What does it mean to be a libertarian?

Being forced into such dependence is not the mark of a free society. It resembles, rather, the relationship between a parent and a child. And just as children learn helplessness when their parents refuse to let them make choices, citizens grow passive under excessive government control. Responsibility erodes, initiative fades. People begin to expect the state to solve every problem and shield them from every risk. In the process, they surrender the very qualities-courage, accountability, and creativity-that make them capable of self-government.

Most people instinctively resent being ruled. They distrust politicians and bureaucrats, often viewing them as inept or self-serving. Yet they fail to see how each small intrusion-the ban, the mandate, the tax, the censorship-is part of a larger pattern. Smokers, environmentalists, gun owners, and civil libertarians may all feel aggrieved by different policies, but their cause is the same: resistance to the idea that government should dictate the terms of private life.

If these groups ever recognized their shared interest in personal liberty, they would form a formidable force. The private realm would again become truly private, and government would return to its rightful place as servant, not master.

Libertarianism does not promise a perfect world-only a free one. It trusts adults to live as adults, to learn from their mistakes, and to govern themselves. Authoritarianism, by contrast, promises safety but delivers submission. The choice between them is ultimately a choice between living as citizens or as subjects.