Principle and Practicality

We prefer freedom out of principle, and we argue for its expansion for practical reasons. 

By principle, humans are by nature free and are born with the right to enjoy freedom with a minimum, and therefore just, amount of restraints.  Government and institutional arrangements are legitimate and appropriate insofar as they approximate the use of power in accordance with this human right.  This right of freedom is itself the source of the power exercised by the government, appropriated to government for limited exercise.  This power comes from and through the consent of free people, is exercised with discretion and under proper limitation, all with a view of protecting liberty and never used to danger, infringe, or destroy liberty.  The Declaration of Independence best summarizes, explains, and defends this principle:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...

As a matter of practicality, freedom is most to be preferred as a matter of policy.  When the productive and creative capabilities of people are unleashed and unrestrained by excessive government interference, prosperity and opportunity ensue.  Free societies are prosperous societies; oppressed societies suffer unnecessary poverty and stagnation.

Were we to examine the root cause of our affluence and high standard of living in America, we would acknowledge it was no case of fortune, fluke, or luck.  We have always been the freest society in the world, relative to others.  Ludwig von Mises, a native European, noted , "The people of the United States are more prosperous than the inhabitants of all other countries because their government embarked later than the government in other parts of the world upon the policy of obstructing business."

And Milton Friedman succinctly makes the case:

"The world runs on individuals pursuing their separate interests.  The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus...In the only cases in which the masses have escaped the kind of grinding poverty...the only cases in recorded history are where they have had capitalism and largely free trade.  If you want to know where the masses are worst off, it is exactly in the kinds of societies that depart from that.  So the record of history is absolutely crystal clear: There is no alternative way...of improving the lot of ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free enterprise system."  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A)

Arguing for more freedom in the market place is by nature a proactive, forward-looking approach.  Pursuing a policy of freedom is the surest and most tested way to ensure opportunity and prosperity for ourselves and posterity.   Insisting on more central planning, corporatism, and government control of the economy and our lives is a turning back of the clock to the 17th century merchantilism that predates freedom in the marketplace. 

Freedom is therefore progressive, statism and socialism regressive!