The Duty of Citizenship

American business leaders like to take a libertarian stance toward politics and government. For decades the ethos has been “Put your head down, grind, and just focus on getting rich. Leave that politics mess to someone else.” But things are changing now, especially among the tech elite. That’s what 10-20 years of rather consequential politics will do.

While people are finally waking up, is it too late?

This is the fundamental question of the age and how it gets answered will determine the future of freedom in the world.

I’ve been writing a lot here about why political engagement is an integral component of the full authentic thriving life. Indeed, I don’t think it’s possible to be truly successful as a human being without doing your part as a citizen, no matter how well you may live in private life. 

Why? 

Well, it has to do with the social nature of the human experience. You are a social animal and dependent on society in so many ways—obvious and hidden. And since you cannot be a free rider without damaging yourself in the process, you have a kind of moral philosophical obligation to play your political part.

There’s also the whole historical responsibility thing too.  Think of all the generations who have fought, struggled, and sacrificed to bring us to this unique moment in history where freedom is even possible in the world. To turn your back on politics is to deny the profound sacrifices of your ancestors. 

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But there are many good practical reasons as well. 

First of all, bad politics can literally ruin your life. In just the tiny fraction of human history we know something about, we know that millions of people have died on some battlefield fighting an enemy they never knew or imagined having and supporting a cause they didn’t quite believe in. I have to believe that getting caught up in political power struggles is one of the leading causes of death in human history. Not ideal, obviously!

This may be an extreme example but it is true and illustrates perfectly why ignoring politics is as foolish as it is irresponsible. The government is the seat of power and can have a tremendous influence on your life. Even in so-called free democracies, the government can deny and take away your rights. It can confiscate your property. Lock you up. Execute you…. This is why getting on the wrong side of the government is one of the worst ideas ever.  

Even when you do everything right and the government is not out to get you, politics can still mess up your life. Imagine being a business in America right now that relies on imports from China. Well, things just got a lot more expensive overnight. Or what if you ran a non-profit focused on helping disadvantaged kids get into college? Well, your funding just vaporized. You see the point here: because it carries the force of law and power, government action is decisive and, in the modern era, incredibly economically consequential because of the sheer size of government in the global economy.

Politics isn’t always bad though and the good version can improve your life as much as the bad can ruin it. Good government can save you from a tyrannical foreign power, protect your rights and property, help you when you are down and out, and even help increase your standard of living. Indeed, a decently functioning government that establishes and protects a reasonable rule of law is one of our greatest inventions of all. 

To sum it all up: you should engage in politics because you are morally obligated to contribute to your community, have a historical responsibility to honor your ancestors, and it’s simply in your practical best interests to do so.

Given all the action (turmoil) in Washington these days and the rather emotional process of our latest Presidential election, many people are disengaging from politics, some in disgust, others in rage. But even for those who supported the losing side, I don’t think this is the right move. Your political and civic responsibilities never end and your task remains the same: to make the best of things no matter what.

After I published my original article about The 4 Pillars of Freedom my Dad recommended an interesting book called “How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World?” by Harry Browne, a very successful American investor, businessman, and two-time Libertarian candidate for President. In the book, Browne makes a lot of really interesting points about identity traps and how they can make you unfree. For this section alone, the book is well worth the read. Thanks Dad 🙂.

But he makes one big mistake when it comes to politics. 

Browne is particularly worried about the danger of political identification and rightly so. When you base your sense of self on some political ideology or policy outcome, you are setting yourself up for massive disappointment. If you are looking for a good example of what I’m talking about look no further than the countless videos circulating online of disappointed Harris/Walz supporters in various degrees of completely irrational distress. It’s one thing to be upset about the outcome of an election but something else to lose your mind! 

Now, political identification can manifest in many ways and degrees:

“Everything will be ok if my party is in power.” 

“If we can just solve global warming, everything will be good.”

“Once there is peace on Earth, we can all be happy.”

“If we can just solve the border crisis…”

…

You get the idea. To be sure, there’s a seductive and compelling flavor to notions like these. Who doesn’t want to be a part of some massive, noble cause?  Who doesn’t want to help create a better world? In some sense, that’s what it is to be human. 

The problem though, as Browne correctly points out, is that as good as it feels, it’s a fool’s errand when it comes to your subjective well-being. Solving global warming or ending war or achieving a more just and equitable society may indeed be good things but they are not necessary for your individual happiness nor, and this is the important point, will they guarantee it.

Where Browne goes wrong is his advice for how to deal with this truth. Highly infected by libertarian ideology, he thinks that because big political causes are not in our control nor critical to our happiness, we should disengage from collective political struggle altogether. He’s essentially advising that we go play in another sandbox. 

It’s not terrible advice and something you might hear from a modern would-be stoic. How much control or even influence does one have over such weighty things? 

I think this is the wrong mentality though. While Browne is right that a person is much, much more than what can be defined by any political movement, moment, cause, or ideology, the answer is not to disengage from the responsibility of political action but rather simply to refuse to rest your identity and happiness on it. 

The problem with a lot of libertarian thinking is that it doesn’t work at the extremes. If everyone were to abandon politics and just focus on living their private lives, what would become of society? Who would be in charge? Where would you turn when things go bad?

No, a world without government doesn’t make any sense.

Where does that leave us?

The right thing to do when it comes to politics is to engage regularly and fight for what you believe, no matter what—in fact are morally obligated to do so—but just don’t rest your sense of self or your own happiness on the result. Learn to be happy in the work of civics itself. Allow your spirit to feel the ennobling and uplifting energies that will inevitably arise anytime you care for something greater than yourself. Give back to that which you cannot live without anyway and which has given you so much already—your community. Play your part and trust that it’s all worth it, because it is!

PS. If you are not sick of hearing from me already, check out this recent podcast I recorded with my good friend and fellow real estate expert Taylor Avakian. We discuss everything from the wildfires to local and national political dynamics to the secrets of real estate and entrepreneurship.

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