I consider myself to be a Libertarian. Not an Ayn Rand Objectivst type, but a person who believes big government is bad – especially when its guise is good intentions. Most people, when you tell them you believe in freedom, will likely agree with you. Freedom is always good. But to what degree do people believe in freedom? How seriously do you appreciate freedom and interpret its meaning?
As a Libertarian I believe: All drugs should be legalized; prostitution should be legalized; people should be able to marry whoever they want; the 2nd Amendment should be strictly preserved; and the free market is better than the alternative of government intervention. I could go on and on.
Some might find these beliefs offensive, unrealistic, ideological, insane, irresponsible, etc.
To these critics, I ask: is freedom insane? Is freedom offensive?
The truest sense of freedom – as I and others see it – is that I have no right telling others how to live their life. Advice, support and criticism is not what I’m getting at; the philosophy focuses on the use of force in a society. I have no right forcing someone else to do something (or not do something) based on what I approve or disapprove of. This also means I cannot ask my government to do the same thing, because no matter how you look at it, government is force.
If someone wants to drug themselves up, go ahead, that’s fine with me, insofar as you don’t go to your neighbor or government and force them to help you. You can go to your neighbor and ask for help or advice, but you cannot literally and figuratively hold a gun to their head and make them do something you want. If you want to have sex with strangers, go ahead. If you want to marry a man/woman, go ahead. If you want to start up a business, go ahead. I am opposed to some of these things, personally, but what do I care? It’s not my life.
As famous founder, Thomas Paine, once said, “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”
Freedom isn’t always easy. It’s hard…(which helps explain why, throughout the world’s history, it’s existence has been short lived. Most of world history has seen tyranny and genocide, ruled by kings and dictators.)
To believe in freedom is to believe everyone is the same. That everyone has certain inalienable rights. That people should be allowed to do whatever they want, as long as they do not violate the rights of other individuals.
Probably the most important point to understand about the Libertarian belief, as Murray Rothbard explains, is that it “does not offer a way of life; it offers liberty.” It’s a philosophy based on how human beings interact with each another – that being freely, cooperatively and peacefully, and if violence were to take place, the state should intervene and bring justice to those responsible.
To believe in “some freedom” based on personal preference, is not really freedom at all.
The Constitution of the United States does not “grant” your freedoms, it merely lists them. They already exist. Freedom is pure. Just as freedom cannot be granted to any one person, it also cannot be taken away.
Freedom is not perfect, but it’s better than the alternative.
Let’s not waste it away.
