I am a young man yet, and I have much more to learn about the world, as I am sure I will.
But through my experiences, through what I have used reason and evidence to determine, and through the advice many great minds have imparted to me, I have found what I fight for.
Every man fights for what is right, and what will allow him to support his family and raise his children so that they might live better lives than he.
Nothing will make the world better more totally or do it faster than will the proliferation of freedom.
Freedom allows man to pursue his incentives naturally and unimpeded, not sacrificed by or stolen from by those of others. When each person can unimpeded operate according to their needs and desires, and do so to the best of their ability without being impeded unduly, the entire society lives a life more satisfied knowing that they were able to work and earn their way as best they could and honestly support their families. They live healthier lives due to the emotional distress that violations of property rights cause, and due to the wonderful technology that freedom yields the capacity to create. They all live happier lives as well, not only because of the way that healthy societies create healthy individuals, but because of the peace and harmony each experiences, the opportunities available to those who work hard, and the degree to which freedom leads to an improvement in even the most fundamental categories of quality of life.
Clearly, universal human freedom is the one glorious torch that when grasped can unlock the full potential and beauty of mankind.
But what exactly does freedom mean?
Freedom is easy to understand in abstract terms. A reduction in taxes is an increase in freedom. Perpetual theft is a denial of freedoms. Freedom is very much the ability to do what one pleases.
In concrete terms, freedom is self-ownership.
Because man can control his body and mind, and no others can, he owns himself. Because he owns himself, he owns his actions. Because he owns his actions, he owns the product of his labor, and anything he voluntarily trades for it.
Any claim attempting to deny valid property rights is invalid and immoral. To violate one's property rights is to unduly claim ownership over the property of another. This can manifest in many ways, such as theft of property, rape, or even murder. All are an attempt to deny the property rights of others, and are immoral actions. The denial of property rights and direct violation thereof is the initiation of force, and is immoral. The non-aggression principle states that any interaction involving the initiation of force is immoral.
So when I fight for freedom, I do several things.
I educate people about self-ownership, and about the non-aggression principle. Many have never heard these ideas flushed out so thoroughly and definitely, but all people seem to intrinsically understand it. It is inherent to human behavior, though those with weak capacity for reason or whom are otherwise demented may violate these simple moral laws.
I extol the virtues of liberty, and make known the copious amounts of evidence, historical examples, and logical conclusions which prove the incredible degree to which liberty increases quality of life, drastically and quickly.
I encourage those I know who are doing the same, as I want this free society that so many dream of to become a reality as soon as possible.
But that is not all.
There are so many who are completely against us and what we stand for. These are the established interests, and those who profit from tyranny, those who treat civilizations like a herd of tax slaves, those who sell out their families and countrymen in order to satiate their lust for and addiction to power.
The most perpetual, consistent, entrenched, pervasive, and destructive force in the world today is government. They have been around for thousands of years, are responsible for an absolutely gruesome number of human death and destruction over the ages, constantly drain the populations of their wealth through their never ending theft, drug entire cultures into submission and failure with welfare, and plague those cultures who are more inclined toward freedom by flooding their nations with those cultures still in contempt of freedom.
But that is not all.
There are many rich and powerful people still nominally involved in the free market, but who utilize the force of the state to tremendous profit, and cause enormous damage to liberty in the process. There are religions in the world, namely Islam, who propagate sickening and wicked ideas which prove cancerous to society, cause much chaos and violence across the planet, and fill the minds of children with ideas designed only to dominate the world. There are activists such as feminists who deride the traditional values that alongside freedom, made the West wonderful. They ally themselves with the most despicable elements of society in order to profit from their attempted derision and humiliation of the most respectable.
Government is the greatest evil attacking mankind and living as a parasite on the backs of the hard working, but these other groups too constantly conspire towards the destruction of what little freedom we have fought so hard to establish and preserve, and all must be opposed.
So I urge you, as lovers of freedom, to put yourself on the line. Commit to mastering your knowledge of liberty, and every day, do your best to teach your peers, family, and friends about the numerous virtues of liberty.
If you are just beginning your journey towards the most important knowledge a man can possess, then I encourage you to continue your inquiries. You will find it tremendously rewarding, and indeed, freeing.
Freedom is the one and only key to the enlightenment and eventual perfection of mankind.
Great post! Inspirational, even. Could you tell me more about the non-aggression principle?
One thing I wish you had mentioned is the day to day tyrrany we all bptj perpetrate and endure.
Absolutely.
The non-aggression principle is essentially a concrete and empirical way to determine morality.
Essentially it is derived by the logic:
Man owns himself -> He owns the products of his labor, and that which he trades for.
Because I own my property, and you own your property, and each person owns their property, we have valid claims to do what we want with our respective property. We do not have claims to do what we want with the property of others. Doing something to another's property without their consent is a violation of their property rights, and this is what is immoral. Because it is being done without their consent, it is done through the initiation of force. The non-aggression principle simply integrates these principles, and states that the initiation of force is immoral.
Very well put! Upvoted and followed!
Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it!