Being forced to help not helping

(My Eastern New Mexico News column from January 29, 2020- posted in its entirety now that the paper's exclusivity has expired)

I want you to hunger for liberty; to crave the freedom to do everything you have a right to do, even if you choose to not do it all. I want you to want liberty as much as I want it.

I also want you to respect the liberty of others. To govern yourself and no one else-- this is your primary obligation to others.

I realize some people are scared by the thought of liberty or freedom. I've even seen people complain that libertarians want to "force people to be free". This has become something of an in-joke among libertarians; we want to take over and leave you alone.

No one can be forced to be free, and I wouldn't if I could. This would defeat the purpose without accomplishing anything.

If liberty isn't freely chosen, it's worthless. It won't be valued and it would be easy to give it up the first time some creepy politician says you need to give up some liberty so you can be safer.

You've got to want liberty bad enough to fight for it against those who want to violate it. You've got to want it bad enough to do whatever it takes once you discover that protesting and voting don't work.

If you don't value liberty this much, you won't care enough to make an effort to protect it. You'll never make liberty a priority.

I can't change your priorities.

What I can do is remind you of everything you're cheating yourself out of, hint at all you are missing, and tease you with the possibilities you may not have considered. I can also share with you my confidence that you don't need to be governed or controlled. You can handle life.

To say I'm willing to leave you alone means I wouldn't try to run your life. It doesn't mean to leave you without social support. There's no reason you can't ask for help; nothing to prevent you from reaching out to help others without being forced to "help" them by legislative threat. Being forced to help isn't helping. Complying with a threat doesn't make you a compassionate or moral person. It shows you can be manipulated and easily scared into doing what someone else thinks you should instead of acting on your own values.

I'm not willing to do this to you. I want liberty and I respect you too much to violate your liberty by forcing it on you.

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