The Constitution of Liberty

Individual Initiative and the Accidents of Progress

Citizens are most productive when government is limited, because reduced state interference minimizes public intrusion into private lives. A “liberal” form of government is narrow in scope; it liberates people by giving them the ability to make many of the major decisions that shape their lives. Liberal government is structured to allow each individual an “assured private sphere” that is free of public control, encouraging everyone to pursue his or her most valuable contributions to society without any coercion by the state.

Recognition of property ownership rights was the initial step in delineating the private spheres of individuals. Such private circumstances beyond direct government control can encompass the ownership of real property, as well as such nonmaterial assets as contractual rights. Socialist forms of government deter individual enterprise in order to attain centrally planned economic goals. But the fruits of socialism have proved elusive; knowledge advances by accident, not by central planning.

Human progress would be unimpressive without all the unforeseen discoveries, errors and adjustments ...