Finally, Is Not Liberty The Restricting Of

Here I Encounter The Most Popular Fallacy Of Our Times. It Is Not Considered Sufficient That The Law Should Guarantee To Every Citizen The Free And Inoffensive Use Of His Faculties For Physical, Intellectual And Moral Self-improvement. Instead, It Is Demanded That The Law Should Directly Extend Welfare, Education, And Morality Throughout The Nation. This Is The Seductive Lure Of Socialism. And I Repeat: These Two Uses Of The Law Are In Direct Contradiction To Each Other.

It Is Easier To Show The Disorder That Must Accompany Reform Than The Order That Should Follow It.

Who Then Would Not Like To See These Benefits Flow Upon The World From The Law, As From An Inexhaustible Source? But Is It Possible? Whence Does The State Draw Those Resources That It Is Urged To Dispense By Way Of Benefits To Individuals? Is It Not From The Individuals Themselves? How, Then, Can These Resources Be Increased By Passing Through The Hands Of A Parasitic And Voracious Intermediary?

Each Of Us Has A Natural Right, From God, To Defend His Person, His Liberty, And His Property.

In Short, Is Not Liberty The Freedom Of Every Person To Make Full Use Of His Faculties, So Long As He Does Not Harm Other Persons While Doing So?