Free society

The term free society is used frequently by libertarian and Objectivist theorists to denote a society in which their ideal political, legal, and economic aims are in effect. In a theoretical free society, all individuals act voluntarily, having the freedom to obtain the power and resources to fulfill their own potential. Adlai Stevenson defined free societies as a society in which individuals find it "safe to be unpopular". Others, such as Chandran Kukathas, described a free society as dependent upon the “principle of freedom of association.”Cindy Cohn has argued that the freedom to have a “private conversation” is “central to a free society.” These interpretations can also be elaborated in terms of freedom of speech - if people have a right to express their views without fear of arrest, imprisonment, or physical harm.

In a free society, individuals would organize in voluntary associations, including free market and communal societies. In a free society, individuals would gain more prosperity due to the lack of restrictions on trade and wealth creation.

As a citizen among a free society, one would have the ability to organize in voluntary associations such as the free market. This freedom of choice is key to establishing a free society, and as mentioned earlier individuals would gain more prosperity due to lack of restrictions on trade. The role of government regarding these freedoms is also vital to a free society. Early proponents of the free market, such as James Madison "understood that getting the rules right and allowing markets to expand would increase personal and economic freedom.". Further, there has been much debate regarding the level of state involvement in the market, there was a strong belief in the 19th century that "the market should be seen as a self-regulating mechanism and that the state's role was to remove itself as far as possible from intervening in it or regulating it." The ideal supporting this self-regulation is known as laissez-faire, in which the government creates regulations for the sole purpose of protecting property rights against theft and aggression, while allowing the market to self-regulate. Adam Smith is quoted saying that in a free society, "every man, as long as he does not violate the laws of justice is perfectly free to pursue his own interest his own way, and to bring both his industry and capital into competition with those of any other order of men."

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