If you asked an American if freedom was something worth defending, they would agree wholeheartedly and without hesitation. If you asked them to define freedom, you might not get such a rapid response. Perhaps on the day that we declared our freedom, we should get an understanding of what we have declared.

Freedom is not the ability for one to do as he pleases. A man without payment hasn’t the freedom to walk into a store and obtain goods he cannot afford. If your desires depend on another entity, you will be dependent on that other entity. This isn’t to say dependence is an inherently negative thing; certainly we all depend on others in an advanced society. The question is the nature of the dependence.

The absence of law is not the presence of freedom. Anarchy provides no protection for the freedom of the individual. Removing the monopoly on legitimate force from the government and giving it to the individual replaces justice and egalitarianism with the law of the jungle. Sure, the jungle may provide freedom for the lions- but not for the gazelles.

Freedom cannot be the state in which all things are suited to one person or group over another. If we all have separate desires and beliefs, it can’t be possible that we will all move through life without hearing something we dislike or seeing something we find repugnant. It has been said that if you go through an entire day without being offended, someone- someone’s freedom of expression has probably been restricted. I tend to agree with the sentiment, though I do hope we find a way to be civil in our discourse.

As I see it, Freedom is the state in which all of your obligations are voluntary- where you are bound to no creed but those which you agree. Since we are unable to constitute a voluntary government for every person born, the current government must be at its core voluntary. While all people living within the land are bound to the law- all men must be able to change, alter, or abolish the government through civil means.

The only true source of governing authority being the consent of the governed- a constant means for insuring that the governed, in fact, consent is of paramount importance. When the Crown ignored the colonist’s petitions for representative government, the people rebelled and fought for freedom. They took their freedom and formed a representative government designed to defend the rights of all men, with notable exceptions that have been addressed throughout the history of our country.

Is our nation free today? Are your obligations voluntary? Please feel “Free” to add your thoughts, comments, and complaints.