What exactly does the word “freedom” mean? Many interpret this word to mean “not in jail.” That’s a very limited interpretation of the word, but even lawmakers have a hard time maintaining a balance between personal freedom and public safety. This question can be answered simply by recognizing one important principle: Agents of a just state get their authority from the citizens they serve, and from no other place. In other words, the state may use force only when its individual citizens are authorized to use force; and individual citizens are authorized to use force only to defend lives, liberty, and property. For example, individuals are not authorized to take something from one person to give to another person for alleged benefits or compensation. Nor do individuals have the authority to impose specific codes of conduct on their neighbors, except as necessary to protect life, liberty, and property. If individuals do not have authority beyond these constraints, their elected representatives cannot have authority beyond these constraints. A just state, therefore, does not have the authority to take from one person in order to give to another, or impose on its citizens specific codes of conduct except as necessary to protect life, liberty, and property. In other words, a just state must be purely defensive, not aggressive, in all its functions. It thus has the authority only to protect the lives, liberty, and property of its citizens. That is the measure of freedom, and the lesson delivered in this discourse by G. Edward Griffin.