What is Liberty?

Liberty is a word that gets tossed around a LOT.  Usually this is done by people who have no idea what liberty really is.  For example, if you think it's acceptable for a government to take money from someone (under the threat of arrest) so that they can fund a school for someone else to go to, then you don't believe in liberty.  Also, if you believe it's okay for a government to outlaw any kind of personal behavior that is done in a private setting by an individual who is alone (or with someone else who consents to this behavior), then you don't believe in liberty.

You might be thinking, "okay, you've told me what you think liberty isn't.  How about telling me what it IS!!!"  That sounds like a great idea.  It's actually a really simple concept, which makes it surprising that so many people don't get it.  Most people like to start with the Constitution.  However, regardless of the intent of the framers, that document has been used to reduce liberty far more often than it protects it.  That, however, is a subject for another post.  I prefer to go all the way back to the Declaration of Independence (DOI).  It sets up the case for individual liberty perfectly.

The DOI starts by stating that we (meaning human beings, not some arbitrary we like "Americans") are endowed by our creator (whoever or whatever you believe that to be) with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  One key point is that whoever gave us life is the one who gives us liberty.  Liberty is NOT something a government bestows upon us (as if it were the "owner" of this liberty).  The other key point is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  That means my life is mine, and no one can take it.  Liberty means I can make my own choices.  I don't need anyone to make them for me.  The pursuit of happiness is an interesting third point.  Many people think it would be better to put property there.  I think that's unnecessary, because if you have the liberty to make your own choices, then some of those choices are what to do with your property.  The pursuit of happiness just simply means you are free to take whatever steps you want to achieve your life goals, such as career, family, and personal fulfillment.  However, there's an important note to make.  The "pursuit of happiness" does not equal happiness.  If you fall short in that regard, you do NOT have the right to demand government coercion to take from someone else to make up for your "unhappiness".  In simpler terms, if your goal is to own your own home, but you just cannot afford it, you do NOT have the right to make the government force the banks to lend you more than they feel is appropriate.

That is how the DOI defines liberty.  However, I'd like to sum it up into a simple phrase.  Based on what I've described to you here, liberty equates to right of self-determination.  If we all lived by that concept, we wouldn't need any other "guaranteed" rights.  Now you might be saying, "but what about my right to free speech, or right to bear arms?"  All of those, and anything else that the Bill of Rights claimed to guarantee but failed to do so, would fall under the umbrella of self-determination.

The right of self-determination can also be described as a right to do whatever I want, as long as I am not harming anyone else.  Not harming anyone else is implicit in the right of self-determination, because if I am allowed to harm others, then they are robbed of that same right.  Taking the concept to this line of thinking begins to make it sound like a concept liberty lovers are fond of: the NAP (non-aggression principle).

I'll close with a point about the role of government.  The DOI puts it well when it says "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."  The only reason we have a government is to secure this right of self-determination.  The aggressors who call themselves the United States Federal Government, along with those that claim to be the rightful governments of the states that comprise the U.S., have failed miserably to secure this right.  In fact most, if not all of the actions taken by these governments are in direct conflict with individual self-determination.  The most glaring has to be the ongoing theft that the government mis-labels taxation.  One of my favorite liberty quotes (paraphrased) is "anyone who believes taxes are voluntary is invited to attempt to not pay them."  Ultimately that would lead to arrest, which if you resist could get you shot.  The "war on drugs" is another way the government infringes on rather than promotes individual freedom.  How does arresting someone for possessing ANYTHING protect individual liberty?  ANY action taken by the government that is not a voluntary choice by the individuals who instituted it is illegitimate and counter to liberty.  Unless we (meaning human beings) reach a point where all of our interactions with each other are 100% voluntary, we will never achieve real freedom.