I've spent many hours thinking about the arguments in favor of individual liberties, such as the libertarian argument. And I've posted about it in the past. Many times I'm bothered by the doctrine but can't quite put my finger on why it bothers me. So the purpose of this post is to lay forth one reason why I believe the argument for maximizing individual liberty (by minimizing the role of government) is invalid. To say that the freedom of all is maximized when the freedom of each individual is maximized is to discount the social nature of human beings. We are not a sea of individual humans existing in isolation from one another. Rather, we are social beings. We interact with one another in very meaningful ways. Consider, for example, one argument in opposition to heavy taxes in order to fund things such as social welfare. The conservative argument often includes "I don't want the government to take my money." The premise is...
Life is what you make of it.