A Sunday deep dive into the original meaning of freedom.

We trace the word from 1581 Dutch merchants to the American founders. What we found: freedom wasn't about self-expression. It wasn't about rights. It was about one thing.

A lack of dependency.

The Dutch called it "ware vrijheid." True freedom. It stood on three pillars: local governance, religious toleration (as a talent acquisition strategy), and freedom of enterprise without permission slips from kings or guilds.

The founders inherited this framework. They used the Latin term "sui juris," meaning "of one's own right." If your livelihood depends on pleasing a master, a boss, or the government, you can't be trusted to act for the common good. You're compromised.

Benjamin Franklin wrote: "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom." Virtue meant independence. You had to achieve it first to even be capable of liberty.

Freedom is not what someone gives you. Freedom is what no one can take. Because you don't depend on them for it.

Based on the article by Dutch Rojas.

Read the full piece: DutchRojas.Substack.Com

-Rojas out.

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Freedom Was Never About Doing Whatever You Want