The Difference Between "Freedom" and "Liberty"

[I'm reasonably certain that I blogged the following two paragraphs over a year ago. They may have been part of a much longer statement. I'm too lazy to search out the previous writing. I find it necessary to republish these few words in order to make sure the ground is laid for my next blog, which I will publish either tomorrow or the next day.]

A part of our misunderstanding of what it means to be free arises from our misuse of the words “freedom” and “liberty.” They are not the same. Freedom is natural, a quantity closely related to our natural power. The abilities nature has given us determine the amount of freedom we have. We can do what we have the power to do, and we cannot do what our nature forbids. All of us have a measure of freedom and to the extent we use all of our freedom to satisfy our needs and desires, we have lived life to the utmost.

Liberty is a different matter. It can be defined as the reciprocal of the external limits placed upon our freedom. We are free to do whatever we can do, but we are at liberty to do only what we are permitted to do. We normally think of government and its laws as the power that limits our freedom, but any power – governmental, familial, economic, religious, or whatever – that has (and exercises) the power to control our actions, serves to constrict our liberty. We must therefore regard liberty (but not freedom) as a function of the family, clan, and nation into which we are born. Freedom is natural. Liberty is what we have left after we volunteer (or are forced) to recognize barriers to our freedom.