181,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Love Yourself" — Justin BieberBest Picture: Moonlight
2026Turned 60
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Authored key scholarly books such as 'The Conscience of an Anarchist' and 'Anarchy and Legal Order'.
- Serves as a Distinguished Professor of Law and Business Ethics and Associate Dean at La Sierra University.
- Developed a distinct 'left-libertarian' political theory that combines market anarchism with social justice concerns.
- His work has been cited in debates on libertarian theory and the intersection of religion and political radicalism.
Did You Know?
He is a contributing editor for the journal 'Libertarian Papers'.
Chartier's doctoral work was in legal and political philosophy at the University of Cambridge.
He has debated prominent philosophers and political theorists on the merits of anarchism versus minarchism.
His theological work explores the implications of a 'kenotic' (self-emptying) God for political ethics.
“The state is a predatory entity that uses force to secure a monopoly on certain services and extract wealth from its subjects.”
