Total Power Is Utopian ... Total Liberty Is Not

By Chris Rossini
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A utopia is an imagined place in which everything is perfect. 

One can say that the universe we live in is perfect. Whether it's the movement of atoms, solar systems, protons or galaxies --- everything happens by natural law and with perfect precision.

We're able to observe and discover this precision. We can explain it to ourselves with words, numbers and symbols. We can learn the natural laws with sciences like mathematics and physics, among many others.

But one cannot say that living and conscious individual human beings are perfect. For we are not mechanical or automations.

Instead, we all arrive as a blank slate and ignorant of our world and even ourselves. We choose our thoughts and our actions are purposeful. 

In other words, we are all naturally free.

The well-learned men who authored the Declaration of Independence stated that this is "self-evident." Our natural freedom is not bestowed on us by other individual human beings. This was a revolutionary statement during their time (and for many people, it still is today). But the authors of that document were correct.

Since we all come into the world as blank slates and ignorant, it means we are not omnipotent and all-knowing.

Since we are not omnipotent and all-knowing, it means we can never be perfect. No matter how much we learn, there is always much more to learn.

Since we can never be perfect, it means we must err and make mistakes on our journey through life.

Since we must make mistakes, it means any ideas that imagine making human individuals perfect is utopian.

Now, take a look at mankind's history. It is littered with countless tales of individuals trying everything imaginable to make humans perfect.

There have been monarchies, and theocracies, and democracies, and technocracies, and corporatocracies, and republics, and parliaments, and houses and senates.

There have been dictatorships, and shared dictatorships, and military dictatorships.

There have been secret governments, and secret societies, and deep states, and private councils, and powers behind the throne. 

Power has been sliced-and-diced into every imaginable combination, and then repeated over...and over.....and over.....and over............and over.......................

Total power and the desire to turn everyone into mechanical automations that do nothing but obey is (by far) the most deadly mental disease to ever exist. 

It's a mental disease because errors and mistakes are built-in to the individual human life scenario. 

When we err, we can learn from it and choose to never make the error again. The experience is completely private and individual. No other individuals (or algorithms) can replace our private climb up the staircase of life.

While total power over human life is utopian, a society of total Liberty most certainly is not.

The ideas of Liberty mean that no one (yes, NO ONE!) should use aggressive force against anyone else. Do what you want, but do no harm to another person or their property.

A person's freedom is limited only by another person's freedom.

The moment one person uses aggressive force against another, he or she has chosen to act like a tyrant.

Tyranny has proved to be a popular choice for many people, both throughout history and even today. But it's a choice, which means there is another option.

Total Liberty is yet to be chosen.

At least in recorded history, it has never been done.

That doesn't mean it can't be done.

It certainly can. It just has to be chosen.

While we don't have the life expectancy to wait around for everyone else to choose Liberty, we can make the choice for the only life that we have the ability to live and experience --- Our own.

We can't change others, but we can change ourselves.

While the story of tyranny continues to repeat itself, and while the next scheme to make humans into non-humans is cooked up, we can individually adopt the ideas of Liberty for ourselves, and then let others know about them.