We libertarians happen to have been born in what
Paine described as his preferred home — a country in which liberty is not. We
strive to convert our country into one that Franklin preferred, one where
liberty dwells. That’s one of the things that make our movement such a glorious
one.
That’s also one of the things that distinguish us
from both liberals and conservatives. They believe that they already are living
in a free country. You hear them expressing it all the time. They continually
thank the troops fighting and killing thousands of miles away from American
shores for “defending our freedoms” here at home. You hear them singing to
themselves, “Thank God I’m an American because at least I know I’m free.”
Why are statists so convinced they live in a free
country? Because they define freedom in a totally different way than we
libertarians do. Statists define freedom in two primary ways: one, the extent
to which the federal government takes care of people with welfare and, two, the
extent to which the U.S. military and the CIA police the world. For the
statist, the more welfare and the more “defense” spending, the freer the
American people.
Libertarians scoff at that concept of freedom. After
all, the statist concept of freedom is also embraced by North Koreans. We look
at it in precisely opposite terms: Freedom for us is defined by the absence of
government paternalism and the absence of a vast military empire and
national-security state apparatus.
Freedom for us libertarians entails the right of
people to engage in any peaceful behavior whatsoever, no matter how
irresponsible, dangerous, or self-destructive. It’s about the right to make
choices, for better or for worse, so long as they don’t involve the initiation
of force against someone else. That means: no murder, rape, theft, trespass,
burglary, robbery, and other such violent crimes. It also means: anything
that’s peaceful is legal.
In the realm of economics, that means the right of
people to engage in any occupation without seeking permission of the
government. No licenses or permits for anyone, including doctors, lawyers,
hairdressers, and shoe-shine personnel.
It means the right to engage in economic
transactions with anyone anywhere in the world without government interference,
regulation, or control. No minimum wage laws, maximum-hour laws, economic
regulations, embargoes and sanctions, or drug laws in a libertarian world.
It means the right to accumulate unlimited amounts
of wealth and the right to decide what to do with it. No government welfare
programs under libertarianism. No income tax and IRS. No confiscation and
redistribution of wealth at all. No mandatory charity programs. A total
separation of charity and the state.
Libertarianism also means sound money because it
necessarily entails leaving people free to decide which medium of exchange to
use in their economic transactions. That might mean gold and silver or even
something better.
Libertarianism necessarily entails free markets,
which are nothing more than sellers and consumers peacefully interacting with
each other for mutual gain.
Libertarianism means a limited-government republic,
one in which there is no vast standing army, military-industrial complex,
overseas military empire, CIA, and national-security state apparatus. No more
military invasions, occupations, wars of aggression, kidnappings, torture,
secret prisons, military tribunals, assassinations, indefinite detention,
infringements on civil liberties, and denial of due process.
What makes our movement so glorious?
For one, it is founded on the principle of genuine
freedom — a society in which people are free to live their lives the way they
want, so long as their conduct is peaceful. What could be more glorious than
that?
Second, libertarianism is founded on solid moral and
religious principles, the protection of freedom being the best example. Another
one is its recognition of the wrongfulness of stealing, even when it’s done by
people acting collectively through the government and even when the thief uses
the money to help others in need.
Third, in the economic realm, libertarianism is the
only system that raises people’s standard of living, especially those at the
bottom of the economic ladder. That’s because many people who are accumulating
wealth inevitably save some of that wealth, which is then available as capital,
which enables business owners to purchase better tools and equipment, which in
turn make their workers more productive, which then leads to higher real wage
rates.
Fourth, a society in which people have the widest
possible ambition for free will and freedom of choice will be one that
nurtures, develops, and encourages such important traits as compassion, caring,
and responsibility.
Compare the glory of libertarianism with statism.
Statists believe in forcing people to be good, caring, and responsible. That’s
what their welfare state is all about. It’s based on coerced charity, which is
really not charity at all because it’s forced. It’s also based on coerced
responsibility. Statism is also based on legalized stealing—the taking of money
from a person to whom it belongs in order to give it to a person to whom it
does not belong.
The irony is that the welfare state, like other
variations of socialism, actually makes people less moral, less religious, less
charitable, and less responsible. That’s what depriving people of the
opportunity to makes choices does.
Look at what statists’ belief in a vast military
empire and a national security state has brought our nation: perpetual conflict
and violence, a constant state of fear, and a warping of traditional principles
and values. The fact that statists are proud of the fact that their government
wages wars of aggression around the globe, sanctions and embargoes countries
that have never attacked the United States, kidnaps people and tortures them,
provides U.S. taxpayer money to brutal dictatorships, enters into
rendition-torture partnerships with brutal dictatorships, and adopts
dictatorial practices, including military arrest of civilians and indefinite
detention, speaks volumes of what they have done to warp people’s principles
and values.
Can libertarians succeed in making our country one
in which genuine liberty dwells? That depends on whether a sufficient number of
committed Americans join our cause and help us to overcome the statists.
Clearly, our movement is growing. My hunch is that it’s just a matter of time
—which might be sooner than we think — that we reach that critical mass that
will shift society toward Ben Franklin’s type of preferred home.
But regardless of whether we succeed or not, we
should thank our lucky stars for libertarianism. We should be thankful that
even though we have been born and raised in a statist society, life has
presented us with the opportunity to participate in one of the grandest, most
glorious movements in history — libertarianism.
About the author: Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and
president of The Future of Freedom Foundation.
This article was published by The Future of Freedom
Foundation.
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