Introduction to 'The Freedom Scale'

Classical liberalism…Socialism…No, the Nazis were not 'conservative.'

More than 2,000 years ago, philosophers, theologians, and statesmen began to elucidate a set of principles. They perceived the existence of a natural law that preexists, and is superior to, any manmade law. Informed by concepts emanating from Judaic and Christian religious teaching, philosophic inquiry, and the natural world, they recognized the universal, ontological equality of all humankind. Over time—through observation, reflection, and common reason—they identified a fundamental truth: the individual human person is an inherently free, sovereign being with natural, inalienable rights, as an ineluctable consequence of his very existence.

Culminating in the Enlightenment, this line of reasoning produced world-changing conclusions: That the individual is, and must be, the fundamental unit of moral concern and analysis in society; that the sanctity of an individual’s rights to life, liberty, property, and self-determination is part of the natural order of the universe; and that the only morally legitimate use of power is to protect these rights. Over the centuries, these ideas have been expounded, expanded, and explained, developing into the broad philosophical tradition known today as classical liberalism. 

This philosophy is far more than a set of abstract syllogisms, pulled out of thin air. Classical liberalism illuminates something real. Something organic. Something evolved. It is rooted in the natural order of things. Natural law isn’t an invention—it is a discovery.

These principles are not just the province of philosophers and theologians. Most people know them without even thinking about it. Societies form around them, and they facilitate human progress. If you drop ten people deep into the forest and they find a way to cooperate successfully, they are applying classical-liberal principles without a moment’s abstract thought.

Throughout our development, voluntary, nonviolent cooperation has increasingly revealed itself to be the source of human flourishing. As we will discuss in the pages ahead, rudimentary stirrings of natural law ethics even appear, albeit unconsciously, in evolved behaviors of plants and animals. Freedom is woven into the very fabric of the universe, and our rights are justified in the fundamental facts of existence.

The implications are inescapably powerful. If humans are ontologically equal, then we may not be ruled; we may only be governed by our consent. If we have rights, then we may not, ethically, be made into the means to others’ ends. We are, and must be, free. Needless to say, this philosophy has not yet been universally implemented. But the process has begun.

For most of human history, there was very little progress, and in most places, nearly everyone languished in permanent poverty and immovable social status. Then, about two centuries ago, prosperity and innovation exploded, and people have been streaming out of poverty ever since. People had traded with each other for tens of thousands of years, but once we opened the door to greater and more widespread recognition of the rights and freedom of the individual, we began a rocket ride that we’re still on today. One that will someday take us to the stars and beyond.

But no man is an island—we may all be sovereign individuals, but each of us is also part of a larger human society. Is the rights-based ethos of classical liberalism sufficient to solve vital human questions?

Enter socialism.

The political ascendance of classical liberalism in the 17th and 18th centuries sounded the death-knell of hereditary inequality, which had dominated civilization for much of recorded history. Parliamentary democracy was on the rise and beginning to spread. At the same time, social, political, and economic barriers began to fall, unleashing the creative energies of an ever-increasing proportion of the human population. The result was a tremendous burgeoning of innovation, scientific discovery, and economic activity, and dramatically rising standards of living. The modern world was born.

And yet, from the smoldering ruins of the old world, a new form of inequality had arisen: Free-market “capitalism” was allowing some people to become fabulously wealthy while others remained terribly poor. Though rooted in basic emotions, utopian aspirations, and ancient survival strategies (and a biologically ingrained distaste for inequality¹), modern socialism grew primarily from the soil of frustration: We hadn’t gotten rid of inequality—we’d simply traded one kind for another.² The conclusion: There must be some sort of exploitation going on…