Liberty Is Not What You Think I Think It Is...

.. and it's not what I think you think it is

I posted this on Facebook and the responses didn’t come.

"People desire liberty, give it to them"

The main problem in generalizations as such is that very few realize that liberty means something different to 7-8 billion people and not all of those opinions can coexist with each other

You can bring that down to a town of 2,000 and have the same problem

Solutions don't fit on a bumper sticker

These are complex ideas and to pretend they aren't is to waste valuable time, energy and money on useless thinking and actions

I don’t know if that post made people speechless, but I doubt it. I think it’s just something many haven’t considered. Liberty is a term that is thrown around so often by people within our sphere that it’s easy to not stop and consider what it actually means. Here’s a dictionary definition:

the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views

In the current world, that’s impossible and ridiculous to think can exist on a grand scale.

Let’s define the term oppressive:

unjustly inflicting hardship and constraint, especially on a minority or other subordinate group

I hope you can see the problem here. All of the words used in these definitions are seen as subjective by most people. I’ll take it a step further. Simply, your idea of liberty and my idea of liberty are going to clash without some concessions. Even in an “anarchist” society there will be norms. Society cannot function without them. The question becomes, “Do we want to sacrifice some of our preferences, etc. to achieve this so-called liberty?”

As an example of what I’m talking about, many people who identify as Conservatives are open to libertarian ideas and some may even use the term once in a while. BUT, numerous libertarians, especially many in the Libertarian Party, are radically pro-abortion which is anathema to many Conservatives. No matter what your opinion is on the issue, this is a problem. The idea of ‘liberty’ is not universal. Telling someone, “I just want you to be free,” is kind of insane in my opinion. What do THEY want to be free to do? Can you see the problem?

Whether it be the term liberty, freedom or whatever, I encourage you to examine yourself for what that would look like to you. Then, reach out to other people you know, ask them the same thing and compare notes. Not only is this a great exercise in self-awareness, but you could locate natural allies with whom you may wish to build something. Whether it be a business or even an “intentional community” this could be the start of something new, and honestly, a way to mitigate risk in a world in which the chains of the overlords get tighter and tighter. Find your people and build. Embrace YOUR liberty. To not do so is self-sabotage.