Liberty

by Peter Saint-Andre

2004-06-03

Here are two more quotes from Josiah Warren's book Equitable Commerce:

The more business there is thus committed to governmental management, the more must each of the governed surrender his liberty or his control over his own, and the greater must be the amount of power delegated to the government. When this become unlimited or indefinite, the government is absolute, and the liberty and security of the governed are annihilated; when limited or definite, some liberty remains to the governed. Experience has proved, that power cannot be delegated to rulers of states and nations, in sufficient quantities for the management of business, without its becoming an indefinite quantity, and in this indefiniteness have mankind been cheated out of their legitimate liberty....

If governments originate in combined interests, and if government and liberty cannot exist together, then the solution of our problem demands that there be no combined interests to manage. All interests must be individualized -- all responsibilities must be individual, before men can enjoy complete liberty or security, and before society can be completely harmonious. We can dispense with government only in proportion as we can reduce the amount of public business to be managed. This, then, is the movement for the restoration of the liberty of mankind; it is to disconnect, to individualize, rather than to combine or "unite" our interests!

I become more convinced all the time that the best way to achieve human liberty is not through the political process, but through the true privatization or individualization of human relations and common interests. And I can think of no better place to start than with education, by giving the schools to the teachers and thus granting (1) parents and students the freedom to contract with the school of their choice and (2) teachers the freedom to teach as they best see fit (but are prevented from doing by the current system of government-run education).


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