The SovereignLife Blog

Freedom is one of those ideas that most people would agree with. The difficulty comes with trying to define it. Because you see, while perhaps 99% of the planet’s people say they value and want freedom, the issues that divide us often stem from what we think freedom is.

There are those who think freedom includes being guaranteed food, shelter and clothing. There are those who think freedom arrives at the point of a gun. And there are those who believe freedom is encapsulated in some belief system.

But freedom is not a positive condition – it’s not some utopian situation where all our wants are met. Freedom is simply the absence of something – the force or threat of force that seeks to impinge on our lives.

The best definition I have found for freedom comes from astrophysicist Andrew Galambos – author of Sic Itur Ad Astra (This is the way to the stars) and the author of many lectures given by his Free Enterprise Institute in the 60s. He defined freedom thus:

“I define freedom as the societal condition that exists when every individual has full (i.e. 100%) control over his own property.”

Of course “property” is everything pertaining to a man and woman’s life. It includes one’s person, one’s body, one’s mind – and of course the fruit of one’s labours – both mental and physical.

As you can see, such freedom does not promise anything – it is simply the freedom of action. To be free under such a definition means to be free to think, speak and act – without being stopped by others. And it naturally requires a reciprocal component – that you grant others the very same freedom.

Such freedom does not guarantee you anything except control over your own mind, body, actions and resultant property. It does not give you food when you’re hungry, nor the right to live in a mansion. It grants nothing. All it does is prevent others from intruding on your life.

And it is precisely this freedom which is the prerequisite for all progress.

If you think deeply enough about any serious issue, it always boils down to an issue of freedom. To make this concrete, here are some contentious issues relating to freedom – in the form of questions you can ask yourself:

Should I be allowed to smoke marijuana? Yes. It’s my body, therefore only I have the right to decide what goes into it – right or wrong.

Should I have to pay income tax? No. Taxation on income is a tax on the fruits of my labour, and therefore a tax on my very life.

Should I be conscripted to go to war? Of course not. My life is my own and nobody has the right to compel me to risk losing it.

Should I receive welfare if I’m poor? No, I should not. If, as a poor person, I were to steal things off my neighbour we’d all agree it’s wrong. It doesn’t become right just because I vote for politicians who promise to steal from my neighbour on my behalf.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

From Galambos’s definition, you can easily conclude that we do not live in a world where true freedom is valued. Instead we have allowed freedom to be a word and idea that means whatever anyone wants it to mean – with disastrous consequences.