What is freedom? Is it the freedom to do whatever we want without government interference? Is it the freedom to shape our political or social culture through group action? Does it mean a well-ordered society that allows us to make long range plans without the chaos of shifting rules and new paradigms? Maybe it's freedom from anarchy and the inevitable rule of the strongest. Security is a freedom of sorts. Not worrying about whether or not one will be able to feed one's children is a freedom. It's a freedom from fear and despair. How free does one feel who can't get medical help for a sick child?
There's a freedom that comes with money. Would you rather be rich in a less free country or poor in a freer one? I'm not sure which I'd pick -- personal freedom or my ideals. And there's the freedom that comes with living far away from the bureaucrats. But that has less to do with principle than environment. We can't recreate our Wild West, and most people wouldn't choose to live in the wilds of Alaska only to be able to drink raw milk and ride helmet-less.
I recently had a long conversation with someone who feels our freedoms as Americans are being lost; that America is becoming a tyranny. And he wants to move to another country where he can be more free. But I could never get him to tell me what he means by freedom. I think he means his own personal freedom to live without petty rules and regulations.
Personally, I think most of the petty rules and regulations growing around us come more from busybody people than from any governmental plan to enslave and control us. Neighborhoods pass ordinances in an attempt to keep resale values high. Pools lose diving boards because parents sued when a child broke his neck. Helmets become mandatory because we hate the idea of someone unnecessarily risking his life. We have to fight creeping legalism by not turning to government to regulate behavior and risks we ourselves don't like and by accepting the consequences of our stupid choices.
Businesses also want to protect themselves, and they turn to government to slow down upstarts and eliminate competition. And people in these industries usually go right along with anything that helps them. How many of us manage to be objective when it comes to our own paychecks and benefits?
My friend is betting against the U.S. He's willing to put his resources and energy into another country he thinks will allow him to be more free. He thinks he'll find people who love personal liberty more somewhere else. I don't know. If, today, you had to place a chip representing your life savings and future earnings on either the square where the U.S. will remain a first class country with an imperfect but sure emphasis on personal liberty or on the square where our country becomes a failed state that turns to rounding up old people and raiding their bank accounts, I think you'd be a fool to bet so much on the latter.
The freedom to nap.
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