What is Liberty?

I believe that liberty is the ability to make free choices within a given system. The limits on those choices are the boundaries where they move from simple acts of free will and become harmful to other people.

We have free will, but we are not free from consequences.

We have freedom to express ourselves, pursue our dreams, have fun, make money, and do all the wonderful things that make us human. We have the ability to stand up for ourselves, and for what we believe in.

But we should be conscious of how our decisions affect others, whether they are our immediate community or the world at large. And when those consequences have harmful or deadly effects, we should see that we have reached a boundary on our freedom.

This is perhaps where I differ from others: I believe that Liberty is not some unquestionable absolute. It is not an end that justifies all means. There must be a philosophy of the common good, equality of opportunity, and the rule of law (as well as equality before the law), to help us see where our choices do and don’t affect others.

I think a lot of the discourse around liberty today is wholly over-simplified and defined by a small handful of truly limiting ideas.

I do not think any single religion has conclusively (or solely) defined Liberty.

I do not believe that “self-made” people are paragons of Liberty, because there is no such thing as “self” made.

And I do not think that the Constitution of the United States, although it enshrines Liberty, is the best guide to how to enact it in our politics, communities, or personal choices.

I do not equate freedom of private, for-profit enterprise with Liberty.

There is no economic system that guarantees liberty.

I think it is overly simplistic to only think of it as “the individual’s unfettered desire to do whatever they want,” or, “the individual’s unfettered ability to make money at the expense of other people, the planet, or the future,” both of which seem to be common interpretations of the meaning of Liberty by people who call themselves “Libertarians.”

At the beginning of this post, I stated that Liberty exists when we can make choices.

I believe the “choices” an individual can make are also constrained by their circumstances, in addition to the philosophical limits I describe above. If you inherit an emerald mine, your choices in this system are different from someone who did not.

To say otherwise is to adhere to principle at the cost of ignoring reality.

So what does Liberty MEAN?

I think there is nuance to the answer depending on what part of society we are examining, but at a high level it means we should all be able to live in peace and safety.

Other posts on this site will look at specific social issues, but the main point is this: how do we define what allows each individual the peace and safety to reach their highest potential and have the best life, and allows everyone around them to do the same?