WHEN I THINK about freedom, I must remind myself there is a distinction between Freedom and Liberty. In the original American history, liberty had to do with the structure of society. It can be given, it can be taken away. It can be eliminated. It is in relation to the external agreements within the structure of the society itself. Thus, it is subject to be altered by law, improved, destroyed, prostituted or glorified. That was not what was meant by freedom originally.
Freedom, as defined in the language of the Constitution, was to be redefined many times. The message that finally emerged was that freedom is a quality of being. This quality cannot be given nor can it be taken away. Freedom is the process by which, sitting on my sofa I can act to influence, order, alter or change the future so that it responds to my own will, my own inner processes. Existing in my “place”, I can so order my life and varied dimensions of my environment as to influence, often determine and shape my personal present and future. But it is more than this. It is the private, intimate, exercise of a profound and unique sense of alternatives.
Some prominent examples of freedom of choice would be to;
- have children or not,
- work or not,
- buy that pretty sports car or not,
- say what we think or not,
- listen to what someone thinks or not,
- break the law or not, or
- pray or not,
We also can choose how we do these things. 
The most important component of Freedom, as it was thought of by our Founding Fathers, and as it has emerged in our country’s 200 years–freedom is the sense of option. Please notice, I said freedom is the sense, not the exercise of option. That is not always possible. But freedom, the sense of option, the sense of alternatives which only I can affect is the state of being that opposes all dictatorships, and every tyrant. External forces in the environment are unable to cause the individual human spirit to capitulate and give up it’s sense of option.
Freedom carries with it very definite responsibilities. These responsibilities
are the safeguard against the degradation of the democratic dogma.
The foremost is a sense of responsibility for one’s own actions. (Whenever this is found to be lacking), something occurs to the individual. The essence of being is lost and the individual perishes. “The Truth Shall Set You Free”, pun intended. When the individualism of a society is lost, it is replaced with Socialist Tyranny.
Freedom is also a sense of responsibility for my own reactions to the events and the influential forces that impose upon my life. Reaction to those forces which are not responsive to my will, however good that will may be. Reaction to the impersonal forces that don’t even know that I, as an individual am here. Reaction to the forces dealt with at the point at which they touch my life. I can say, you see, that “it is not my fault that forces alien to my mind and spirit created this situation that results in my predicament.” This may be true, however I’m not to be relieved if I would be free. I must take the responsibility for how I react to the forces that impose upon my life, to the external forces that are not responsive to my will, my desire, my ambition, my dream, my hope, to the forces that don’t know or care who I am. But, I am here and I do decide whether I will say aye or nay, and make it hold. This indeed is the Free Man, anticipated in the genius of the dogma of freedom. A free man as a manifestation of the soul of the American Republic. A republic born of the greatest experiment in human relations.
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