It is strange how rarely we consider that the most important of all virtues is the virtue of freedom, the capacity for freedom. As for the cardinal virtues—that is, the mind’s most important faculties—all manner of half-baked fantasies from around the world will do: chivalry, patriotism, love of God, wisdom, a sense of duty, extreme love, fanatical faith, loyalty, and so on.
But the virtue of freedom—the most important skill in everyday life—is not enough. It is the one that demands the most time, attention, study, and, above all, practice. Milan Kundera once said that we lack freedom not because we are deprived and subjugated, but because we do not practice freedom. As a result, freedom withers away or is even forgotten. Freedom is not a gift, but a skill that can be practiced.
And you really should do it!
Let me briefly list the five fundamental aspects of freedom in everyday life:
1)Choosing a lifestyle. Everyone is responsible for their own lifestyle. It’s a good idea to mix things up a bit whenever you start to get bored.
2)Choosing your preferences. Everyone is responsible for their own preferences. It’s worth seeking out new preferences or finding new ways to enjoy old ones—it makes life so much richer.
3)Choosing goals, values, and principles. Everyone is responsible for their own goals, values, and principles. There is plenty of work to be done in organizing them and avoiding contradictions. It’s great to choose new values, but it’s also great if you can let go of old ones.
4)Developing the ability to exercise freedom in a free market. The world is full of a wide variety of products and services, and the better one learns to choose new ones based on new criteria—or to reject old ones and their criteria—the better one’s material life will be.
5)Increasing freedom through politics.If politics succeeds in solving a problem in a way that increases individual freedom, the world has become a better place.
The ability to live freely in everyday life is by far the most important human ability—in other words, a cardinal virtue.