A Free People

William Christensen 1/28/08 (13)

Liberty. What is liberty? By definition it is: Natural liberty, consists in the power of acting as one thinks fit, without any restraint or control, except from the laws of nature. It is a state of exemption from the control of others, and from positive laws and the institutions of social life. This liberty is abridged by the establishment of government. In other words, It is having agency, the ability to choose what you want. How do we become free? What is required for the general population to be free? What if they make the wrong choices? Is it fair for someone to have more? In America, people losing their freedom to questions like these. I believe that there are three things that a people need to have in order to be free.

The first is KNOWLEDGE

If you want to be free, you must under stand what is required to be free. You must be educated to think. If you can’t think for your self, then you will not be able to make the right decisions. You will just go with the flow, and try to be like everyone else. There will be no thought of whether or not it is right or wrong. Someone else will make decisions for you. If you can=t make decisions on what to do with your stuff, then someone else will. If you can=t make decisions with your own life, then someone else will. The problem with this is that the person telling you what to do will hold their interests higher than yours. This means that any thing the tell you to do will probably be better for them than you. This brings us right into the second item:

PRIVATE PROPERTY

What is wrong with someone else telling you what to do with your stuff? Wouldn’t it be easier?

Yes it would be easier, but would it be better? It probably wouldn’t. If you worked had a candy bar, and you asked someone random off the street what you should do with it, they would probably tell you to give it to them. Most people will have their best interests served before yours. Now there is a chance that they will give you good advice. This leads to the third item:

VIRTUE AND RELIGION

If someone is virtuous then they will think of your best interests with the candy bar first. They will be fair, and let people keep the profits of their labor. They won=t steal. They won=t take your candy bar when you ask them what to do with it. Most religion teaches virtue. Most virtuous people are religious. If you are virtuous, you will not depend on others for support. You will work hard to support your self. You will also offer to help others with your profits. You will be more likely to get something you want, because you will be determined and will work for it. This is the fourth and final item:

DETERMINATION

If you want to be free, you have to fight for it. There will almost always be someone who will try to take that freedom from you. You have to set your eyes on the goal and focus on it. You will have to sacrifice. You will have to give up things now, only to have them many times greater when you reach that goal. This freedom you seek will not be easy to reach. You cannot sell it off for anything.

In order to be free, you must have all of these things. They all depend on each other. You cannot get a good education unless you are determined to have one. You cannot have private property without being able to think for your self. You cannot have religion and virtue if you don’t decide what to do with your life. The problem with America is that they are losing sight of the goal. Religion is fading. Freedom is being traded for protection. To be a free people, we need to have all of these things.