Power and Liberty

  Being born in the United States, the most powerful country in the world, and possibly the most powerful country to ever exist, I am exposed to the concepts of Power and Freedom all the time. America's primary goal as a collective nation is to strive for Liberty for the people of this country, and even the world as a whole. 

      It's even in our pledge of allegiance.

The relationship between power and liberty is a complex one. 

Having Liberty often equates to having a degree of power, and vice versa. 

Having power over other people can restrict those poeple's freedom to live the life they want to or make choices in their own interests without compulsion or coercion.

     The person who has power over others has more liberty at their disposal, oftentimes more resources as well, and definitely more influence, but naturally also more responsibility and the consequences of their choices might be of a greater intensity.  

  The main goal of a nation that prides itself on liberty, yet needs to remain powerful, is striking a healthy balance between power and freedom. 

 The way you do this is creating a system that holds the powerful accountable, yet gives the people who are subordinate to the powerful a level of choice in their lives and the opportunity to have a mobility in their careers and in their lifestyles where they are not confined to just one position and one set of constraints. 

 For the most part, this does exist in America, but of course it is not perfect.  Some people are still rather confined economically and restricted in movement and opportunity, but that is kind of inescapable in any economic or social system. None can be perfect.

        As far as holding the powerful people accountable and preventing power from being consolidated in the hands of just a few people or one person, relatively healthy competition between many diverse groups and individuals, as well as systems that are self-protecting and allow for the removal or restricting of the reach and power of individuals up to, and including, the removal of that person from the position of power.

       Unfortunately, in America, we are kind of an oligarchy in disguise, and we are not even very disguised that well.

The majority of power and wealth are in the hands of a very small number of people in this country.  

    That healthy balance between power and liberty can't be maintained or fostered in an oligarchy, where almost all power and wealth is in the hands of just a few people.

      In a simple top down hierarchy, power in the hands of the few always chokes and inhibits the liberty of the many, creating an inequality and often oppressive situation where liberty, mobility, and opportunity within the system is greatly diminished. Liberty cannot survive in an oligarchy for very long.

 Now of course, their are natural inequalities within any system, like differences in intelligence levels, skills, and strength. I would also argue that hierarchies are inevitable, but you can arrange them differently and creatively if you want to. The core component of liberty is not only choice, but mobility, both in a physical sense as well as a social and economic one. 

 If there is no mobility, than you have a rigid class system hierarchy that greatly restricts liberty. 

You need mobility in a system in order for liberty to exist. A more fluid hierarchy instead of a rigid one is always more free. Also, liberty almost always leads to prosperity in a fluid social and political system where mobility and opportunity is abundant.

       You can strike a healthy balance between power and liberty. They can exist in relative harmony, but too much power in just a few systems and a few people will always lead to some form of oppression and exploitation, and too much liberty with no power structure or hierarchy is just anarchy, and anarchy is just a return to a primal state of nature and usually results in death and destruction in some way. 

 It's always that middle ground you got to find, and for me that middle ground is checks, balances, and splitting power amongst many competing groups, which acts as a checking and balancing force in itself.

     I'm a liberty lover. I love freedom. I worship a God who created the concept of liberty. I think every human being on the planet should have liberty. I also know, however, that power is also inevitable and essential in the human condition. I prioritize liberty in my life. I'm not really after power. I don't like having power over people. But I will willingly serve causes and missions greater than myself, which requires a level of submission to authority that I can't get around. I am ok with being at the bottom of a power structure, as long as I still retain some freedom. Which I do.

The balance between power and liberty is best reached through the prioritizing of ethics and morality. 

 If your society is immoral and unethical, liberty can't live long within it, because power in the hands of the corrupt always leads to liberty's death.

Good night.