Liberty, an EDITED Revision of my First Approximation (Part 1)
Reflections, on the Subject of Freedom The study of history is a powerful antidote to contemporary arrogance. It is humbling to discover how many of our glib assumptions, which seem to us novel and plausible, have been tested before, not once but many times and in innumerable guises; and discovered to be, at great human cost, wholly false. — Paul Johnson, The Quotable Paul Johnson The concept of freedom has been scratched into the stone surfaces of human experience in gritty, crimson hues. This sober testimony invites our attention, questioning both our personal commitment to human potential and our resolve to push back on depravity. Even the predominant skepticism of our day cannot entirely cordon-off this perplexing project. This because our human empathy and pain cannot be suppressed forever (tragedy and injustice finds us all, as do acts of kindness and mercy for that matter). Such experiential knowledge has the potential to animate our desire to find premises in support of