We have seen that the cornerstone principle of true teachers of liberty is live and let live. (See Who Are the True Teachers of Liberty?) Yet the two parts of this principle are not on the same level. Live is deeper and constitutes the reason for let live. A true teacher of liberty is primarily moved by a strong inner desire to live freely in the way the depths of his heart and soul guide him to live. And only because he is in touch with his desire to live as his free spirit wants him to live does he then feel an accompanying desire to let others live as so guided ... to let live.
"Let live" in a more complex society is also known as "political liberty." Our inner spirit (life force) is already free and guides us in any particular outer context to the maximum happiness possible under the circumstances. But our spirit wants for us political liberty because if freedom in society is at its greatest then our spirit can give guidance for the greatest creativity, the greatest lessons, the greatest fulfillment.
This desire to let live is felt at a deep heart and soul level because at this level we intuitively know we are all in this together, really all one in spirit. (Christians will recall the words of Jesus: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." --Matthew 25:40)
But in situations where there is a collision between the two parts of live and let live ... live takes precedence. If someone is shooting at him with a gun, a man in touch with his deepest desire adheres to the principle of live, and in this instance acts against the principle of let live. Philosophers might argue that let live is a corollary which only applies in a context of two or more, and it is the attacker who abandons the principle of let live.
Expanding this logically, because political dictatorship is an attack on one's freedom to live life to the fullest, a man in touch with his heart and soul does not let live when responding to political dictatorship. His heart and soul does not want dictatorship to live. Such a man may feel guided to speak for political liberty, teach political liberty, market political liberty, and in the United States maybe even run as a Libertarian Party or Republican Liberty Caucus candidate to gain leverage in influencing for political liberty. In other places or times he may even take up arms and fight for political liberty. In doing his part to end dictatorship he is being loyal to his deep desire to live life to the fullest.
By way of contrast, consider a liberal-progressive who is willing to be a dictator (or vote for a dictator) to achieve his Utopian ideals. His ideals seem to him and many others to be beneficial, so why is he willing to be a dictator? Because his agendas and schemes are intellectually derived, constructed in his brain, rather than heard from (or felt from) the depths of his heart and soul. They are goals based on spiritless brainy cleverness rather than on the infinite volcanic power of heart and soul, so he doesn't trust they can be achieved without dictatorship. He is afraid of what would happen if he totally let live. Feeling such fear, and the accompanying impulse to control others, he is not living life to the fullest. It is impossible to find a liberal-progressive who feels truly deeply fulfilled ... because there are none.
To a human being living among others, liberty is a deep natural desire. Those who have not used ego-intellectualism to block out, bury, and deny this natural desire feel its power in their heart and soul moving them. At one time in history it was called the "spirit of liberty" and recognized as infinitely more powerful that any possible intellectual justifications for dictatorship or for submitting to dictatorship.
To our heart and soul, life is the expression of our spirit not the movement of our physical body. So there may be severe conditions under which without freedom our spirit is so closed down that it's not even worth going through the motions of physical life. In the film "Braveheart," William Wallace rallies an entire army by putting them in touch with their heart and soul desire:
"Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!"
To fully grasp how insane the psychology of modern "liberal progressives" really is, read Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged."
"God's laws will keep your minds at peace, because peace IS His Will, and His laws are established to uphold it. His are the laws of freedom, but yours are the laws of bondage. Since freedom and bondage are irreconcilable, their laws CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD TOGETHER. The laws of God work only for your good, and there ARE no other laws beside His. Everything else is merely lawLESS, and therefore chaotic." -Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracles
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