Are We Free To Give Away Our Freedom?

the AZEL PERSPECTIVE Commentary on Cuba's Future, U.S. Foreign Policy & Individual Freedoms - Issue 442 B

José Azel's latest books "On Freedom" and "Sobre La Libertad" are now available on Amazon.  Are We Free To Give Away Our Freedom? (Previously published) Share Tweet Forward

Are we free to give away our freedom? This is a profound philosophical question with very practical political implications. Yet, even for those of us that hold liberty to be the highest political value, it is not an easy question to answer, and I beg the reader’s patience. All collectivist ideologies, racism, socialism, nationalism, fascism, communism, and their derivations, hold that people are free to give up their freedoms. For collectivists, the individual is not the holder of rights. For collectivists, what matters are the rights and interest of the race, the class, or the nation. And these collective interests are expressed through the power of the state to which the individual willingly surrenders his freedom.  This question of the legitimacy of the state over the individual was the subject of various “social contract” theories that developed during the Age of Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries. Essentially, social contract arguments conceive that we have consented to surrender some of our freedoms to the state in exchange for the protection of our remaining rights.  Some social contract philosophers, such as John Locke and Jean-Jaques Rosseau, argued that when governments fail to secure the natural rights of the citizenry, for example free speech, the citizens can change leadership or withdraw their obligation to obey. But others, like Thomas Hobbes, argued for the absolute authority of the monarch or parliament even if the edicts were arbitrary and tyrannical, as in Louis XIV declaration: “I am the State.”  To Hobbes, absolutism was necessary because if each person was allowed to manage his or her own life freely, chaos would ensue and society would descend into a brutish “state of nature.” An absolute ruler was necessary to impose order on the unruly masses and to have an overall plan for society. Absolutism holds that the ruler is above the law.  Modern collectivist ideologies posit, along Hobbesian lines, that the all powerful state must be able to plan and control economic activities and that citizens must renounce their individual freedoms in exchange for some common good such as security or social justice. Whereas free societies allow for self governance, collectivist ideologies distrust and reject individual freedoms.  But more to the point of my original question, other thinkers, like Hugo Grotius, held that liberty is our inalienable property. “Inalienable rights are things which belong so essentially to one [person] that they could not belong to another, as a person’s life, body, freedom, honor.” If freedom is inalienable, it cannot be bought, sold, or transferred from one individual to another or to the state. Grotius asserted that individuals are sui juris (under their own jurisdiction.)  When we make the distinction between an ordinary right and an inalienable right, we recognize that we do not have the right to give up our liberty by placing ourselves in bondage to the state. All western societies have opted in favor of considering individual freedom an inalienable right. This is perhaps easier to see by the fact that, in modern societies, we do not have the right to sell ourselves into slavery, or even, as was done in antiquity, to risk our freedom by offering it as a collateral to secure a loan.  It seems then, that because freedom is an inalienable right, we cannot surrender it to collectivism for the prospect of avoiding the risks and costs that go with accepting personal responsibility. Philosophically, we are not free to give up our freedom to an absolutist government in the Hobbesian prescription.  Most of us trust that we posses a free will; that is, the ability to choose between different possible courses of action. Thus, when we choose to enter into a social contract, as the best way to ensure our welfare, the presumption must be for liberty. It must be a social contract of democratic self-rule where our individual freedoms are preserved under the rule of law.  This was the case in the United States Declaration of Independence that invoked John Locke’s concept of the social contract. It is only in this context that we are free to restrict our freedoms.   Please let us know if you  this article. We welcome your feedback. Abrazos, Lily & José (click on the name to email Lily or Jose) José Azel, Ph.D. José Azel left Cuba in 1961 as a 13 year-old political exile in what has been dubbed Operation Pedro Pan - the largest unaccompanied child refugee movement in the history of the Western Hemisphere.   He is currently dedicated to the in-depth analyses of Cuba's economic, social and political state, with a keen interest in post-Castro-Cuba strategies. Dr. Azel was a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami, Jose Azel has published extensively on Cuba related topics. In 2012 and 2015, Dr. Azel testified in the U.S. Congress on U.S.-Cuba Policy, and U.S. National Security.  He is a frequent speaker and commentator on these and related topics on local, national and international media.  He holds undergraduate and masters degrees in business administration and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from the University of Miami. José along with his wife Lily are avid skiers and adventure travelers.  In recent years they have climbed Grand Teton in Wyoming, trekked Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Machu Pichu in Peru.  They have also hiked in Tibet and in the Himalayas to Mt. Everest Base Camp. They cycled St. James Way (El Camino de Santiago de Compostela) and cycled alongside the Danube from Germany to Hungary and throughout southern France.  They have scuba dived in the Bay Islands off the Honduran coast and in the Galapagos Islands. Most recently, they rafted for 17 days 220 miles in the Grand Canyon.  Their adventurers are normally dedicated to raise funds for causes that are dear to them.  Watch Joe & Lily summit Kilimanjaro. Books by Dr. José Azel José Azel’s writings are touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone who wishes to understand why countries do, or do not, progress will find in this book the best explanations. And, from these readings emerge numerous inferences: How and why do the good intentions of leftist collectivism lead countries to hell? Why is liberty not a sub product of prosperity, but rather one of its causes? If it was in my power, this work would be required reading for all college and university students, and I would also recommend its reading to all politicians, journalists, and policymakers. With his writings Azel accomplishes what was achieved in France by Frédéric Bastiat, and in the United States by Henry Hazlitt: Azel brings together common sense with intelligent observation, and academic substance. Stupendous, Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                                    BUY NOW Los escritos de José Azel están tocados por la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquiera que desee entender por qué los países progresan, o no, encontrará en este libro las mejores explicaciones. De estas lecturas surgen numerosas inferencias: ¿Cómo y por qué las buenas intenciones del colectivismo de izquierda llevan a los países al infierno? ¿Por qué la libertad no es un subproducto de la prosperidad, sino una de sus causas? Si estuviera en mis manos, esta obra sería de obligada lectura de todos los estudiantes universitarios, pero además, le recomendaría su lectura a todos los políticos, periodistas y policy makers. Con sus escritos Azel logra lo que Frédéric Bastiat consiguiera en Francia y Henry Hazlitt en Estados Unidos: aunar el sentido común, la observación inteligente y la enjundia académica. Estupendo. Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                            Compre Aqui "Liberty for beginners is much more than what the title promises. It is eighty themes touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone that wishes to understand why countries do, or do not progress, will find in this book the best explanations. Stupendous" Carlos Alberto Montaner Buy Now "Libertad para novatos es mucho más de lo que promete el título. Son ochenta temas tocados con la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquier adulto que desee saber por qué progresan o se estancan los pueblos aquí encontrará las mejores explicaciones. Estupendo." Carlos Alberto Montaner Compre Aqui In Reflections on Freedom, José Azel brings together a collection of his columns published in prestigious newspapers.  Each article reveals his heartfelt and personal awareness of the importance of freedom in our lives.  They are his reflections after nearly sixty years of living and learning as a Cuban outside Cuba. In what has become his stylistic trademark, Professor Azel brilliantly introduces complex topics in brief journalistic articles. Buy Now En Reflexiones sobre la libertad José Azel reúne una colección de sus columnas publicadas en prestigiosos periódicos. Cada artículo revela su percepción sincera y personal de la importancia de la libertad en nuestras vidas. Son sus reflexiones después de casi sesenta años viviendo y aprendiendo como cubano fuera de Cuba.  En lo que ha resultado ser característica distintiva de sus artículos, el Profesor Azel introduce con brillantez complejos temas en  breves artículos de carácter periodístico. Compre Aqui Mañana in Cuba is a comprehensive analysis of contemporary Cuba with an incisive perspective of the Cuban frame of mind and its relevancy for Cuba's future. Buy now Pedazos y Vacíos is a collection of poems written in by Dr. Azel in his youth. Poems are in Spanish.