The Morality of Freedom

The founders of the United States held a couple of truths to be self-evident that are not commonly discussed today. The first is that the holding of personal property (also knows as property rights) is just as important as something like the right to vote or free speech.

The second is that the ownership of property is, in fact, a moral right. Said differently, theft is wrong because it is immoral for one person to take the property of another. (Why it's immoral is a different discussion.)

Modern libertarian and conservative politicians seldom speak of personal freedoms in moral terms. This was one reason Ronald Reagan was so successful, because he did just that.

Ask the question this way, what gives one agent (a government) the moral right to take property from another agent (you) in the form of a tax? If you have no say in how you are taxed, how is that different than theft?

Libertarians and conservatives would do well to start speaking about the morality of government actions and individual freedoms. This article lends some underpinning to the discussion.