At this point we find one of the primary reasons why most people neither understand freedom, nor are particularly concerned about it, until they have lost a great deal of it.

Instead of merely contrasting freedom with slavery, it is also helpful to contrast freedom with tyranny.

Tyranny is one of those words that has fallen out of favor in recent years. It sounds quaint, old-fashioned, and somehow not quite reflective of our modern experience. Democratic societies, it is thought, cannot be ruled by tyrants.

It seems that as long as an individual (or group of individuals) is perceived as being motivated by noble (i.e. selfless) intentions, then such persons could not possibly behave in a tyranical manner, regardless of the facts.

Freedom, slavery, and tyranny, are all abstractions. The slave condition, however, while being the opposite of freedom in many respects, is lacking in one important particular.

The slave is not the enemy of freedom. Indeed, the slave is usually the one who is most eager to become free. He (or she) is the victim of lost freedom.

Instead, it is the tyrant who is the true enemy of freedom. The tyrant is the slave-master, intent on restraining freedom, and thus controlling the energies of others for his or her own purposes.