Liberty as Determined by My Cat
by Fred E. Foldvary, Senior Editor
My cat knows more about liberty than most people. If I want
to know which activities should be prohibited and which ones should
not be restricted in a free society, I just consult my cat.
For example, should we make theft illegal? Is stealing a
moral wrong that should be a crime, and penalized? To test this,
I try taking away my cat's food when she is eating. My cat hisses.
So stealing is morally wrong, and should be illegal.
If somebody tried to kill a cat, the cat would yowl and
scratch at the perpetrator. So it looks like murder is morally
evil and should be prohibited.
If anyone tries to hurt a cat, the cat will yowl, hiss,
scratch, and make it very clear this is wrong.
What if you put a cat in a cage? She would be unhappy, and
meow loudly to tell us she wants out. So confining somebody or
restricting his freedom of movement should be prohibited. Likewise
if someone tried to kidnap my cat, she would object. Kidnapping
should be illegal.
What if I called my cat and said her breakfast was ready, but
when she came to me, I had no breakfast? She would be confused and
unhappy. Fraud should be a crime.
If a friend and I play a game where the winner wins money, my
cat would not care. So long as I have enough money to feed her,
she has no objection if I gamble. Gambling should not be a crime.
If I take off my clothes, my cat has never objected. My cat
does not care what I wear. Nudity should not be a crime.
Also, my cat does not care what I read. So there should be no
censorship or restriction on what people write or read. According
to my cat, there should be freedom of expression.
My cat does not seem to care what my religion is. I can pray
or not pray; my cat is indifferent. There should be freedom of
religion, according to my cat.
My cat is very territorial. If another cat enters our yard,
she confronts it, hisses, and makes it clear that she has rights of
possession. My cat is telling me that property rights should be
respected, and that we have the right to possess land. But my cat
does not invoke some authority to defend her property at other's
expense. She bears the cost of protecting her own territory.
I have never witnessed my cat letting another cat stay in our
yard in exchange for food or toys. If one cat abandons her
territory, another just cat moves in. The previous cat does not
claim continued ownership and charge rent. Evidently, for cats,
land is common property, but the one actually occupying and using
a territory has rights of possession.
I have never witnessed one cat forcing another cat to pay
taxes on what she catches. If she catches a mouse, no other cat
will come and demand a share. If some other cat did make such a
demand, my cat would hiss and tell that cat to scat. It looks like
it is morally wrong to tax the fruit of our labor.
Mother cats take good care of their kittens. They feed them
and teach them hunting and survival skills. Cats are telling us
that we have a moral obligation to take care of our children.
When I come home, my cat greets me and sniffs my nose. My cat
says friendship and love are good, and she never criticizes me or
interferes in what I want to do.
It looks like my cat has a lot of wisdom about what freedom
means and how we should organize society. If human beings did
things the cat way, we would have a happier society.
So if you want to know about freedom, just consult a cat.
-- Fred Foldvary
Copyright 2001 by Fred E. Foldvary. All rights reserved. No part of this
material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, which includes but is not limited to facsimile
transmission, photocopying, recording, rekeying, or using any information
storage or retrieval system, without giving full credit to Fred Foldvary
and The Progress Report.
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