It is incorrect to think of liberty as synonymous with unrestrained action. Liberty does not and cannot include any action, regardless of sponsorship, which lessens the liberty of a single human being. To argue contrarily is to claim that liberty can be composed of liberty negations, patently absurd. Unrestraint carried to the point of impairing the liberty of others is the exercise of license, not liberty. To minimize the exercise of license is to maximize the area of liberty. Ideally, government would restrain license, not indulge in it; make it difficult, not easy; disgraceful, not popular. A government that does otherwise is licentious, not liberal.
– Leonard E. Read, The Freeman [March 1977] |
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May 1, 2025
Who Is My Real Enemy?
U.S. officials tell me that China is my enemy. They also sometimes name Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba as my enemies as well. Other enemies, they say, are illegal immigrants, drug dealers, and terrorists. But when I consider what these enemies do not do to me, it is difficult to understand why I should consider them to be my enemies. 1. These … |
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