What Is Liberty? - George

A friend from church posted an interesting quote from Thomas Aquinas on facebook the other day. I tracked down the reference and found it in Pope Leo XII's Encyclical on Capital and Labor from 1891.

It rests on the principle that it is one thing to have a right to the possession of money and another to have a right to use money as one wills. Private ownership, as we have seen, is the natural right of man, and to exercise that right, especially as members of society, is not only lawful, but absolutely necessary. "It is lawful," says St. Thomas Aquinas, "for a man to hold private property; and it is also necessary for the carrying on of human existence."" But if the question be asked: How must one's possessions be used? - the Church replies without hesitation in the words of the same holy Doctor: "Man should not consider his material possessions as his own, but as common to all, so as to share them without hesitation when others are in need. 

I was intrigued by the last part in particular, where Thomas mentions the purpose and sphere associated with owning property.  I tend to think of ownership in an abstract way, or at least in a way that is contained to an individual disconnected form time and space.  But the above quote says the universal idea of ownership does not exist without an account for purpose and neighbors.  To take it to its extreme, there would be no such thing as private ownership without others - and not to keep from, but to use as common to all.  In way you might say their is no ownership, only ruled user-ship (or stewardship).

In the same way, we tend to think about Liberty in the abstract or ego-centric way, or at least in terms of Liberty from X (often another abstraction like Tyranny).  But what is the purpose and sphere of Liberty? The time and space of it? How do we take into account the fundamental corporate-ness of our humanity and thereby see Liberty first in communal terms?  Following line of thinking from the earlier paragraph, there is no such thing as individual liberty, at least not as it pertains only to an individual. Freedom is freedom with others, a freedom to do things for others, as well as a freedom from others.

Man is about loving God with all his heart, and loving his neighbor as himself. This is the sum of the Torah and Prophets.  In the Gospel According to John, chapter 8, Jesus says that he has freed us from sin, from a world of bondage, a world where humanity struggled to be what they were created for. And now Jesus brings freedom.  And this is not a freedom to neutrality, or an invitation to autonomy, it is a freedom to follow him, to become Christ-like, to grow into our truer selves, as a community and as individuals.

Ironically, true Liberty is the freedom to love, to serve, and to die-to-self for God and neighbor.

What is Liberty? -Matt

“Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.”

― George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman

Liberty is the freedom from any non-natural forces which may hinder my ability to seek my own good, whatever that may be, as I determine it (natural forces are concepts such as  gravity, weather, and disease which my limit freedom but do not interfere with my liberty).

The concept is simple; I am my own man, free to make my own decisions.  Since I am my own man, as in no one owns me, I am free to be my own man and pursue my own desires as I see fit. 

The main objection to such an unrestricted view of liberty is that if it is let to play out it would result in anarchy and chaos.  That people would go around murdering each other, taking whatever they wanted and cats would be sleeping with dogs.  This line of thinking would be valid except that everyone it entitled to the same liberty.  As Thomas Jefferson said, ‘Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others.’  It may seem strange to have the word ‘liberty’ and ‘limits’ within the same sentence since on the surface they oppose each other.  But this dynamic is the critical aspect of true liberty. 

If we were to think of liberty as spheres around us, each man in a hamster wheel of freedom, what we would see is many bubbles walking around, bumping into each other.  Every time two bubbles bump into each other rights are exercised.   This is what Jefferson referred to as the limits drawn by equal rights.  Since you have the liberty of life, I do not have the right to take that life.  Since you have the liberty to own property, I do not have the right to take that property.The list can go on and on.

If we were to let the exercise of rights happen naturally we would run into a ‘might makes right’ situation.  Those less physically able may not be able to defend against those who are physically fit.  This is where the government comes into play.  As a people, we have decided that the government’s job is to protect the rights of the individual and keep liberty within the sphere of the individual. We have given it the authority to strip liberty from an individual who interferes with the liberty of another under the arm of justice. This is really the only legit function of government.

Unfortunately, what we see today is that the biggest interloper in our liberty is the government we implemented to protect it.  Isn't it ironic, don't you think? Direct taxes, welfare, unwarranted surveillance, the drug wars, conscription, marriage, abortion, gun control, and many more go directly against my individual liberty. 

If we were to some how return to a government which protected liberty instead of taking it away we would see a return to personal responsibility, which to many is frightening.  I would own myself and because of that I would be responsible for myself.  Safety nets like government welfare and mandatory Social Security benefits would be abolished.  The drug laws would be repealed and individuals would be free from any government overreach such as oversight of marriage and gun control.  Property rights would be restored and property taxes would be abolished and I could drink milk straight from the cow.  That is real Liberty!