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People rally towards freedom like it’s a beacon of hope. Freedom is an ideal that draws people like flame draws a moth and oftentimes the result is similar. People’s passions are so inflamed that they burn themselves by trying to achieve the noble idea that is freedom. Many people equate freedom with the ability to do what they want and say what they want without any sort of ramifications for their actions. There is no government to beat them down and tell them that they can’t do a certain thing. Some take this to an extreme and argue that anarchy is the freedom; freedom cannot exist without government. Those that argue that extreme position are not misguided; they are completely wrong.
A government that is properly run and properly founded will be the ultimate guarantor of freedom. Freedom is something that can only exist within the bounds of a greater law. Something must guarantee and define freedom; else there is nothing to be free from. Freedom is not something that can just exist. Freedom must be cultivated, established, and protected. Men have, over time, bound together to ensure that their property and their rights under nature are protected while gaining the benefits that a civil society is able to bring them; namely providing goods that they cannot produce on their own.
A proper society has rules that are based upon the same rules that dominate all men. Even in a state of nature the law of nature dominates men. A person who violates the laws of nature is considered to be in a state of war with all other reasonable and rational men. A proper society continues those same rules and the civil society becomes a single entity infused with the rights of the individuals making up the society. A violation against a single person is a violation against the entire society. Ultimately, with or without government, freedom is still a carefully defined and controlled ideal.
Eventually, in a government, there needs to be people that can make decisions on behalf of the entire society. With the power to define what is, or is not, freedom, comes the responsibility to ensure that true freedom is still define and accessible to all members of the society. A legitimate government, with the full backing of the laws of nature, is a far more effective protector of freedom than anarchy. When the concept of government becomes unbearable for a person in search of freedom, that person will never find what they seek. A legitimate government is an extension of man. The destruction of that government will ultimately destroy the man and freedom will never be attained.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared at Unanimocracy and appears here in its entirety.