I see the liberty of the individual not only as a great moral good in itself (or with Lord Acton as the highest political good) but also as the necessary condition for the flowering of all the other goods that mankind cherishes: moral virtue civilization the arts and sciences economic prosperity. Out of liberty then stem the glories of civilized life."
The terms freedom and liberty have become clichs in modern political parlance. Because these words are invoked so much by politicians and their ilk their meanings are almost synonymous and used interchangeably. Thats confusing and can be dangerous because their definitions are actually quite different.
Freedom is predominantly an internal construct. Viktor Frankl the legendary Holocaust survivor who wrote
Mans Search For Meaning said it well: Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms to choose ones attitude in any given set of circumstances to choose ones own way (in how he approaches his circumstances)."
In other words to be free is to take ownership of what goes on between your ears to be autonomous in thoughts
first and actions
second. Your freedom to act a certain way can be taken away from you but your attitude about your circumstances cannot making ones freedom predominantly an internal construct.
On the other hand liberty is predominantly an external construct. Its the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on ones way of life behavior or political views. The ancient Stoics knew this (more on that in a minute). So did the
Founding Fathers who wisely noted the distinction between negative and positive liberties and codified that difference in the
U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
The distinction between negative and positive liberties is particularly important because an understanding of each helps us understand these seminal American documents (plus it explains why so many other countries have copied them). The Bill of Rights is a charter of negative liberties it says what the state
cannot do to you. However it does
not say what the state must do on your behalf. This would be a positive liberty an obligation imposed upon you by the state.
Thus in keeping with what the late Murray Rothbard said above the liberty of the individual is the necessary condition for the flowering of all the other goods that mankind cherishes.
Living in liberty allows each of us to fully enjoy our freedoms. And how these two terms developed and complement one another is important for anyone desiring to better understand what it means to be truly free.
Read more at Ammo.com:
Freedom vs. Liberty: How Subtle Differences Between These Two Big Ideas Changed Our World
