Liberty Defined

There are two kinds of liberty - absolute liberty: That of the savage, in which any individual may act as he pleases; and civil liberty: That of a civilized community in which human actions are regulated by law for the good of all - subject only to such restraints as a solemn and tolerant judgment determines to be essential. Political liberty is no other than natural liberty so far restrained by human laws and no further, as is necessary and expedient for the general advantage of the public. - Blackstone. Liberty does not free the people from the necessity for control, but it places a heavy burden of responsibility upon the individual for self-control. It is not license to do as one pleases. Through developed "intelligence" man has power to control his baser and more selfish instincts, compelling their exercise and restriction in the interest of society. Minority control exercises its will until such time as general intelligence becomes sufficiently informed to establish an order of society with a larger and more even distribution of benefit to all, and the law of will (force) is supplanted by the law of reason. As defined in the Preamble to the Constitution, liberty is the absence of arbitrary human restraints upon personal conduct other than those imposed by the authority of just laws, obedience to which is an essential part of it. Fundamental law. - The rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are beyond the right of any government to legally usurp or infringe. To secure this (liberty) is the main business of governments and the reason for their institution. If they fall in this they have failed in all. - Blackstone. These principles were written by our fathers into a constitution of government, for the first time in human history, when they wrote the Constitution and it became the fundamental law of a new nation dedicated to the proposition that "all men are created equal" and that "government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed." Equality. - What is meant by "equality" is clearly defined by Lincoln in his debate with Douglas. In responding to Douglas's question, "What do you mean - 'all men are created equal?'" Lincoln replied: "I think the authors of that notable instrument intended to include all men, but they did not intend to declare all men equal in all respects. They did not mean to say all were equal in color, size, intellect, moral development, or social capacity. They defined with tolerable distinctness in what respect they did consider all men created equal - equal with "certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." This they said and this they meant. They did not mean to assert the obvious untruth that all were then actually enjoying that equality, nor yet that they were about to confer it immediately upon them. In fact, they had no power to confer such a boon. They simply meant to declare the right, so that enforcement of it might follow as fast as circumstances should permit."