Freedom: What a Concept

Don’t Hurt People and Don’t Take Their Stuff: A Libertarian Manifesto – Matt Kibbe (William Morrow)

The inscription on the Statue of Liberty, one of the great symbols of the United States of America reads in part; “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” You’ll find nowhere in the full text anything about those seeking a government hand out or those looking for others to pay their way, just a simple statement about the desire to be free from government shackles. FREEDOM…what a concept.

In his new book, Don’t Hurt People and Don’t Take Their Stuff: A Libertarian Manifesto, Matt Kibbe, the president and CEO of the grassroots organization Freedom Works makes the strong case for freedom and posits the concept that the answer probably does not lie with either of the two current parties.

Six Rules For Liberty  

Kibbe details a straight forward set of six basic rules for liberty; they are as follows:

1.   Don’t Hurt People – The concept seems pretty clear that it is wrong to use violence or the threat of violence against others.

2.   Don’t Take Their Stuff – Property rights, again seems like a pretty fundamental concept, but even recent Supreme Court decisions that should have been a pretty easy decision to make, have clouded the issue.

3.   Take Responsibility – Personal responsibility; shouldn’t we all be ultimately responsible for or lives and our actions?

4.   Work for It – As the size and scope of government grows, so to does the number of able bodied Americans who simply no longer get up and go to work!

5.   Mind Your Own Business – As long as you remain within the law, liberty means that everyone should be free to pursue happiness in their own way.

6.   Fight the Power – Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely; freedom comes with the price tag that includes the continuous need to stand up and fight against those that seek to usurp freedom.

There is an almost simple, fundamental quality to all of Kibbe’s rules and yet there seems to be an undeniable need to teach these basic concepts to a society that appears to have turned its back on what equates to some of this nation’s founding principles, that he bases them on. This is truly one of the most important books not only for 2014, but for the future of this once great country.