Freedom and Personal Power
“….certain inherent rights, namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.” Virginia Bill of Rights
A free person selects and pursues their goals. Indispensable for personal freedom is the liberty to contemplate, reason, communicate, exchange and work, and to possess the gains made by these endeavors. George Mason codified the elements of freedom in the Virginia Bill of Rights, “certain inherent rights, namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.”
A free person controls and marshals their possessions. Utilizing their money and property greatly advances a person’s opportunities to invest their time, intellect, and labor. This fosters inspiration and resourcefulness, and propels commerce, science, art and charity. Personal freedom best advances civilization.
Observably, government needs a portion of a person’s possessions (money) to protect people and their property. Hence, government’s taxes to obtain money to protect the people. Resultantly, a tax decreases an individual’s power. A portion of the person’s possessions has been confiscated, depriving that person of the power to use their possessions as they wish. Their personal freedom is diminished. Even if the tax pays for a benefit for all Americans, such as national defense, the personal power of every taxed person is diminished.
Ah, “but your individual would lose all of his freedoms.” Most likely true. This is the great conundrum of modern democracy. Dedicate to Freedom and Personal Power, how does a society select the optimal functions of government, and limit government’s coercive power to the defined functions. This was the core debate leading to the American Constitution. As James Madison later said: The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.
