By Chris Rossini
Liberty doesn't mean you can do whatever you want with no restraints; that you can take from others or harm others. That's not Liberty. That's tyranny!
So Liberty is not unrestrained action, as some opponents of freedom will try to claim.
Liberty is the exact opposite of tyranny.
Yes, you can do whatever you want with your life and your property. However, other people and their property are the restraint. They are your limit. That's how far your liberty extends.
Likewise, the Liberty of others extends all the way to you and your property. They're free do whatever they want with their life and property, as long as it does not harm you or your property.
Now, because man is free to choose, it means some will choose to harm, steal, defraud or break a contract. When that occurs, the proper role of government is to come in and adjudicate the situation. In other words, the proper role of government is to protect individual liberty.
Alas, this role of government has been turned completely upside down. Today, government is used as the primary tool for tyranny! Ambitious people, who have a lust to rule, aspire to gain power specifically because they can use government to harm others and to take property from others.
Naturally, if government is a tool for aggressive violence against others, you're going to see the worst of the worst in humanity try to get a hold of that kind of power. Nothing will stand in their way. Not morals. Not ethics. Not a conscience. Not even the truth.
This is a HUGE problem.
If government is a tool for aggression, who do think will get in control of it? The common man? The poor? The average Joe?
Not a chance!
Getting in control of government in order to use it as a billy club against other people is a rich man's game. Money talks.
Meanwhile, as government trounces over civilization like a chicken with its head cut off, the peaceful interactions of society start to come apart at the seams. Everything becomes political. Everything becomes one-size-fits-all, which is the antithesis of human nature.
Every individual is exquisitely unique and one-of-a-kind. Trying to forcefully impose one-size-fits-all leads to violence. Humans are not robots. Humans are naturally free and constantly making subjective choices. They are not, and cannot be programmed to obey. When someone tries to force a human to obey, the human will ultimately rebel, since his very essence has been challenged.
The role of government is critical.
It is unsustainable for the role of government to remain as a tool of tyranny.
For those who champion Liberty, the change that is necessary is obvious, and it must be a change in the realm of ideas. There must be a strong desire for government to assume its proper role as a protector of liberty; not a destroyer of liberty.
Live and Let Live is the idea in a nutshell.
You keep your hands off me and my stuff, and I keep my hands off you and your stuff.
We voluntarily deal, trade, and make contracts with one another. We voluntarily exchange ideas, products and services with one another. No government interference to forcefully tilt the tables in one direction or another.
If a person uses their liberty irresponsibly and decides to use aggressive force, or violence, or fraud, then government steps in to protect the liberty of the other party.
What an optimistic goal to reach for, even if it isn't achieved in our lifetimes; or ever for that matter.
Just reaching for such an ideal will make better human beings out of all of us.
Liberty doesn't mean you can do whatever you want with no restraints; that you can take from others or harm others. That's not Liberty. That's tyranny!
So Liberty is not unrestrained action, as some opponents of freedom will try to claim.
Liberty is the exact opposite of tyranny.
Yes, you can do whatever you want with your life and your property. However, other people and their property are the restraint. They are your limit. That's how far your liberty extends.
Likewise, the Liberty of others extends all the way to you and your property. They're free do whatever they want with their life and property, as long as it does not harm you or your property.
Now, because man is free to choose, it means some will choose to harm, steal, defraud or break a contract. When that occurs, the proper role of government is to come in and adjudicate the situation. In other words, the proper role of government is to protect individual liberty.
Alas, this role of government has been turned completely upside down. Today, government is used as the primary tool for tyranny! Ambitious people, who have a lust to rule, aspire to gain power specifically because they can use government to harm others and to take property from others.
Naturally, if government is a tool for aggressive violence against others, you're going to see the worst of the worst in humanity try to get a hold of that kind of power. Nothing will stand in their way. Not morals. Not ethics. Not a conscience. Not even the truth.
This is a HUGE problem.
If government is a tool for aggression, who do think will get in control of it? The common man? The poor? The average Joe?
Not a chance!
Getting in control of government in order to use it as a billy club against other people is a rich man's game. Money talks.
Meanwhile, as government trounces over civilization like a chicken with its head cut off, the peaceful interactions of society start to come apart at the seams. Everything becomes political. Everything becomes one-size-fits-all, which is the antithesis of human nature.
Every individual is exquisitely unique and one-of-a-kind. Trying to forcefully impose one-size-fits-all leads to violence. Humans are not robots. Humans are naturally free and constantly making subjective choices. They are not, and cannot be programmed to obey. When someone tries to force a human to obey, the human will ultimately rebel, since his very essence has been challenged.
The role of government is critical.
It is unsustainable for the role of government to remain as a tool of tyranny.
For those who champion Liberty, the change that is necessary is obvious, and it must be a change in the realm of ideas. There must be a strong desire for government to assume its proper role as a protector of liberty; not a destroyer of liberty.
Live and Let Live is the idea in a nutshell.
You keep your hands off me and my stuff, and I keep my hands off you and your stuff.
We voluntarily deal, trade, and make contracts with one another. We voluntarily exchange ideas, products and services with one another. No government interference to forcefully tilt the tables in one direction or another.
If a person uses their liberty irresponsibly and decides to use aggressive force, or violence, or fraud, then government steps in to protect the liberty of the other party.
What an optimistic goal to reach for, even if it isn't achieved in our lifetimes; or ever for that matter.
Just reaching for such an ideal will make better human beings out of all of us.
