How the American System Reshaped the World

Freedom exists in the absence of government control.  We are free when we are able to worship, speak, write, make a living, and protect our families and property without fear that government agents will punish us for our actions.  America’s Founding Fathers embraced an expansive view of personal liberty that recognizes the inherent right of each person to do as he sees fit, so long as that person refrains from infringing upon the liberties of another.

Right away, then, freedom comes with some restraint.  If we each lived alone on our own island, no-one’s liberty but our own would matter.  When we live within a society, our freedom comes with certain encumbrances — namely, an obligation not to poach the freedom of others.  There is, in other words, a moral consideration that necessarily accompanies the exercise of freedom.  Do my actions cause someone else harm?  Does the expression of my will unfairly restrict the expression of another?  Do my decisions unjustly deny someone else’s liberty?

Harm…fairness…justice — these are words essential to every person’s moral reasoning.  They are subjects that are dissected and analyzed throughout the Bible.  Because our common law has evolved from a Biblical worldview, our legal system is rooted in Judeo-Christian morality.  Therefore, an American who tries earnestly to be a good Christian is also likely acting within the boundaries of American law.

Taken together, freedom, moral restraint, and legal punishment operate in concert within any society.  To the extent that a member of society can reasonably govern himself, State-implemented punishment becomes unnecessary.  When members of society abandon self-control and pursue personal liberty recklessly or in ways that threaten the liberty of others, State-implemented punishment steps in to provide legal constraints where moral restraint proved ineffective.

Thus, there is a natural relationship among personal freedom, moral conscience, and State force.  The more that people pursue their freedom in moral and just ways, the more irrelevant the State becomes.  A society whose people are individually capable of governing themselves has no need for the machinery of government.  The policing of a population’s legal obligations and the application of State-enforced punishments become not only redundant but also unjust infringements upon personal liberty.

It is no coincidence that free societies exist where there is a high degree of mutual trust among people.  If a shop owner trusts that customers will not steal, then businesses can thrive without a government police force monitoring private transactions.  If customers trust that manufacturers will refrain from making harmful products, then commerce can thrive without the need for government regulatory agencies.  If members of society recognize that the fruits of an individual’s labor belong to that person, then property rights are respected without the need for courts and lawsuits.  If public debate, dissent, and personal expression are highly valued, then there is no need for government agents to police words and ideas as “hate speech,” “harmful speech,” or “disinformation.”

High-trust societies are natural incubators of freedom.  Accordingly, fostering trust among members of society maximizes personal liberty.  How do societies cultivate trust?  In a word: culture.

Culture is that collection of customs, mores, attitudes, traditions, beliefs, habits, language, and ways of life that bind a people together.  Culture is an unwritten code of conduct passed from one generation to the next.  Culture is the essential glue that allows common members of society to move in the same direction without any obvious director.  Societies with strong cultures do not need external police forces because members of society “police” themselves.

When that culture includes a profound respect for personal freedom, private property, religious liberty, free expression, and self-defense, the mutual trust that exists among citizens naturally secures the blessings of liberty.  It is no accident that an American, Thomas Jefferson, wrote the Declaration of Independence two hundred and fifty years ago.  It is no accident that representatives from America’s original thirteen colonies devised together a Constitution that both greatly limits the powers of government and explicitly protects the inalienable rights of Americans.  It is no accident that Americans’ respect for private property transformed an unsettled continent into the wealthiest, most innovative, and most influential country in the world.  A moral people committed to personal freedom can build, do, and accomplish anything.  A moral people committed to self-government can remake the entire world.

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