When the hype of the 2016 presidential election dies down, it should serve as a stark reminder that the only true loser in the race was liberty. The question has shifted in recent years from what the role of government is to how much that role need be increased, and for what reasons. Needless to say, this will only serve to usurp more power from the individual, and the costs thereof will come from his or her pocket. Owing to this current need, I think we should take a moment to reflect upon the bedrock concepts of freedom and the benefits they provide to us all.
Like many others, I found Bastiat to be one of the most inspiring sources of libertarian philosophy, and his terminology still rings true today. All of us, through birth or experience, inherit and develop our own skills. It stands to reason that one should be able to marshal their faculties toward creative goals of their own choosing, and that the fruits of such endeavors are the rightful gains of their creator. It is entirely in keeping with the well-being and dignity of the individual that they ought to be free to pursue their own prosperity, provided that in doing so they do not violate the freedom likewise belonging to their fellow man. This mindset is at the very core of what it means to be free, and it serves to empower the individual over the institutions and parties that would otherwise repress the common man purely through their numbers or capacity for coercion. Anyone remotely well-versed in the history of human affairs should understand that where individuals are not in control of their own destiny, misery and stagnation tend to manifest as the watchful vulture does over a dying man.
But the well-being of the little guy is not the only benefit that individual freedom offers. Society at large is rejuvenated by the liberty of its members, purely through the standards that society will set for itself. If individuals are encouraged to make their own destiny and are similarly rewarded for providing a product or service to society, individuals are compelled to do so by their own rational self-interest. It might very well be said that socioeconomic liberty is the ideal foundation for human society, as it is the only option which demands that an individual provide something of value to earn something of value in return.
On the topic of economic liberty, it is in that realm that we can see the more tangible strengths of individual freedom as they pertain to society at large. It would be no small exaggeration to say that free market capitalism turned the United States of America into an economic superpower, leading her into dominance in domestic industrial output and international trade. The same free market principles have pulled more human beings out of abject poverty than any government program or international relief effort ever devised. The reasoning behind this is simple, and explained most concisely by Milton Friedman, who argued that there is nobody more careful with one’s money than themselves. When the gains and losses are your own, there is greater incentive to make smart decisions and invest wisely. There is no such incentive for those with no skin in the game, who can slice money off of your paycheck to fund their ideas and suffer no consequences for being wrong.
In more philosophical considerations, social liberty is a source of good to a species oft-tangled in tragedy at the hands of abusive authorities. It would be difficult to imagine living a happy life if your every word had to be stripped of dissenting sentiment, carefully crafted to avoid betraying a thought you might be incarcerated or killed for. The freedom to say what you want and think what you will does not exist so friends can discuss their favorite pizza toppings. It is a right necessary to the development of an informed public capable of governing themselves fairly and justly. Social liberty is indeed the greatest violence-reduction construct yet invented, for it allows difference and even conflict of a kind while maintaining peace and civility among the people. What could possibly ensure a healthier society than the freedom of its members to be the people they want to be and share their ideas with one another?
But in conclusion, liberty is only as strong as the individual is. It means something slightly different to each one of us, and it provides a rally point for people of all varieties to come together and fight for something that unites them in common goodness. I think of the freedom I have inherited, and the sheer amount of blood and sweat that has been shed by those who came before me. It never fails to convince me that I am not wrong in wishing to preserve it.
As Thomas Jefferson warned, eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
* Jesse James is 21 years old. He is an unpublished writer of mostly science fiction and horror. However, his literary passions are historical and political in nature. He resides in Quebec, Canada, which has given him some less than favorable views on government intervention.
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