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Economics and Freedom of Choice Today in our country we share many components of freedom, liberty, equality, as well as conceptions of justice. This democratic way of life has brought many people feelings of pride, self worth, and prosperity. Although, according to libertarian John Hospers our democratic government, as well as many other governments across the world are unjust and are violating some of our most basic rights of freedom. Socialist, Kai Neilson on the other hand feels as though all societies including are own limits people’s rights to liberty and to act freely. Neilson’s proposal to rectify societies and make people’s lives more autonomous is much less likely to be successful as well as favored by many Americans today. Although, Hosper’s proposal seems to be much more feasible than Neilson’s, both propositions come with threats that are just not worth the risk. Hospers feels as though the only way to prevent these infringements on our personal freedoms is to practice the philosophy of libertarianism. Within a libertarian government a doctrine would state, “that every person is the owner of his own life, and that no one is the owner of anyone else’s life, and that consequently every human being has the right to act in accordance with his own choices, unless those actions infringe on the equal liberty of other human beings to act in accordance with their choices” (Hospers, 319). In short, Hospers states three main guidelines from which to follow, the first states that, “No one is anyone else’s master, and no one is anyone else’s slave” (Hospers, 319). This basic standard explains that no one has the power to enslave anyone no matter who they are. Another important guideline is that, “Other men’s lives are not yours to dispose of” (Hospers, 320). The significance of this guideline is that a person cannot take what does not belong to him from another man. A well-known example of this would be the opinion of the opera-lover. Many opera-lovers feel as though the state should subsidize opera so that everyone can see it. What they are saying is to come up with the money through legalized force. Money would be taken out of every workers paycheck in order to pay for the productions of opera because the opera-lover feels as though everyone should see it, despite the opinion of the non opera-lover. This example shows how the government is able to seize people’s earnings despite their agreement with it. Another way would be free medical care, whether or not a person wanted to work the extra time every week so that money could be taken from his check to go towards taxes, which would help fund free medical care, he has no choice, and therefore his life is being disposed of.
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