Lawrence W. Reed, a resident of Newnan, is president emeritus of the Foundation for Economic Education. His most recent book is “Was Jesus a Socialist?” He can be reached at lreed@fee.org .
Freedom is a strange thing. Everyone claims to be in favor of it; no one ever dares to declare he’s against it.
At election time, all candidates endorse it even if they disagree with each other on everything else. Let’s refresh ourselves on some principles of freedom we may have forgotten:
- Freedom is your birthright.
It’s yours by virtue of who and what you are — a unique being endowed by nature and nature’s God with the right to exercise that uniqueness through the choices you make. It remains forever “unalienable” unless you forfeit it by depriving another person of his or her birthright. Freedom is routinely suppressed and abused, but that sad fact does not invalidate your right to it. It is not something you are entitled to only if politicians decide to give it to you.
- Freedom doesn’t mean you get to do whatever you want.
Your freedom to swing your fist ends where my nose begins. You’re not “free” to enslave or assault another sovereign human because doing so would violate the same right to freedom that all peaceful, rights-respecting people possess.
- Freedom is not automatic or guaranteed.
We live in a dangerous world full of people happy to deprive others of freedom for all sorts of deplorable reasons — such as lust for the limelight or power, expediency, short-term and selfish benefit, etc. Sustaining it demands knowledge, vigilance and courage.
- Freedom can be voted away.
Might doesn’t make right. A majority doesn’t sanctify wrong. Don’t use “democracy” as a cover for evil you would never endorse if your neighbors ganged up and did the same thing to you. Remember that Hitler was elected. Just as fully as an invading army, you can wipe freedom out by what and who you vote for.
- Freedom doesn’t mean you get to grab stuff.
Some people think they’re not free unless they can use government to appropriate what belongs to others. Freedom and private property are connected at the hip. Take one away, and the other disappears with it.
- Freedom produces unequal outcomes.
To uphold the equal rights of us all, the law should be fair, predictable, impartial and nondiscriminatory. Equality before the law is not the same, however, as equality in material income, possessions or even happiness. Differences between people are immense in terms of behavior, ambitions, talent, work ethic, intelligence, resourcefulness, savings, risk-taking, etc. To expect people to generate equal incomes is absurdly childish, and the only way such equality could be achieved is through brute force.
- Freedom without character is doomed to fail.
Benjamin Franklin warned, “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.” Freedom requires high standards of honesty, humility, responsibility, patience and self-discipline. No nation ever lost its character and kept its freedoms.
- Freedom is what makes life worth living.
Imagine life without freedom, with some Orwellian “Big Brother” telling you what you can and can’t do at every turn, stomping on your rights to life and property. You wouldn’t actually be living your life; Big Brother would be living his life through you. That’s what it means to be a slave.
We need more people who appreciate freedom’s critical importance. A lot more.
Lawrence W. Reed, a resident of Newnan, is president emeritus of the Foundation for Economic Education. His most recent book is “Was Jesus a Socialist?” He can be reached at lreed@fee.org .
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