PRINCIPLE #4: GREATER LIBERTIES by T. Edwin Perry
Having already addressed PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, SMALLER GOVERNMENT, and LOWER TAXES, we’re ready to address the Fourth, and possibly most difficult, of the Principles of Conservatism: Greater Liberties. What makes this particular Principle so difficult is that many of us don’t really understand the CONCEPT of Liberty…at least, not until it’s taken away from us.
Think about it, every politician who ever ran a campaign has talked about the importance of our “Freedoms and Liberties.” The phrase has become clichéd, but our Freedoms and Liberties are two different things, and both have to be protected. I tend to describe them like this: FREEDOM is the right to choose, and LIBERTIES are the choices we are able to make. Having the right to choose is important, but if you have no choices, no options to select from, then it really isn’t much of a right. For example, during the 1980’s in Soviet Russia, ASSUMING you had the money, you could CHOOSE to buy a car; however, the only car you could buy was a Lada, and there was a 3-year waiting period, AND the car spent more time in the shop than on the road. That hardly qualifies as Freedom, and certainly doesn’t qualify as LIBERTY!
But even when we understand the CONCEPT of Liberty, we often have a hard time with the DEFENSE of Liberty. Take, for example, the Freedom of Speech. I think we can all agree that this is one of the most important Rights GUARANTEED to us by the First Amendment to the Constitution, but think about the last time someone said something that you disagreed with about the Government or a specific Politician that you support. (Odds are, if you read this blog regularly, that SOMEONE may have been ME!) The person who said what you disagree with has the RIGHT to say it. You have the RIGHT to disagree with it. But if you try to shout them down, call them names or intimidate them, you are, technically speaking, INFRINGING on their LIBERTY to say what they believe. And while the First Amendment says NOTHING about providing you the right to an AUDIENCE, it does protect your right to SPEAK about what you believe. (Of course, this is a flawed example, because the First Amendment only protects you from the GOVERNMENT taking away that right, but you get my point.) As a Conservative, I believe in the importance of protecting YOUR choice to say what you believe, even if I disagree with it. I don’t agree with ANYONE trying to shout me down, and I don’t intimidate easily on the things that truly matter to me, but if you are willing to have a rational discussion about something, I’m in favor of the debate. Other examples? If you choose to eat too much, you should have the Liberty to make that choice, even if you get fat. It’s your choice, and YOU suffer the consequences. Likewise, if you choose to run 10 miles per day, I think you’re nuts, but you should have the Liberty to make that choice.
When the GOVERNMENT takes away Liberties, it restricts your choices. Going back to the Freedom of Speech argument, there are certain things that are NOT protected as Free Speech. For example, you can’t shout “FIRE” in a crowded theater. Why: Because it could cause a panic and get people hurt. (Of course, if there really IS a fire, this is a bad example.) Every piece of legislation, regulation and limitation imposed by the Government, regardless of the intent, is an infringement on our Liberties, and I don’t disagree that SOME of these limitations are justified, but we have to be very careful about allowing TOO MUCH limitation. By sponsoring the idea of SMALLER GOVERNMENT, Conservatives protect our Liberties from unreasonable infringements, because history has shown that, left to its own devices, Government always expands its power, and when we allow the Government to take away too many of our Liberties, the result is ALWAYS the same: FASCISM! By making sure that we take PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for ourselves, we remove the NEED for Government to infringe on those Liberties.
Thomas Jefferson said, “It behooves every man who values Liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others.” Simply put, by protecting the Liberties of Others, we protect our own. And THAT makes Number 4 a very IMPORTANT Principle to remember.
Tomorrow, we address the Fifth and Final of the Five Principles of Conservatism: An HONEST BELIEF in something LARGER than YOURSELF!
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