The Oxford Dictionary defines Liberty as the “The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s behaviour or political views.” It is a privilege to be living under a constitution which protects personal liberty from governmental tyranny. However, it begs the question, why is liberty even important? What function does it play in our society?
Liberty, most importantly, allows for individual empowerment. When a human being is free, they act independently of any other coercive institution. Free men have the liberty to express their thoughts, make judgements and act in any way they please. Therefore, these men will be accountable for their own judgements; they must accept moral responsibility for wrongdoing or any harm caused and take credit for any improvements they introduced. This burden of a responsibility that falls on any free man is the backbone of individual empowerment. If the individual is free to make decisions as he wishes, he must also be free to bear the consequences of those decisions as an individual. Otherwise, total reliance on the “self” and individuality as a concept cannot exist, and therefore the individual is disempowered. The individual which has had harm done to him is also disempowered if you do not allow him to hold other individuals accountable for their actions. This doctrine of self-reliance and self-responsibility is the backbone of the individual as a single, free, and ultimately powerful entity.
Individual empowerment is also the key to happiness. Liberty allows individuals to pursue their own interests. This free pursuit of interests is ultimately important if men want to lead happy and fulfilled lives: each individual is different, and therefore the fields or topics they are interested in will differ. Living as an individual means men are empowered to follow their passions and dreams, instead of being dragged into a decision which the collective has taken. Therefore freedom will ultimately lead to a happier society, and flourishing humankind.
The empowerment of the individual is also crucial in developing the people’s character. An empowered individual is free to make poor decisions and mistakes. These mistakes might be harmful to others or harmful to themselves. However, the mistakes themselves aren’t important. What is crucial is that the individual learns from these mistakes. If an individual is accountable for their own actions, they will have to bear the consequences. The effect felt by the individual could include moral guilt, bodily injuries, or even a prison sentence. If individuals feel these consequences then the next time they make an important decision, they will contemplate the situation more fully, consider the potential consequences more closely and make a better decision. They will learn from their mistakes, and the individual’s judgement will improve. This is essential in developing peoples’ character.
The mistakes made by the individual will also lead to the development of a strong moral compass and resilient conscience. In order to develop a moral compass in the nuanced, difficult and hazy field of moral decision making the individual must personally have made bad and good decisions, and recognise whether a decision was morally right or wrong. Using this moral framework gained from experience, the individual will attain a capacity to recognise the good and bad in any moral dilemma. This leads to the development of their conscience and moral sense of right and wrong. This aspect of individual empowerment is therefore crucial to creating a functioning, cohesive and overall moral society.
Social liberty is also key in reducing social tensions. Despite the underlying principles of tolerance and freedom that any libertarian society should have, we must accept that different individuals live according to different values. Different sets of values lead to radically different opinions about certain social issues. When controversial matters are dealt with through political spheres, social divisions and fragmentation is caused. One example of a controversial social matter is gay marriage; the solution to the problem is simple. If we privatise marriage, get the state out of marriage and give people the freedom to decide how to define marriage, then the problem is solved. Homosexuals who want to get married will be free to do so and will be free to live by their own values. People that don’t believe in gay marriage are free to live by their values and not participate in gay marriage. Both sets of values can co-exist side by side peacefully. This prevents a conflict between the two sets of values in the political arena, and one set of values emerging as the “winner,” preventing tensions within political channels. Based on the principle of social liberty, it is also right for the government to defund Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the United States. Individuals would still be perfectly free to decide whether they think that having an abortion is the morally right or wrong choice to make; the practice of abortion would not be banned. However, the state should not get involved in deciding which value is the “correct one.” By funding Planned Parenthood, the state is in effect endorsing the practice of abortion. It is simply wrong to impose pro-abortion values on other citizens by forcing pro-lifers to commit taxpayer money to a practice that they believe is immoral!
The principle stands as this: if an individual has certain values and beliefs on social issues which conflict with other individuals, instead of solving the issue by asking the politicians to make a judgement, each individual should have the liberty to live by their own values (in line with J.S. Mill’s Harm Principle). This would prevent political tensions and a “showdown” between the sets of social values. Therefore, social liberty overall reduces social tensions, and individuals with different sets of beliefs are able to co-exist peacefully.
Another important aspect of liberty is economic liberty. I believe economic liberty is the only way to create a moral society. The morality of capitalism and economic liberty is that people engage in voluntary transaction of goods and services. In socialist or statist societies, the government coerces their citizens to hand over money; this is intrinsically immoral. However, when there is economic liberty, and the individual is free to do what they want with their money, the concept of consent in transactions emerges.
In addition, economic liberty creates a less selfish society. Under a statist or socialist government, individuals feel entitled to whatever goods or services they receive, even if they cannot afford them. Under capitalism, in order to earn money and buy goods and services, you need to provide a service to someone else. It can be described as forced altruism, because if you do not earn money you simply starve and die. In other words, Capitalist populations understand that in order to gain access to money, before you take value out of society (in the form of cash), you need to contribute and generate value for society (by providing your labour to a business).
Economic liberty also plays an essential part in preserving personal freedom. The fundamental threat to freedom is the power to coerce, which comes from centralised governments and a lack of economic liberty. When the power that comes from government gets into the wrong hands, liberty is sacrificed; an evil individual could misuse government powers to become oppressive. This has happened before in societies with socialist policies and a planned economy, like in Nazi Germany or Venezuela. The concentration of power in the hands of the federal government could easily lead to the creation of a despotic regime. The preservation of freedom requires the elimination of such concentration of power. Socialism is the enemy of freedom. It requires that economic activity be organised using directives from central government. This in turn concentrates power into the hands of bureaucrats. Under a capitalist system with economic liberty, by removing the organisation of economic activity from the control of political authority, the free market naturally eliminates this source of power and potential destruction. There has never once existed a free society which wasn’t based on free markets and the voluntary exchange of goods and services. Economic liberty and capitalism is an essential part of a free society. Removing economic liberty would therefore be a danger to the free society as a whole.
Liberty matters to me because I want to free to pursue my own interests in life. I want the liberty to take my own path in life and nurture my inherent talents. I want to be able to tailor my career to my set of abilities and by doing so fulfil my full potential, not simply become a pawn used by the government to meet its annual production targets. I want to be able to take advantage of my inherent sets of skills. Without liberty, the government would be able to impose on me what I should or should not do, and therefore prevent my areas of talent may being fully. That is why I personally value liberty very highly.
* The author of this article wished to remain anonymous.
Anonymous
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