“Live Free or Die!” goes the motto of New Hampshire – not for that
place these cute Latin bon mots but a raw, clear and understandable statement
of political intent.
The motto became "Live Free Or Die," as once voiced by General John Stark, the state’s most distinguished hero of the Revolutionary War, and the world famous Old Man of the Mountain was voted the official state emblem.The motto was part of a volunteer toast which General Stark sent to his wartime comrades, in which he declined an invitation to head up a 32nd anniversary reunion of the 1777 Battle of Bennington in Vermont, because of poor health. The toast said in full: "Live Free Or Die; Death Is Not The Worst of Evils." The following year, a similar invitation (also declined) said: "The toast, sir, which you sent us in 1809 will continue to vibrate with unceasing pleasure in our ears, "Live Free Or Die; Death Is Not The Worst Of Evils."
We take liberty lightly because we want to believe the
best of those around us – including those whose job is to serve. And, as a
result, we accept constraints on liberty because they seem for most of us
little more than an inconvenience. While we would find it odd to have to
justify a daily journey, we accept other little bites into our freedom – the requirement
to identify ourselves, the cameras peering at our movements, the regulation of
our business and the restriction of our pleasures.
Too often, people who lay claim to being conservatives
are in the vanguard of these little attacks on liberty – for, they tell us,
freedom is nothing without security. It is as if the post-apocalypse story –
perhaps The Postman, maybe just Mad Max – is burned into our psyche. Without
authority, without the security that authority brings there is unrule, anarchy,
chaos.
At the same time – without any hesitation – those same
conservatives cry freedom. The spirit of free enterprise is invoked, the idea
of a free nation is proclaimed and, over in New Hampshire, the nation dubs
itself; “Land of the Free”. This conflict – between security and liberty – is central
to conservatism – it is not resolved any more than the socialist can resolve
the need for social control and the idea of man’s perfection. But I will always
argue that the imperative of freedom must win – that is the message in the New
Hampshire motto, not that freedom means license but that living free, in peace
and independent is the aim of politics, government and the life we live.
When asked what drives my politics I usually respond:
“Free Speech, Free Enterprise, Free Trade”
And of these I wrote:
These are the three things that matter most to me - fighting for them is the reason I remain in politics. Little else matters when you get to the crunch - free speech opens the doors of discovery, free enterprise allows us to create wonders from that discovery and free trade allows the riches of that discovery and creation to be shared by all.
Whenever people propose new rules, the controlling of
things they don’t like and the directing of people to your purpose rather than
theirs, I look at it through the prism of these three freedoms. For it is those
very things I wish to conserve – if by the setting of rules we lose some of
that liberty, speech, enterprise or trade are compromised then, as
conservatives, we should oppose.
“Live Free or Die...” – understanding this is central to
conservatism. It is the imperative of freedom.
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