Letters to the Editor
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Freedom: Rights vs. Liberty
If no one tells me what I can and cannot eat -- as long as it's not someone else's property -- but I don't have any food, do I have the freedom to eat?
Libertarianism says yes. I have the freedom to eat. The central point of libertarianism is that as long as no one is telling me what to do, I have freedom.
Liberalism says that I'm not free to eat if I can't get any food. There's a distinction between freedom from- (commonly called liberty) and freedom to- (commonly called rights).
Liberties and rights are both good, but they frequently conflict with one another. The notion that the only freedom is freedom from the government does not strike me as a good way to build a society.