Freedom

What is freedom in a political context?
Freedom, under capitalism, has only one meaning: freedom from the initiation of force by others. In a political context, freedom means to live in a social system based on individual rights, or in practical terms, freedom has only one specific meaning -- freedom from the initiation of force by other men. By initiation I mean those who start the use of force to achieve their ends, i.e., a bank robber. Only the initiation of force against a man can stop his mind, thus rendering it useless as a means of survival. Only by the initiation of force can a man be: prevented from speaking, or robbed of his possessions, or murdered. Only through the initiation of force can a man's rights be violated.

Why does man need freedom?
To live rationally by one's reason in society, man needs only one thing from his fellow men: freedom. The freedom to live for oneself, neither sacrificing oneself to others, nor sacrificing others to oneself -- the freedom to pursue one's own happiness. It is this freedom that unleashes the creative potential of man's mind, resulting in a society of nationwide peace, continuous progress and boundless prosperity.

To live in society, man requires freedom of action. Freedom of action does not mean freedom to act by permission, which may be revoked at any dictatorial tyrant's, or democratic mob's whim, but freedom to act as an absolute -- by right.