On Liberty - The Supreme Political Value

What kind of political system would you like to live under?

One where you are largely left unmolested by the authorities as you go about the business of life? Or one where your every step is controlled and regulated by The State - and worse, where many peaceful activities are ruthlessly prohibited?

Except for masochists, everyone would quite obviously prefer the former - for it grants you Liberty Under Law.

Thus, the greater the Liberty, the more preferable the political system.

Liberty is the supreme political value. This was the great discovery of the classical political economists, who championed the "system of natural liberty."

Chacha Nehru had a different political value: Equality. His "socialistic pattern of society" was designed to achieve economic equality among all citizens. This is sheer nonsense, because all human beings are born unequal. Some inherit wealth, some inherit good looks, and some don't inherit much. Further, rewards for different talents and skills are different in The Market: you cannot equalize the income of a rock star with that of a crooner at the local bar. Or a movie star with that of a two-bit player in the theatre. Economic equality is impossible. Yet, Chacha Nehru sacrificed our liberties at the altar of this unattainable ideal.

We Indians should have learnt by now, but Chacha Manmohan S Gandhi remains in pursuit of Equality. He wants to "uplift the poor" through various tax-funded measures. All these measures increase taxation; all these measures increase the number of State employees - the tax parasites. This, while Liberty perishes by the wayside. Try opening a small beer bar in New Delhi and you will discover the meaning of Liberty.

We often hear talk of the "absence of values" in Indian politics. I would prefer to call it the "enthronement of a false value." Equality is a false value. We now need to dethrone Equality and replace her with Liberty.

Of course, Chacha Nehru was no political philosopher. The Indian political system was designed by those who were to operate the system, in their own interests. They instituted economic totalitarianism because they profited from it.

Sadly enough, Chacha Manmohan is no philosopher either. Nor is he a mass leader, a real "politician." He is one of those "baboons" who has been an operator of The System since its inception. He wants to strengthen this socialist system. Under his direction and control, Indians will never achieve Liberty Under Law. We will forever be over-regulated, over-governed - and even misgoverned.

For Liberty Under Law we need the protection of Private Property. It is the key to Liberty, and the key to Prosperity as well - for only where Liberty prevails can people prosper. Chacha Nehru and Chacha Manmohan both value "collective property" - the socialist ideal of the State owning all the "means of production." These PSUs are the bane of the nation. They are not collective assets; they are our collective liabilities. They are not our common wealth; they are our common loss. They must be entirely privatized. And the nation must dump Equality in favour of Liberty. Only then will our future be bright.

Recommended read: My Free Your Life: A Citizen's Guide to Justice & the Law, available here as a free e-book. Especially the chapter on Liberty and Private Property. Also see the chapter on the "unholy myth of collective property."

[This is the first of a four-part series on Liberty. You can read the others by clicking on the "Liberty" label on the right-hand bar,]