L. Neil Smith's
THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE
Number 189, September 9, 2002
9/11 "RELIEF" ISSUE!

Is There Too Great a Price to Pay for Freedom?
by S. Douglas Heard
[email protected]

Special to TLE

The question each of us must ask ourselves before we get too far into the freedom vs. the state argument is: Is there any price that is too great to pay for freedom?

Not saying any of the following would or even might happen.

  • If the price of freedom in the US were 1,000,000 people a year killed by guns, would that be too high a price?

  • If the price of freedom in the US were that the average life expectancy would drop to 30 because of violent death, would that be too high a price?

  • If the price of freedom in the US were that the standard of living would drop to the level of subsistence farming, would that be too high a price?

  • If the price of freedom in the US was that the quality of medicine would drop to a mid 19th century level, would that be too high a price?

You get the idea. If you think that the possibility of any of those things happening is a better alternative than lack of freedom then you are a hard-core libertarian. If you think that those possibilities are a little too severe to trade for freedom then you might be a member of the Libertarian Party.

Think about the above questions and decide if you are a libertarian or a member of the Libertarian Party. If you believe that there is no social ill that justifies a lack of freedom then you are a libertarian, if on the other hand you believe that there are some (you choose which) social ills that justify government killing it�s citizens to prevent then you are a member of the Libertarian Party at best and possibly even a Republicrat.

Something to think about.


ADVERTISEMENT

Search Amazon.com for ANY Book

Search:
Keywords:
In Association with Amazon.com

Help Support TLE by patronizing our advertisers and affiliates. We cheerfully accept donations!


Next
to advance to the next article		 Previous
to return to the previous article		 Table of Contents
to return to The Libertarian Enterprise, Number 189, September 9, 2002