As an Anarchist, the idea of freedom is one I uphold. My ability to freely act, think and feel as I wish is something that I pursue in my struggle against domination and exploitation. In our current society, my freedom is limited by that which the state allows through its laws, supposedly in the interest of protecting the general freedom of all those which it governs. However, I am of the opinion that while the state may claim, whether they do so benevolently or malevolently, to uphold our freedoms, they do so at the expense of our liberty.

Our liberty is our freedom unhindered, that the very idea of restricting it is to be opposed. In this sense, liberty can be seen as a social idea, in so far as that my freedom ends where yours begins. That is to say, that the freedom of all to act, without domination or exploitation, is the very essence of liberty. It is in this sense that I see the need for Anarchists to understand the relationship between freedom and liberty.

The American Revolution of 1776 provides us an interesting historical context for analyzing the relationship between freedom and liberty. The original intentions of the American Revolution was for the cause of liberty, particularly against the tyranny of British rule. However, in the very same instance that the American revolutionaries gained their freedom, they almost immediately tarnished the very liberty they sought to gain and protect.

“…And now, what has Anarchism to say to all this, this bankruptcy of republicanism, this modern empire that has grown up on the ruins of our early freedom? We say this, that the sin our fathers sinned was that they did not trust liberty wholly. They thought it possible to compromise between liberty and government, believing the latter to be “a necessary evil,” and the moment the compromise was made, the whole misbegotten monster of our present tyranny began to grow. Instruments which are set up to safeguard rights become the very whip with which the free are struck.”i

The state established by the revolutionaries of ’76 was ideologically and structurally based in Capitalism. In this way, a state was necessary in order to viably enforce its laws and will, particularly to protect private property and collect taxes. Capitalism, by its very nature, is based in domination and exploitation through its accumulation of resources into the hands of a minority of people, which by extension removes these resources out of the hands of the majority of people. This played out historically within America, through the earliest attacks on and stealing of Native lands, as well as through the enslavement of blacks and the growth of industrial Capitalism forcing continuously more people into the dangerous life of factory work.

The small government agrarianism of the Jeffersonian democracy could not last under the pressures of the logic of Capitalism versus its idealistic notions. Jefferson, whom wrote that “all men are created equal” saw the expansion of stolen native lands. The self-sufficient land owner crushed under the weight of industry and the hypocrisy of slavery. Our nations ideals could never match its reality.

This is why I am of the idea that Anarchists must take up the cause of liberty. Our liberty is something that we among humanity have struggle for since the very inception of the earliest social hierarchies. Our will to act, think and feel as we wish is in a constant struggle with forces of domination, subjugation and exploitation. In this sense, there is no absolute guarantee that we will every achieve a society based in the complete liberty of its people.

However, this does not mean it is completely without hope. The potential for a more liberated or dominating society is always present. Whether we take a path of liberation or domination depends on the actions we take. Liberty must be struggled for if it is to ever be grasped and without struggle, those who would see it diminished or destroyed will be able to do so without restriction as our lack of resistance may well signal acceptance. Liberty in this sense is an action, it cannot be secured in inactivity and hesitation.

This is why I, as an Anarchist, have taken up the cause of liberty. Liberty is the Anarchic cry of resistance against all tyranny and domination. It begs us to take action towards our own liberation, rather than waiting in contradiction for someone to liberate us. Liberation, the birth of liberty itself, stands at the precipice of our most Anarchist ideals. We must not make the mistakes of the past and learn to trust liberty wholly.