It is no surprise that politicians and pundits co-opted the Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion, but their betrayal of freedom is greater than ever.

While military invasions quash freedom, endless legislation continues to centralize power in the state  — a far greater threat than any army to the survival of freedom. Only maximum individual freedom (and responsibility) improves humanity. Anything short invites the enslavement of tyranny.

Most politicians, educators, and the media never explore a consistent meaning of freedom because it reveals the hypocrisy and injustice supporting the status quo. Generalization is the death of anything important.

Today, freedom is dead and oppression is alive and well. But at some point, the tolerance for abuse wanes and enough people ask the hard questions. Only then can the tide turn.

What does freedom really mean?

When does freedom apply?

Where does freedom begin and end?

Why does freedom differ in meaning between people, cultures, and countries?

How are the boundaries of freedom defined?

Could the boundaries of freedom be refined or objectified?

Although the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution have served better than most proclamations, over time their imperfection revealed the failure of democracy. Any system of governance is only as good as the agents entrusted with their enforcement. Most damningly, neither politicians nor bureaucrats can be effectively fired when they fail.

New blunders and hypocrisies occur daily. Improvement is possible, but not by a system that incentives the abuse of power. Democracy lacks the tools to solve its flaws – if this were false, would there be political and bureaucratic ineptness present today?

To escape the gridlock of government, answers to those questions are critical — not for just a few of us, but for everybody, or minimally a critical mass of the unconnected class i.e., the most abused class of persons, those neither a part of nor directly benefiting from the actions of the political class.  

Freedom defined objectively results in greater justice that can only result in positive change. To answer these basic questions, it first must be understood how life and living are related.

We hold from God the gift that, as far as we are concerned, contains all others, Life – physical, intellectual, and moral life.

But life cannot support itself. He who has bestowed it, has entrusted us with the care of supporting it, of developing it, and of perfecting it.

To that end, He has provided us with a collection of wonderful faculties; he has plunged us into the midst of a variety of elements. 

It is by the application of our faculties to these elements that the phenomena of assimilation and of appropriation, by which life pursues the circle that has been assigned to it are realized.

Existence, faculties, assimilation – in other words, personality, liberty, property – this is man.

Frederic Bastiat – The Law (1850)

Bastiat understood the inseparability of but the difference between life and living when he stated,

We hold from God the gift that, as far as we are concerned, contains all others, Life – physical, intellectual, and moral life.

He recognized Life as the supreme gift. Any awareness of living must be through it. Life deserves the utmost respect so consciousness can grow.

He continues:

But life cannot support itself. He who has bestowed it, has entrusted us with the care of supporting it, of developing it, and of perfecting it.

Although life is the supreme gift, its survival is not a given. Care, development, and perfection are hallmarks of mankind’s evolution. These require intention and action, and life is diminished when they are arbitrarily confined. Freedom expands these capabilities and the resultant possibilities in every moment. It allows for greater curiosity, creativity, and communication to share — to live as fully as nature otherwise permits. Without this recognition, tyranny expands.

To that end, He has provided us with a collection of wonderful faculties; he has plunged us into the midst of a variety of elements.

Man’s skills have evolved over eons and there is no end in sight. Why and how knowledge evolved may be forever disputed, but that it did and continues may not. Men have thought, decided, and acted in ways to preserve, enhance and continue life.

What makes this process safer, more palatable, and more productive?

Not the law of the jungle, nor governmental regulation, but the freedom to cooperate in the cultivation of everything — most importantly, the mind, body, and spirit, which includes any system of law and order, not to mention everything else that has a positive impact.

It is by the application of our faculties to these elements that the phenomena of assimilation and of appropriation, by which life pursues the circle that has been assigned to it are realized.

In a world of uncertainty and scarcity, positive cultivation and evolution require all our physical, mental, and spiritual faculties. Tools born from the mind and forged by trial and error. Freedom expands the time and space to ponder, analyze, experiment, and improve our faculties.

Existence, faculties, assimilation – in other words, personality, liberty, property – this is man.

Our bodies, knowledge, and intentions forge the creation of property from the environment. This is what men do. On a molecular and spiritual level, people literally mix their bodily energy, the mind, body, and spirit, with other energy in the environment.

Humankind continually melds with the environment to create new tools and new realities; always seeking to perpetuate and improve one’s life. This is at the heart of capitalism. It is organic. Freedom maximizes the possible combinations to achieve better well-being for each person and in summation society.

This trinity — personality, liberty, property — defines man. It is our essence. Freedom expands the geography for creation, but unlike space, worldly resources are finite and scarce. At some point, one man’s freedom becomes another man’s aggression which begs the ultimate question: where is the line?

The line is rarely clear because imperfection always exists, but it is deliberately or ignorantly obscured by many forces, in particular the vast parasitic ecosystem of politicians, bureaucrats, and special interests who unjustly benefit from a confused and uninformed constituency.

There is no incentive for higher knowledge, more justice, and a better world because these principles threaten the status quo of that system. Those in power fear most the redistribution of power and wealth. Real freedom …and responsibility… are taboo. It is not a conspiracy, simply human nature acting within this unjust framework.

Fortunately, with the right lens, the line between freedom and aggression is clearer. There is a little-known sect of economists, theorists, and historians that deduced and refined the tenets of freedom and the sphere of accountability that surrounds it. It is called the non-aggression principle (NAP), and it is the foundation of libertarianism. The NAP states:

That no man or group of men may aggress against the person or property of anyone else.[1]

’Aggression’ is defined as the initiation of the use or threat of physical violence against the person or property of anyone else. Aggression is therefore synonymous with invasion.[2]

The NAP provides a consistent standard to gauge whether one is free to act in particular ways.

Unlike the inefficient and unenforceable positive regulation of ongoing legislation, the NAP best defines when one man’s freedom infringes upon the freedom of another. It is a brilliantly consistent maxim that leaves any questions of fact and the decision-making process of accountability to market participants and not through the force of artificially vested politicians and bureaucrats.

The NAP also answers our questions about freedom to maximize the ability to achieve more consistent justice in determining accountability.

What does freedom really mean?

The NAP defines what freedom is not and does so without reliance on any specific religious or cultural bias, proclamation, legislation, etc. It can be justified by natural rights or logically deduced from the existence of the human body. Whatever one does that does not violate the NAP, one is free to do. While the definition of property and aggression can be argued, the basic premise resonates with most people in most cultures because each is similarly aware of their body and ownership of property.

When does freedom apply?

Freedom always applies until the NAP is violated where responsibility can then be more justly determined.

Where does freedom begin and end?

Freedom is balanced everywhere until the NAP is violated. The NAP is the maximum and most equitable boundary for determining basic freedom and responsibility between all persons.

Why does freedom differ in meaning between people, cultures, and countries?

With the NAP, it need not differ as much. Where there is a greater commonality in the definition of freedom, broader justice can be achieved, followed by greater peace and prosperity — locally and globally.

How are the boundaries of freedom defined?

The acceptance and implementation of all laws is subject to a critical mass of adherents and they fail to operate with perfect precision in every situation. Many are ineffective because they are unenforceable without violations of personal liberty, other laws, or a means of detection. Due to its situational nature, positive legislation tends to grow stale as it always lags behind technological and societal evolution.

The NAP bounds freedom in reverse. While legislation obligates or restricts specific action, the NAP is constant; thus, it is always current, consistent, and cost-effective, in monitoring and determining any form of aggression.

With the constant pressure of special interests, positive regulation expands without end, while all human action, regardless of the physical complexities, remains constant in its basic qualities in a world where resources are always scarce.

Over time, this body of positive regulation becomes full of inconsistencies and contradictions that result in selective enforcement — ironically resulting in greater injustice and the erosion of peace and prosperity.

Law and order must be applied individually against one rule of law — the NAP. It can be the benchmark in every dispute, the highest form of justice sought and achieved locally with minimal economic cost.

Could the boundaries of freedom be refined?

The NAP is the best definition to date; however, it is imperative to be open to something better. To achieve the highest state of justice, there can only be one rule of law. Justice is nothing if not consistent.

Any derivation from that maxim creates an artificial class structure where further injustice necessarily results in preserving it. All arguments for seeking justice and restitution can be related back to the NAP.

Justice is the first milestone to achieving lasting peace for maximum freedom and responsibility in social cooperation that creates mass prosperity (in all its forms) for true social and economic interdependence.

Freedom defined is freedom regained and sustained.

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[1]Rothbard, Murray N. For a New Liberty. Auburn, Alabama: Skyer J. Collins. 1973. Amazon.

[2]Ibid.

Note: The views expressed are solely the opinion of the author.
Source: SC Striebeck for Wisdom of Anarchy
Video/Image Source: Image from Pixabay.