I imagine a country where everyone owns land under an allodial title and where the rights of an individual are protected by a limited government. I own…say, 10 acres. My neighbors have similar chunks of property. One of them plays music very loudly. One of them refuses vaccinations. One of them eviscerates goats for the fun of it.

These are all free people whose personal lifestyles infringe on mine. I do not want to hear my neighbor’s rap music. I shop at the same place as my vaccine-adverse neighbor. I have a real problem with random goat evisceration.

Without compromising the freedom of the individual: How do we deal with such behavior?

It’s popular to say, “Your right to swing your fist ends at my nose” – and that’s a clear example of one person doing damage to another. But according to the “butterfly effect”, every act in the world potentially affects the entire world. This is what governments use to take control of our lives in the interest of the common good. Since everything we do potentially affects everyone else, they all get a say in what we do.

In a pure, theoretical, world the problem is as simple as the nose on my face. Unfortunately, the complexity of the real world spoils that clarity and means that there will always be a gray area. How do we deal with the gray lines of the real world and maintain freedom?

Jan and Wm
(from a lunchtime conversation)