Toward Freedom In The Arab World

Anthony Bradley:

"Regardless of one’s view of the war in Iraq, we all can agree on the desirability of a dignity-oriented freedom for individuals and families in the Arab world. Economic, political, and religious liberty, however, do not come in a valueless vacuum. Freedom rings when society is ordered so that all people, rich and poor alike, are free to pursue economic and moral goods. The same ordering that led to freedom in the Western world are the same ancient, time-tested truths that will bring liberty to all people everywhere in the world.

The Fraser Institute’s recent report, titled “Freedom In the Arab World,” reminds us that economic freedom will inhabit the Arab world when individuals are free to acquire property without the use of force, fraud, or theft and can freely use their property to do goods things. Additionally, sustained economic freedom in the Arab world will exist when individuals are free to use, exchange, or develop their property in ways that benefit them without violating the identical rights of others.

As history demonstrates, individuals or families having freedom to determine their own economic destiny liberates them from government dependence and long-term dependence on charity. This reminder is especially apt in developing economies all over the world. Positive changes in national economic growth rates rise only as both rich and poor alike are provided equal structures for pursuing goods."