The Qualities of a Free Man

This is sort of a continuation of the previous post, so if you just got here, scroll down and read that one first.

There's a writer I've encountered, who goes by the name of Claire Wolfe. If you're not familiar with her name I suggest you look her up because she has given all this business of living free a lot of thought - more coherent thought than I have. You may or may not have heard her name, but if you're reading this you've probably read the one quote of hers that gets a lot of repetition: "America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, and too early to shoot the bastards."

She has come to the same conclusion I have concerning how you go about finding freedom in your own life. In fact she may have (almost certainly has) guided my thinking along these lines. It boils down to this: Nobody is going to give you freedom. There's no party, no church, no group or philosophy that will give you freedom. You're either free or you're not, because the only place you can truly claim freedom is within yourself. That's the only place freedom can be fostered and cherished. Within yourself. Outside yourself, not so much - the lawdogs of this world will continue to try to impose themselves on you regardless of anything at all. But you remain free if you are free. So...what does it mean to be free?

A few years ago she wrote a series of articles in Backwoods Home Magazine on the topic of "Sustainable Freedom." I just re-read it, as I do from time to time. You won't find a single political word in these articles. I think that's why Claire never caught on with a larger audience; she stubbornly refused to offer political nostrums that would allow the credulous and the lazy among us to believe the world can be changed to suit our desire for freedom. The problem is that there's no lazy way out - the only way the world could ever become a healthy place for freedomistas is if enough individuals become self-sustaining freedomistas themselves. I suggest that if you're going to hold your breath until that happens, you make it a good, long, deep one.

Anyway, she began the series with an article on The Qualities of a Free Man. You can follow the links at the end of each article, if you want to read the whole series. They're still on line.

She found twelve virtues that help us be free within ourselves, dividing them into Outward-Looking, Interior and Foundation virtues. Not one of these virtues involves joining some group, committing to some cause, or writing some congressman. She said, "Freedom comes from free individuals, not the other way around. Seek Libertopia without first seeking within and the horse stumbles over the cart in her path and breaks her leg. Every time."

She's right. If her list of virtues comes across as about as specific and prescriptive as the Boy Scout Law, that's kind of the point. There's no lazy way out. There's no guru who's going to tell you what to do; nobody can give you a list of things to think and believe, and then you'll be free. If you meet one who promises to, run. But her list, and her ruminations about Sustainable Freedom, are a pretty good starting place for doing it yourself.