Are you ready to be free?

A large number of people claim to want to be free, yet most do not understand what that freedom entails. Let’s explore it in some detail.

Personal freedom is based on the right of self-ownership. Each individual is the rightful owner, the only rightful owner, of his or her body (life) and mind (liberty). Actions of the mind in conjunction with the body create property. This is the underlying premise in the Declaration of Independence claim for Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

It is very easy for an individual to accept their own right of self-ownership, but freedom in a civil society means that they have to recognize every other individual’s right to the same. This is where I would contend that there are a large number of individuals who are not ready to be free. They are not willing to accept that other people should be allowed to live their own lives as they see fit as long as it does not interfere with another’s right to do the same.

Freedom of Contract is key to the operation of a civil society and is a derivative of the right of self-ownership. Any two individuals, or groups of individuals, are free to engage in a contract of mutually agreed upon terms for mutual benefit. Force and/or fraud in the negotiation of the contract will make it null and void. All lawful interactions between individuals are contractual, either explicitly of implicitly. The simplest contract is the labor contract; an individual that needs some function performed contracts with another individual to perform that function. As long as the negotiation does not involve force or fraud, it is a viable and lawful contract. Think about this for a few minutes and you will realize that there are a number of social “hot-button” issues that fall into this category.

When an individual violates the rights of another, through either force or fraud, it is a crime. The phrase “victimless crime” is an oxymoron as, by lawful definition, a crime requires either physical or pecuniary damage. Therefore, there is also no basis for “crimes against society” since society, per se, is nothing more than a group of individuals voluntarily associating with each other. At such point as an individual engages in commission of a crime, they are forfeiting their rights by violating the rights of another. Through a lawful jury trial, the criminal is subject to punishment and restitution that they will claim is a violation of their rights, but it is important to recognize that the claimed rights have been forfeited.

Being free requires work; it requires conscious activity each and every minute of every day. It requires that you make your own decisions and live with the results of those decisions. If you choose to conduct yourself on the basis of someone else’s decisions, you do so at your own risk. Freedom to live your own life means that you accept the responsibility of the ramifications of your choices, good or bad. You do not get to lay claim, without a contract, to the fruits of someone else’s labor for any purpose. This means that you are free to help any category of destitute individual that you wish, but you are not allowed to force anyone else to do the same. Some of the most heinous offenses against the right of self-ownership are done in the name of philanthropy.

Let’s take a little true or false quiz and we will explore what the appropriate answers are for a civil society based on the right of self-ownership.

1. Prostitution is a crime.
2. Marriage should be legally defined as the union between a man and a woman.
3. There can be a death penalty for premeditated murder.
4. There should be laws governing illicit drug use.
5. Everyone has a right to health care if they are sick.

Now let’s go through the answers when the right of self-ownership is consistently applied.

1. False – prostitution is a contractual agreement between two individuals for sexual activity in exchange for money or goods. As long as there is no force or fraud involved, there is no crime.
2. False – marriage is also a contractual agreement. This is one of the most difficult ones to come to terms with for a lot of people, but there is no basis for the declaration of what this contract must entail. This is a private choice between individuals. If someone chooses to engage in monogamous, bigamous, polygamous, or even homosexual unions, the only parties who are allowed to have input are the ones involved.
3. True – once an individual has committed premeditated murder, they have forfeited their rights by violating another’s. Keep in mind that this determination must be made by a unanimous jury with habeas corpus recognized.
4. False – what one person chooses to put into their body is their own business. However, they do not have the right to expect other members of society to assume the risk for their actions.
5. False – everyone has the right to access health care if they are sick. Health care is a service provided by someone else and becomes a contractual agreement.

Being free is not quite as easy as you thought, is it? Take the time to explore your heart and mind and realize that you have been programmed throughout the course of your life to believe things that are not consistent with true freedom. Keep in mind that you are always free to determine whom you associate with either personally or professionally.