Vice and Virtue VI - Liberty

"Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people." - John Adams

Centuries of discussion have turned liberty into a complex philosophical concept. I, on the other hand, like keeping things simple. Ask me what liberty is, and I will say "freedom with responsibility".

You don't need a college degree to know that liberty does not grant you the right to burn your neighbor's car, rape his wife, and sell his daughters to slavery, yet, today, liberty is often confused with license - the freedom to do whatever one desires, with little, or no regard to consequences.
In an insightful article from 1995, called Liberty and Responsibility, Max More nails the issue on the spot:

Liberty is not license. Liberty means freedom from compulsion. It means being free to choose your own actions, make your own plans, and act on your own beliefs and values. If social chaos and disintegration do not concern us, then we may demand freedom alone. If, however, we wish to live a productive, rewarding life in a flourishing society we will affirm that in demanding liberty we agree to take charge of ourselves. Freedom from outside control merely leaves a chaotic void if not replaced by control from within.

Liberty is a vital, fundamental column for a healthy, forward moving society. It encourages innovation, diligence, daring, and taking charge of one's own life, in pursuit of happiness. A culture without liberty is doomed to stagnation (and theft from others), while those who embrace it lead the way. This is a universal law, with many supporting evidence from history: the American experiment is one such example, obviously, but centuries earlier, the citizens of the tiny Dutch Republic had already amazed Europe with their resilience in the face of adversity, and long before them, the tiny city-state of Athens defied the might of the gigantic Persian empire.

But, liberty without a supporting culture is not enough. Like Thomas Jefferson said, "The constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself".
While some are absolutely fine with the notion that it is up to them to achieve happiness and greatness, for others, this is a scary notion. With opportunity comes risk, and so many would prefer to let others decide for them, rather than take responsibility. If something isn't to their liking, they settle for complaining about the actions of those who control their fate. The right to pursue happiness is replaced with an entitled 'right to happiness', and those who don't are compensated for not having equal benefits to those who do - on the expense of the later.
If someone is getting subsidized rent, education, or health-care; a good job despite the lack of necessary skills; or the right to sell a product without having to compete against overseas companies - it always comes on someone else's expense.
When the government starts playing this game of 'correctional' favoritism, all it does is decrease liberty for everyone: those who receive a free piece of the pie become dependent on it, instead of paving their own path, and those who support them lose more and more in the form of taxes and regulations.
Unequal treatment leads to growing envy and resentment, which weakens society as a whole - both to inside, and outside threats. Frederick the Great correctly ascertained that "several republics have fallen back into despotism; it even appears that it is an inevitable misfortune which awaits them all".

The threat of falling back into one form of tyranny or another is always there. That is why liberty, as important as it may be, comes last in my list of values - for it cannot stand without the others.
When people accept responsibility over their lives, and as part of the greater body of a nation; when they know their loyalties, and will not exploit liberty to betray their society; when they use wisdom to make the best choices with the knowledge they possess; when they have the courage to stand against those who seek to distort and destroy their way of life; and when they render justice to those who infringe upon the rights of others, then liberty can flourish, and its fertile fruits can be enjoyed by all who embrace it.

This vision is not intrinsic to man. Instilling it requires education, preserving it requires attention, and protecting it requires a constant vigil, but these are all a small price to pay, for the value of Liberty.

"Where liberty is, there is my country." - Benjamin Franklin