Liberty Is the Absence of Coercion

The problem of liberty, its understanding and how understanding is and is not spread, would be of no interest to a person living on a desert island. It is a problem of individuals who live in a society. It is the problem of how to preserve independence in a highly specialized society in which interdependence plays a major role. In short, understanding liberty is knowing how to live in a condi tion where voluntary efforts will be at the maximum, and the use of force against persons at the minimum. Liberty Is the Absence of C'oercion Let it be said that this is a subject not easily mastered. Liberty - the absence of coercion or violence - is not readily comprehended. Relatively few among those who have lived on this earth have been able to visualize any order in society, or any progress by those who compose it, 41 except as the will of some has been imposed on the actions of others. * History, for the most part, is a record of vio lence. Present-day talk and writing - history in the mak ing - for the most part is an argument for the rearrange ment of the rules of violence. An appreciation that prog ress is possible only when human energy is freed of re straint, has been gained by but few men. Is there one book or one article written by anyone at any time that can be designated as the final word on liberty? I doubt it. Per haps the best that can be said is that the finest minds of all time have been in pursuit of its understanding and that now and then a tiny ray of new light has been thrown on what theretofore was darkness and lack of understanding.