Argument Essay: Liberty's Responsibility

Liberty v/s Responsibility Liberty is the most valued and sought after outcome of any political society. It is a mark of a productive and prosperous society where people enjoy a set of fundamental rights for e.g.:- right to free speech, fair trial, etc. On the other hand social responsibility towards others and oneself unites the community and increases social well-being. Various political philosophers have come up with different ways to prioritize one over the other and some have believed to strike a balance between the two. This leads to an interesting political debate that at what point we draw a line between liberty and responsibility, …show more content…
In this paper I assert the libertarian political thought which resolves this debate by striking a fine balance between liberty and responsibility. To support my argument, I apply the ideas of John Locke who was a 17th century classical liberal philosopher (for first reason) and much of libertarian political thought is inspired from his works. For second reason I apply the ideas of libertarian philosopher Friedrich Hayek. Towards the end I discuss the principles of libertarianism which clearly address this conflict. The first reason is the primary reason why people have desire to loot or plunder and that reason is scarcity. Scarcity is also the main reason why we have to follow a set of rules and act responsibly. If there were no scarcity, then there would be a surplus of goods and resources for everyone and any person’s wishes and desires would be fulfilled no matter how …show more content…
Friedrich Hayek in his book “Constitution of Liberty” said that a free society depends more than any other on people being held responsible for their actions (“American Spectator”). Applying his idea, in life if one is awarded for achieving a set of goals by the proper use of resources he/she was provided with, then that person should also not be helped and made to suffer the consequences of making a bad decision. In the long term, this suffering will help him make better decisions. Additionally, if the person doesn’t suffer the consequences, he/she will develop a propensity for excessive risk taking which wouldn’t be good for the society. Another implication of not taking responsibility is that someone else ends up taking responsibility for it and then that person has a right to curb the latter’s freedom. For e.g.:- if the government decides to bailout a firm which didn’t make right decisions, then the government will force the company to take some hard decisions which might go against the interests of the people in that company. So, learning to take responsibility from bad choices increases self-ownership and thereby upholds one’s liberty. It also improves one-self which is always beneficial towards society.
Libertarianism has two main principles: the non-aggression principle and the preservation of individual