The essential characteristic of Western civilization that distinguishes it from the arrested and petrified civilizations of the East was and is its concern for freedom from the state. The history of the West, from the age of the Greek city state down to the present-day resistance to socialism, is essentially the history of the fight for liberty against the encroachments of the officeholders.1The purpose here is to present known truths about freedom and government in the hope that these truths may help replace some false ideas and myths. A sincere effort has been made to distill the essence of the philosophy of freedom.
According to the eminent Professor Ludwig von Mises:
Freedom is of the greatest importance to us for we have found through the great American experiment that freedom provides the best means through which to achieve whatever goals we set for ourselves.
We Americans have a tendency to believe that our freedoms are protected by our Constitution and its Bill of Rights. This is dangerous thinking for it dulls our sense of vigilance. Note the following words of Judge Learned Hand:
Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court even can do much to help it.
Over a period of many years we have observed liberty slowly dying in the hearts of our people. The inevitable consequence has been the loss of countless freedoms,2 our Constitution notwithstanding. Mr. Ed Hiles of Atlanta once wrote:
Freedom is not free and it must not be taken for granted. It was won through sacrifice and will be maintained only through sacrifice. It can be lost—just as surely, just as completely, and just as permanently—tax by tax, subsidy by subsidy, and regulation by regulation, as it can be lost bullet by bullet, bomb by bomb, or missile by missile.
If we are to preserve the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, it is absolutely essential that there be a new birth of freedom in the hearts and minds of our people.
There is no way of knowing how this might be achieved. It might take the form of a great "Crusade for Freedom" led by a dynamic new libertarian leader, as yet unknown. Or perhaps as a result of the philosophy of freedom being presented in a new, concise, easily understood form. "Freedom in a Nutshell" may be read in its entirety here. Perhaps its common-sense and simple presentation may inspire a new generation of Americans to treasure freedom and to reject the counterfeit idea of so-called "progressives" who offer "free stuff," coercively taken from and paid for by hardworking fellow citizens, in order to enslave us.