Why Free Movement Is Essential to a Free Society
I was alone on a wide swath of soft grass near Shelburne, Vermont. A weekend away, phone off, brain quiet. I thought I’d listen to the wind rustling the cedar trees, but what I heard instead was the entire world. The rumble of a plane at 30,000 feet, whisking honeymooners to Mykonos or accountants to Minneapolis. The gentle hooting of the Ethan Allen Express, schlepping rail passengers from Burlington to New York. The crunch of tires on gravel. The lapping waters of Lake Champlain push boaters through a system of canals and locks to the Hudson River.
This is the music of a connected world, a world where motion is the default and stillness the exception. Even when we pretend otherwise, the evidence of our interdependence insists on being heard. And it’s beautiful.
This special summer double issue of Reason is dedicated to travel. We’ve got everything from a humble trip for the tulips of Holland, Michigan, to a full-fledged mission to the International Space Station. We’ll take you to Adam Smith’s stomping grounds in Edinburgh, the Canadian boomtown of Iqaluit, a libertarian university in Guatemala City, and dozens of other places where you can find freedom.
Travel is not merely an industry or a leisure activity. It is a human imperative, a manifestation of liberty. It is to claim membership in the great, messy project of humanity. It makes bureaucrats with stamp fetishes nervous, for good reason.
In his memoir Labels, Evelyn Waugh, that most elegant and misanthropic of English travelers, described the strange joy and self-discovery made possible by arriving in a place where nothing makes immediate sense: “I soon found my fellow passengers and their behaviour in the different places we visited a far more absorbing study than the places themselves.” Waugh’s travel writing is peppered with complaints, to be sure—about delays, discomfort, fellow passengers, and the prevalence of garlic—but beneath the surface there’s something else: curiosity, humility, and a recognition that being a stranger can be a deeply moral experience.
Philosophers from John Stuart Mill to Amartya Sen have praised travel for its power to expand the moral imagination. Your brain rewires a little when you’re the foreigner, when you’re the one who doesn’t understand the customs or speak the language. That rewiring is essential in a free society—one that requires pluralism not just as a tolerance but as a virtue. It’s hard to maintain rigid tribalism when you’ve consumed ayahuasca with Romanians and Trinis in a maloca in Peru, opened wide for a Mexican dentist, or joined the crowds at Jerusalem’s
Article from Reason.com
The Reason Magazine website is a go-to destination for libertarians seeking cogent analysis, investigative reporting, and thought-provoking commentary. Championing the principles of individual freedom, limited government, and free markets, the site offers a diverse range of articles, videos, and podcasts that challenge conventional wisdom and advocate for libertarian solutions. Whether you’re interested in politics, culture, or technology, Reason provides a unique lens that prioritizes liberty and rational discourse. It’s an essential resource for those who value critical thinking and nuanced debate in the pursuit of a freer society.
