The Importance of Civil Liberties in a Voluntary Community
In order to create a voluntary community, several pieces must come together: economic freedom by the right to voluntarily contract, recognition of the inviolable right to self-ownership, as well as the right to acquire and claim property rights in a consensual and just manner. Everyone has an equal and inherent opportunity to participate in such a community. To accomplish this, the voluntarism beliefs based around the non-aggression principle are essential. When this does not occur, violations of the non-aggression principle must be highlighted. This year’s keynote speaker at The Freecoast Festival, Radley Balko, understands the significance of calling attention to such aggressive uses of force.
Civil Liberty Transgressions
When civil liberties are violated, force is used to infringe upon the property or right to self-ownership of an individual. This is a direct violation of the non-aggression principle. The reason this is important in the building of a voluntary community is due to the verity that all aspects of freedom are entwined. True economic freedom, the foundation to voluntarism, is not achievable without the defense of civil liberties.
The protection from criminal injustice is a protection of the innocent, not merely a means to let the guilty run astray. If said injustices are not highlighted and used to advocate for social change, we are not allowing the individual to flourish. Without this protection, a voluntary community cannot be attained. The threat of coercion and force will restrict the consensual and equitable interactions necessary to achieve economic freedom.
Achieving Change Towards Voluntarism
Investigative journalism is an important part of social change. It brings light to the use of force and coercive actions. It can be used to stir up action and be an impactful part of society. Unfortunately, the media does not typically focu
s on highlighting the truths in a story. Boosting ratings or twisting a narrative to fit a political agenda seem to take priority. This is why the work of Radley Balko, award winning reporter, author and speaker, is vital to build towards a voluntary community. That is why we are ecstatic to announce him as this years keynote speaker for the Freecoast Festival.
Balko has commented on criminal justice issues in the media while focusing his own work on overcoming this negligence. His work is widely respected, being cited in judicial cases in the federal appeals court as well as the U.S. Supreme Court. Recognizing and highlighting the injustices that occur is the first step to putting a stop to such overt violations.
Moving to a place like New Hampshire where like minded individuals are working towards liberty is ideal towards building a voluntary community. Come to the Freecoast Festival and see this community in action. Take the time to interact with speakers like Radley Balko and see what the Freecoast has to offer. Together, building a voluntary community is possible.
Meet Radley
Radley Balko writes and reports on criminal justice, the drug war and civil liberties for The Washington Post. He was previously a senior writer and investigative reporter at the Huffington Post, and a reporter and senior editor for Reason magazine. He is author of the books “Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces” and “The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist: A True Story of Injustice in the American South” (co-authored with Tucker Carrington). His work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Mississippi Supreme Court and two federal appeals courts. He also occasionally writes about the music and culture of Nashville, where he lives. Balko frequently comments about policing and criminal justice issues in the media, and has won numerous journalism awards, including the L.A. Press Club’s Journalist of the Year award in 2011, the Innocence Project Award in 2014, The NACDL “Champion of Justice” Award in 2015, and the Bastiat Award last year.
