When liberty is stripped from some, we all suffer from a loss of liberty.
What is Liberty? Liberty allows a person to do anything (or be anyone) as she pleases as long as that does not cause another person’s rights or liberty to be diminished. That is the universally true definition of Liberty.
Liberty does not live in a vacuum. Nobody can be free when others around her are not. Therefore, to retain your liberty, you must fight for everyone else's liberty. When everyone fights to protect and promote liberty for everyone else, liberty will stay with us.
Liberty is an unstable matter. You may not inherit liberty from your parents or grandparent. You may not pass down liberty to your children. Liberty is always expanding or shrinking. It does not stay in the same size or shape. It needs to expand constantly, or it will shrink.
Liberty expands when we fight and promote liberty for All. When we let some/few/selective people’s liberty be restricted or stripped away, liberty will shrink for ALL of us.
A person may exercise his/her liberty according to his/her values and beliefs. However, his/her values or beliefs carry no weight and provide no guidance for others to exercise their liberty.
When we use our values or beliefs to filter out liberty that we will or will not support, then others will do the same to us. The result is a net loss of Liberty for all of us. We must support and fight for liberty for all, no matter our difference in values or beliefs, or else liberty will shrink, and we will all lose.
Societal divisiveness is the harbinger of Liberty degradation. We are seeing that in America today. When we encounter differences in values or beliefs, instead of tolerance and understanding, we act to suppress the differences. Such suppressive acts, including suppression of free speech, prohibition of discussions of certain controversial ideas, and creation of laws and rules to forbid unfamiliar or anti-religious lifestyles, all contribute to the degradation of liberty for all of us.
A divided America is a less free America. A less free America will diminish its economic growth and international leadership. An America with diminished liberty and economic growth is a weaker America. A weaker America affords the world with less freedom and safety.
When some are stripped of their liberty, all will have less liberty.
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