Comments on: How to Fight For Personal Liberty

By: Toshon Jennings

Toshon Jennings — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 13:23:00 +0000

I like the short length, but I also get a lot from the longer ones. I think it’s that it fits the subject matter–these types of messages seem to be better conveyed by brevity because of their depth (think fortune cookie), where other ones are better served at length. I suppose the consensus is somewhere around “some of both.” Thanks for another great post.

By: Toshon Jennings

Toshon Jennings — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 13:18:00 +0000

I will not presume to speak for James, but what I got from it is that personal freedom runs much deeper than the Constitution, that the idea of being chained fundamentally by a document created by other humans (who also happen to be dead, currently) would be a failure to practice true personal liberty. It’s a decision that you make, every moment. It’s the difference between giving/not giving to a homeless person based on what you personally feel, understand, & desire, & giving/not giving because you’re hopeful/afraid that someone will make you feel good/bad for what you feel, understand, & desire. Documents are made to fulfill the words of people; people are not made to fulfill the words of a document.

By: Travis Pavlik

Travis Pavlik — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 06:54:00 +0000

I disagree with you here James. We cannot be apathetic to the loss of liberties, that is a losing attitude. Change happens by many small and seemingly minute activities which all add up to awareness then changing attitudes and then finally legislation/action. We will not stand idly by as politicians run over the Constitution

By: essaywriter.org

essaywriter.org — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 08:10:00 +0000

I can pretend to have liberty.

By: Peter Connor

Peter Connor — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 17:43:00 +0000

Yes, by “fighting” we mean exercising your liberties that the “authorities” would like to intimidate you into giving up. Like gun ownership, for example. If you aren’t willing to do that much, you really don’t deserve liberty and eventually you won’t have it. Think of Germany in the 1930s, or Argentina now.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 19:12:00 +0000

Love this one.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 14:11:00 +0000

I thought this was a divergence from the usual quality and thoughtful posts you put out. I hope you end this experiment and stick with the posts you have been doing. They are way better than this “short” and superficial type of post.

By: Paul Bonneau

Paul Bonneau — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 21:49:00 +0000

Some people have a talent for getting a concept across in a very few well-chosen words. I think this connects with the audience better, so I try to emulate them. However, occasionally, one just has to settle for a long post because it can’t reasonably be shortened.

By: mikeyhell

mikeyhell — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 21:31:00 +0000

I don’t know if this helps, but some philosophers distinguish between the related concepts of liberty and freedom. Liberty is the condition that exists when there are no *external* forces trying to deprive one of his or her natural rights, e.g., taxation deprives one of the right to keep what one earns. In other words, liberty occurs when one lives without the influence of coercive external forces. In contrast, freedom is the *internal* state that you describe, James. Being free means to possess systems of ethics and morality and a sense of self-determination to follow these systems. To harbor moral or ethical contradictions or to stifle one’s own sense of self direction is to be unfree. Nearly all of us are internally unfree—that’s what this blog is about—and we are constantly having our liberties threatened by all manner of control freaks. In my view liberty is meaningless without a sense of inner freedom as the supporting and directing foundation.

By: Hugh Lancaster

Hugh Lancaster — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:45:00 +0000

Hey James,
I love your articles but will have to disagree on your idea of liberty. Our founding fathers many whom gave everything including risking their life to come to this country seeking liberty. If I am in the middle of a ten by ten foot jail I don’t have liberty. I can pretend to have liberty. Goverment is a necessary evil that has to be checked often so we don’t lose the freedom we have and so desire. There are people who will do anything for power (Hitler) and if not dealt with will take away our liberty.