They would be if others were forced to do so by the seizure of “all means of production and distribution,” as the State Socialists purpose to do, thereby excluding non-conformers from their use. Plans voluntarily accepted by individuals or groups of individuals and not forced upon others are in no way a violation of liberty. The Individualist and the Communist, each advocating his own ideas, are both within the scope of equal liberty, and there is no conflict between them when the principle of liberty is adhered to that is, if they produce and distribute among themselves. It will also be observed that extremes meet here, and are equally provided for by liberty. We find the theory has been applied to many social relations, and that when these instances of its application are brought together, as they are in this book, they demonstrate conclusively that the extension of the principle of equal liberty to all social relations is not only feasible, but necessary. Some of them believed freedom would work in this or that field, some believed it would work in other fields each had confidence in it in his own particular sphere and encouraged its application. Many of the earlier Libertarians, living in different countries, wrote without knowledge of the others yet the reader will detect a note of harmony between them. It is shown by the writers quoted that liberty has been applied to various fields, and has proved successful wherever tried. The only question we have here to consider is whether they have proved that liberty in particular human relations is a logical deduction from correct reasoning and this the writer maintains they have done. The principle of equal liberty has been approached from many standpoints by these writers and applied to various fields. To point out that some of them are not always consistent in their application of the principles of liberty is no valid argument against it, but merely shows that they did not accept liberty as their guiding principle, nor perhaps believe in its universal application. It will be noticed that the Libertarians cited are chosen from different political parties and economic schools there are Republicans, Democrats, Socialists, Single-Taxers, Anarchists, and Woman’s Rights advocates and it will be perceived, also, that these master minds are in perfect accord when treating of liberty. As the Libertarians quoted are nearly all believers in determinism (the opposite of the theory of “free will”), and as the questions they discuss are all sociological, they must not be confounded with the advocates of “free will” in metaphysical discussions. In Metaphysics, a Libertarian is one who believes in the doctrine of freedom of the will, as opposed to necessitarianism.
It is in the sense defined above that the word Libertarian is used throughout this book. Webster’s New International Dictionary. Libertarian: One who upholds the principle of liberty, especially individual liberty of thought and action.