Freedom isn't free, but it costs less to maintain than to win in the first place. "Live Free or Die" means that you value freedom for its own sake, and that you will make significant sacrifices to secure it. by Simplulo
(libertarian)
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
At a Taproom Tuesday (Manchester-area free-staters gather weekly at Murphy's Taproom), a New Hampshire Public Radio journalist was interviewing libertarians for a 17 January 2011 BBC piece on the meaning of 'Live Free or Die'. Anyone worthy of New Hampshire citizenship knows that the state motto is just the first half of a quote by General Stark: "Live free or die--death is not the worst of all evils!" But anyone with common sense knows that the quote is to be taken seriously, but not too seriously. Only an extremist could mean it literally--would a New Hampshire family man really take to the barricades if forced to wear a seat belt or motorcycle helmet? So what does "Live Free or Die" really mean, practically?
"Live Free or Die" means that you value freedom for its own sake, and you will make significant sacrifices to secure it.
Some animals cannot be caged; some live in captivity quite contentedly. The domesticated majority of human beings notices their cage only when they bump into its walls, but some are bothered by the cage's very existence. Libertarians value liberty as an abstract concept, not only when it concerns them personally and concretely. When denied liberty (i.e. when their rights are violated), people who believe in "Live free or die" will not simply take it, but will struggle against it by expending precious resources: probably time and money, but maybe also risking their well-being or even life if the violation is particularly egregious and urgent. Of course, most people can eventually be roused to action if sufficiently provoked, but the difference between a liberty-lover and normal sheeple is more than just a matter of degree: if a liberty-lover ever shrugs his shoulders at a loss of liberty, it will only be in the sense of Atlas Shrugged.
Freedom isn't free, but it costs less to maintain than to win in the first place. 26-year-old Mohamed Bouazizi of Tunisia would have made a great New Hampshire citizen. Trying to earn his livelihood by operating a modest fruit cart, he was harassed by police, who tossed his wares to the ground, confiscated his equipment, and mocked and beat him. After unsuccessfully seeking redress for his grievances from the governor's office, he set himself on fire. Sadly, he died before he could learn that his act of self-immolation triggered a revolution that toppled the Tunisian government. The Tunisian example inspired protests in other Arab countries: four more Egyptians set themselves on fire, a young Egyptian girl Asmaa Mahfouz posted calls to protest, and in a few weeks Hosni Mubarak had resigned as President of Egypt, with reverberations continuing in Bahrain, Libya and elsewhere. One hopes that these peoples will watch the Flash animation Introduction to the Philosophy of Liberty in Arabic before drafting their new constitutions and electing new leaders. These young Arabs were willing to make the final sacrifice, same as the the American revolutionaries. General Stark would have approved.
The Free State Project chose New Hampshire because it is the "Live Free or Die" state in the "Land of the Free". Freedom squared--what place should be freer? While it is indeed relatively free, New Hampshire does not currently live up to its pretentious motto, e.g. medical marijuana is legal in fourteen US states, and New Hampshire is not one of them. But trends are positive: the wave of Tea Partiers and free-staters that recently swept into the NH state legislature is already making significant changes. They do not generate the same controversy and media attention as the union-busters in Wisconsin, because the underlying New Hampshire culture remains overall the most libertarian in the US. "Live free or die" isn't dead.
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