When we think about the United States of
America, at least in historical terms, often times it is recognized as a land
of liberty and opportunity for one to exercise their humanity with the upmost
ability. But what exactly is liberty?
I’m not so sure there is any one
particular definition that describes this beautiful word precisely. Certainly, liberty means we have the freedom
to form our own thoughts.
However,
what good is it for one to be able to think freely if those thoughts cannot be
acted upon?
Wikipedia defines liberty as, “the value
of individuals to have agency" (control over their own actions). Although that definition is legitimate, it is
leaving out a core component of the idea.
This definition fails to address coercion from outside parties. Coercion is force or unwanted interaction
that is usually detrimental to one’s right to exercise liberty fully.
If I’m thinking about wanting to drink a beer,
but I am unable to obtain one, due to some arbitrary law written on a piece of
paper (stating I only get the magic powers to ingest alcohol at 12:00 a.m. on
the date of my 21st birthday), I am being subject to coercion from
an outside group of thugs, known as the government.
It
is every person’s fundamental natural right to associate with whom they please,
and also to refuse to associate with unwanted peoples. So why are people not free to choose their
governments? Why are human beings subject to rule of other human beings, solely
based on their birthplace? - The one thing that we certainly aren’t free to
choose.
Therefore, we can see that the state is
the largest threat to human liberty that exists today. In a truly free society, one should be able
to choose every facet of life for their self, including government. This concept also includes the option of no governance,
with no state involved. One is not free
to choose, unless equally free not to choose.
If a woman is given the option of marrying two men, but must marry one,
can you argue that she is truly free to choose?
In order to fully grasp the idea of
liberty, it is essential to understand two basic principles and they must be
universally consistent, applicable to everyone.
The first is the non-aggression principle, which states it is entirely
immoral and illegitimate to initiate force or fraud upon another individual or
their property. Self-defense is the only
time in which force is justified. People
often follow this golden rule as “treat others the way you’d want to be treated”,
but often don’t apply this rule to the selfish, egotistic people in governance
who wear expensive suits or other fancy costumes.
The second principle is the principle of
self-ownership. This is pretty
self-explanatory; you own body, thoughts, and actions. Arguing against this idea implies that
someone else has a higher rate of ownership of your body; that another being
enslaves you. It’s impossible to argue
that actions extended from your body belong to anyone other than yourself,
since you have control over your body while no one else does.
It appears there are two options of
living one’s life, liberty or slavery.
If you are exercising your natural rights without harming anyone else or
their liberty, you are living a life of relative freedom. If you are being demanded or coerced into
actions, you are being enslaved.
Certainly, this form of slavery is very different than the one we learn
about in history books, but it is slavery nonetheless.
In order to live with the upmost personal
liberty, one must be able to make decisions for oneself and not allow others to
make decisions for them. Heed advice, but
don’t be told what to do. Listen to all,
and follow none. Become your own leader
and don’t let other human beings attempt to control you by any means. Liberty in short, is the realization that other people are not your property and you are not the property of anyone else.
“The
best chance for achieving peace and prosperity, for the maximum number of
people worldwide is to pursue the cause of liberty.” – Ron Paul
