Immanuel Kant’s Enlightenment Idea: A Weapon in the Fight for Freedom
Immanuel Kant's concept of enlightenment is often regarded as a powerful tool in the struggle for freedom. Today, forces are at work that seek to undermine, abolish, and destroy freedom, prosperity, and peace in the Western world. These forces have led many people to adopt ideas rooted in socialist, communist, and fascist ideologies, though they often don't present themselves as such. Instead, they come under labels like the “Great Reset,” “New World Order,” or “Green Politics,” pushing for policies such as zero CO2 emissions, digital IDs, and central bank digital currencies. Under these banners, states and special interest groups expand their control almost unchecked, weakening the value of money, destroying savings, and eroding private property, while driving up the cost of food and energy and stifling free speech.
Without a clear and rapid reversal of this destructive process, the Western world faces a grim future. The remedy to this is found in Kant’s enlightenment philosophy: the idea that we must overcome self-imposed immaturity by using our reason independently. Kant's famous dictum, "Sapere aude" ("Dare to know"), urges individuals to think for themselves and resist the forces that keep them intellectually subdued. Without enlightenment, freedom cannot be maintained, nor can it be reclaimed once lost.
The unfortunate reality, however, is that many thinkers who aim to protect freedom often take enlightenment for granted, assuming that the general population is more enlightened than they actually are. In fact, we are living through a period of anti-enlightenment, where the forces promoting ignorance are gaining ground.
In Kant’s view, enlightenment is the escape from self-inflicted immaturity. It requires the courage and resolve to think for oneself, and to resist the influences of those who seek to keep people dependent and intellectually confined. Today, we must ask ourselves: are we, as a society, lazy and cowardly? Are we trapped in a state of intellectual submission? The answer seems to be yes, as many of us struggle to recognize and defend against the threats to our freedom.
This situation is compounded by the fact that modern threats to freedom are often subtle and not easily recognized. Governments gradually increase taxes in small increments, making it hard to rally significant opposition. Similarly, policies that undermine freedom, such as those of the welfare state or green politics, are often presented as necessary for the greater good, even though their true aim is control and exploitation.
The majority of people are intellectually manipulated and remain unaware of the dangers they face. A test of one's enlightenment can be conducted by assessing one's beliefs. For example, if you believe that the state is essential for freedom, or that capitalism is responsible for the world’s problems, or that unbacked fiat money is necessary for economic growth, then it is likely that you have not fully embraced enlightenment.
Enlightenment, as Kant described, is about resisting the rule of the few over the many. In the modern world, this battle is similar to what it was centuries ago, between voluntary cooperation and coercion. The state, in its current form, relies not on voluntary participation but on force and violence. Over time, this state expands its power, encroaching on the freedoms of citizens and businesses alike.
A key insight of philosophers like Hans Hermann Hoppe is that even a minimal state will eventually become a maximal state. The ruling minority sustains itself by taxing the productive few and redistributing wealth to the less productive majority, thus buying their loyalty. Moreover, they control the education system, using intellectuals to promote the idea that the state is indispensable. This ensures that dissenting ideas are marginalized or censored.
The strategy to defend freedom must therefore be twofold: self-enlightenment and the enlightenment of others. First, we must free ourselves from intellectual laziness and cowardice, as Kant instructed. Enlightenment begins with recognizing that human action is purposeful and logical, and that voluntary cooperation is fundamentally peaceful, while coercion is hostile.
Second, we must share these insights with others. Many people believe they are well-informed, but few have truly considered whether they are intellectually free. We must encourage them to examine the principles of freedom and to challenge the status quo.
Finally, the strategy of freedom must include non-cooperation with the state wherever possible. Recognizing that the state operates on force and coercion, we should avoid working for it or engaging in its economic activities. We can minimize our dependency on state money by investing in tangible assets like gold, silver, and property, thereby reducing the state's power.
The road to freedom is long and difficult, but it begins with self-enlightenment and a refusal to cooperate with forces that seek to dominate and exploit. Only by awakening to these realities can we hope to restore and protect the freedom that is our natural right.
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