Do you believe in freedom?

A simple question: Do you believe in freedom?

Not just about the freedom to grow a beard or to go clean shaven, although that’s part of it. Not about choosing Pepsi over Coke, or Miller over Budweiser. Or the decision to wear a red dress rather than a blue dress? Freedom is more than these.

“Of course,” you reply.

How about the freedom to move to another city or state? To reinvent yourself? To start a small business with your family or a couple of friends? To take a different type of job?

“Yeah, I guess. If I really wanted to,” you say.

How about the freedom to walk down the street without fear of being spied upon by a drone which relays your position and activity to a governmental entity (via a private company that has agreed to provide this information)?

“Duh! That sounds like a police state.”  (Correct: it is, and it’s already here.)

The freedom to be wrong? To be completely upside down on your facts and opinion?  And the freedom to say incorrect things with your voice, your pen, your social media post?

“I’m not sure I agree,” you may say. “People should not be allowed to disseminate false information. They need to be held accountable for their statements. There needs to be a gate-keeper against fake news.”

Do you believe the freedom to fail?

“Whoa!” you may exclaim. “That’s going too far. We should have the freedom to succeed!”

If this is what you believe, then I must conclude that you do not believe in freedom. Or, more likely, you don’t understand it.

Freedom is a dangerous concept because it comes loaded with potential side effects. But these are not necessarily bad things. In some cases, they are features.

What is Freedom?  Freedom is the opposite of slavery.  Most people are against slavery, as understood in the traditional sense. Chains, coerced labor, denial of basic human rights. And you are correct to oppose this kind of slavery.

But slavery goes beyond the obvious. Slavery includes being told what to think, what to eat, how to live, where to work, who to vote for, whose orders to obey, where you can travel, when you can travel, who you can talk to, and who you can’t. Slavery includes limitations on how much you can earn, and how much you should be taxed in order to sacrifice “for the good of everyone.”

There is no such thing as a society with perfect freedom. But there are societies that are more free than others. You have heard it said that “with freedom comes responsibility.”  And this is true. But you have to understand the nature of freedom and where those responsibilities kick in.

The United States is a country that has conducted a great experiment in freedom. The founders declared that all people are born with the rights to life, to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They followed up a few years later with a Constitution which included a Bill of Rights that set limits on the powers of government.

Why? Because the greatest danger to individual freedom is the conception of “group rights.” In the name of the “good of everyone,” you can legislate practically anything. Little by little, the shackles and chains declared necessary by law to protect various oppressed groups, animals, plants, and even the planet itself, begin to tighten the noose around our ability to live as free men and women.

The freedom to succeed must include the freedom to fail, or it is not freedom. There is no such thing as guaranteed success, and once we begin to issue societal guarantees of success (for the good of the whole) it is only a matter of time when universal failure results.

Today every individual has the opportunity to voice their opinions to a wide audience. Freedom of speech and press is guaranteed to Americans. But there are voices of fear and intimidation, supported by rich individuals and corporations, who want to ban speech with which they disagree. And in many instances are succeeding. They pay fealty to government bureaucrats for political and economic protection.

This is evil. It is a forerunner to the slavery of thought. Of group-think. It is, at its basic level, un-American.  We do not need gate-keepers and media overlords to police our thoughts and voices.  This is an offense against Freedom. The cure for differing opinions is not censorship, but more freedom. Allowing a robust debate of fact and opinion. Let people decide for themselves. Let the best ideas triumph, and the worst fail.

Once we relinquish our freedom to speak our minds, it is only a matter of time when our rights to freedom of association, to petition for redress of wrongs, to peaceably assemble, and to practice our religious beliefs openly will be infringed, limited, regulated and shackled.

Consider what kind of society you wish to bequeath to your children and children’s children. Will it be one of opportunity, or one limited by the tyranny of the collective?

Loving freedom does not mean that you hate government, only that you require your government to be obedient to the wishes of those who pay the bills. You require it to be held accountable for its behavior, at home and abroad. This includes fiscal accountability, not profligate spending of money that will shackle future generations with sky-high taxes and/or crippling inflation.

Freedom is slipping away. Soon, you will be asked to support a path that will take you even farther away from freedom. Please say no.