Where does Liberty Come From?

the AZEL PERSPECTIVE Commentary on Cuba's Future, U.S. Foreign Policy & Individual Freedoms - Issue 383 B

José Azel's latest books "On Freedom" and "Sobre La Libertad" are now available on Amazon.  Where does Liberty Come From? (Previously published) Share Tweet Forward

We fight wars in defense of liberty, and we proudly point to our Founding Documents declaring our freedoms to be inalienable rights. So, where does liberty come from?  An easy answer is that our freedom comes from God. However, that is an unsatisfying answer that leads to questions such as: why has a loving God not allowed freedom to flourish in most of His world? According to the Freedom in the World Report, (Freedom House 2019) only 39 percent of a world population of 7.6 billion can be said to be free, 24 percent partially free, and 37 percent are not free. That is, 4.6 billion people are not free or only partially free. The trend is also disturbing; since 2006, 116 countries have experienced a decline in liberty and only 63 have experienced an improvement.    We believe that liberty is an aspiration of all human beings. And yet, freedom has been historically rare and continues to be scarce. As pointed out by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson in their latest book The Narrow Corridor, “...there is nothing automatic about the emergence of liberty, and liberty hasn’t been easy to achieve in human history.”  Most societies have been unable to develop a state with the capacity to enforce laws, resolve conflicts, and provide public services while remaining in the control of an assertive and well- organized society. Powerful states abound, but many use their power for repression and dominance rather than to promote individual liberties.  A central theme of Acemoglu and Robinson’s thesis is that liberty needs the state and its laws, but society needs to control the state so that it protects and promotes individual liberties. “Liberty needs a mobilized society that participates in politics, protests when it’s necessary and votes the government out of power when it can... for liberty to emerge and flourish, both the state and society must be strong.”  Thus, liberty does not come from government. And, if we must have a rules-enforcing government to avoid lawlessness, then liberty must flow from the balance of power between the government and society. Liberty is critically dependent on the state-society balance of power. If society is unable to influence the state’s policies and actions, despotism will develop.  But why are so many societies unfree and unable to assert their rights and change course towards freedom? Another easy answer relies on the repressive power of the regimes. Yet, a more insidious answer is a condition social scientists call “path dependence.” In essence, path dependence explains how the decisions we face for any given circumstance are limited and framed by the decisions we have made in the past, or by the events we have experienced, even though past circumstances may no longer be relevant. It is a technical way of saying “history matters.”  Consider this practical example of path dependence. When thinking of upgrading to a new and superior word processing or accounting software, the new software must be capable of reading files from our previous years of work. If it cannot, it would not work for us. Our purchase of the new software is path dependent.  History does matter, but history is not destiny as Marx thought. History results from our actions, and path dependence does not prevent societies from transitioning from one path to another. Yet, such a transition requires the mobilization of society. This is why despotic governments seek to keep their societies fragmented and focused on trivial issues.  Liberty does not warrant that we will make the best decisions for our own lives. It only assures us that no one will decide for us. And, although the evidence shows that individual liberty is the necessary condition for the wellbeing of society, there is no natural tendency for governments to protect individual freedoms. As political theorist Juan Bautista Alberdi (1810-1884) taught: “The Omnipotence of the State is the Negation of Individual Liberty.”  Liberty is intimately connected to our notion of rights and liberty needs a civil society organized around the idea of individual rights. Which is another way of saying that, liberty comes from us.    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. Buy now

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