CHAPTER ONE

THE NATURE OF LIBERTY

OPINIONS DIFFER widely about liberty. They differ widely as to what comprises liberty, as to how much of it we now enjoy, as to the amount that has been lost in this country.

CHAPTER TWO

FORMS OF LIBERTY

IN SPEAKING OF LIBERTY, relationships between persons are sometimes classified into types.

CHAPTER THREE

THE FOUNDATION OF ECONOMIC LIBERTY

THE RIGHT OF A PERSON to the product of his own labor is the foundation of economic liberty. The requirements of liberty in the economic realm can be met in no other way.

The question at issue is how to distinguish between what is mine and what is thine. The hermit is not concerned about this matter, which becomes a problem only when two or more persons have relationships with one another.

There are three ways to handle this problem:

CHAPTER FOUR

LIBERTY AND CHARITY

IT IS NEITHER POSSIBLE nor feasible to discuss here all the many accusations that may be directed at the author’s definition of liberty, and at the foundation of economic liberty as it has been identified. But one accusation above all others seems to have wide appeal, and deserves some attention in even this brief treatment of the subject of liberty; it is the charge that liberty means selfishness and a lack of the spirit of charity.

CHAPTER FIVE

RULES OF CONDUCT IN A LIBERAL SOCIETY

LIBERTY HAS BEEN DEFINED in this discussion as a strictly individual matter. Further, as a problem of our concern, it has been limited to the area where relationships exist between persons, “society.”

All who favor liberty, therefore, must favor the liberal society. They must favor “liberalism” (liber = free; al = pertaining to; ism = a doctrine or practice).

CHAPTER SIX

GOVERNMENT IN A LIBERAL SOCIETY

ONE OF THE MOST perplexing problems of the ages seems to have been that of finding the proper place of government in society.

CHAPTER SEVEN

DEMOCRACY AND LIBERTY

IT IS GENERALLY ACCEPTED that a government can enslave the citizens. Enough Kings and Emperors and Generalissimos and Führers have done so to establish that fact quite conclusively.

But the belief prevails that: “It is impossible for liberty to be lost under a democratic form of government. Democracy assures that the will of the people shall prevail, and that is liberty. So long as democracy is preserved we can rest assured that liberty will be continued to the full.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

VARIATION AND PROGRESS

LIBERTY GIVES a unique form of satisfaction for which there is no substitute. And furthermore, liberty is the environment wherein the seeds of progress can sprout and bear fruit, for all to share who will.

What are the seeds of progress, and why does liberty offer the environment for their development? The contrast between humans and other forms of life may offer a clue to the answer.1

CHAPTER NINE

THE UNCOMMON MAN

VARIATION, AS WE HAVE SEEN, results in progress when the changes are favorable ones. If favorable changes are to be made, they must be the result of free choice. Otherwise unfavorable changes and regression will be the result.

Free choice means liberty.

Thus it is concluded that variation offers the seeds of progress because it is the origin of change; that change will take the form of progress when, and to whatever extent, liberty allows these seeds to bloom into favorable changes.

CHAPTER TEN

GOVERNMENT AND PROGRESS

GOVERNMENT, as previously discussed, is a repressive force. Within its scope, it prescribes patterns of conduct whereby the citizens are forbidden from doing certain things. Every deviation from these decrees is judged to be “lawlessness,” punishable even unto death.