Independence Contra Freedom

Independence in our personal lives is what we should be fighting for not freedom

The life goal of all concerned members of the middle class should be “independence” not “freedom.”  Independence means living without relying on others.  Freedom means to live without restriction or limitation of any kind.  

The distinction here is crucial to liberty.

Those who live free without restriction or limitation live sloppy lives characterized by overindulgence in food, drink, and drugs.  Over time this shabby lifestyle of pleasure seeking and cultural indifference has the opposite effect of what it's supposed to.  Instead of culminating in societal liberation “free” societies -- like CHOP, socialist communes, and other versions of hippy heaven -- produce cultural decline.  For the free inevitably want free stuff to fuel their deviant and unworking ways.  Societies can’t function like that.

This is but one, of many, reasons why independence is superior to freedom.

Here’s another.

Independence is a concept that naturally suggests empowerment through responsible restraint.  Its very name implies a perpetual vigilance against self-decline and carelessness.  It further suggests the successful overcoming of life’s many financial, moral, and spiritual obstacles.

Accordingly independence is a republican virtue.  

And this is because without independent citizens there is no republic.  

In a republic where the individual is, in part, sovereign, independent and self organizing citizens  are essential. These citizens enrich America with their fortified and self won resolve by deterring  against predators both at home and abroad. And without them there would be no one to protect against the ever threatening encroachments of the state.

The same cannot be said of the “free” citizen. Such freedom fighters inevitably do what everyone does in the pursuit of an unattainable goal -- they burn out and rely on others and the state for therapeutic support.

This is what Marx loved most about freedom.  

Marx loved freedom because it could be used to get the naive to fight for and love their own state bondage through “government help.”

In America, however, such dependence is not to be tolerated.  Instead, if we care about liberty, we must fight for our own moral, spiritual, and financial independence and help others do the same.  The future of our republic depends on us.

Zigmund Reichenbach holds a M.A. in Philosophy from West Chester University.  You can find him commenting on news stories of national and state interest at his Facebook page Zigmund Reichenbach -- Commentator or you can follow him on Twitter @zreichenbach1.  Additionally you can find episodes of the weekly Sunday podcast that airs via Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter at this link here. 

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