sisted, find their liberty in obedience to
the law. They are free when the rules un-
der which they live leave them without a
sense of frustration in realms they deem
significant. They are unfree whenever the
rules to which they have to conform com-
pel them to conduct which they dislike and
resent. I do not deny that there are types
of conduct against which prohibitions are
desirable: I ought, for instance, to be com-
pelled, even against my wish, to educate
my children. But I am arguing that any
rule which demands from me something I
would not otherwise give is a diminution
of my freedom.

A second implication is important. My
thesis involves the view that if in any state
there is a body of men who possess unlim-
ited political power, those over whom they
rule can never be free. For the one assured
result of historical investigation is the les-
son that uncontrolled power is invariably
poisonous to those who possess it. They
are always tempted to impose their canon
of good upon others, and, in the end, they
assume that the good of the community de-

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