Freedom of association is undervalued in American life, having no corner of the Constitution to call its own. It’s hard to beat freedom of speech when it gets the very first amendment; it is literally number one and even its detractors tend to treat it as such. But to my mind, “association” best captures the core of liberty overall, which is about giving people a wide berth to form relations with one another without interference or punishment from the government. And communication is a relation, even if it is fleeting, even if it is one-sided. The relationship between a speaker and a public is an association of sorts, even if the speaker is on a soap box in a public park, and the public are pedestrians who just happen to be passing by.
Thinking of even freedom of speech in terms of association brings into focus its fragility, even when governments are perfectly accommodating—which they never are. Freedom of association and worship does not mean that you will be left with a club which allows you to become a member or a church which allows you to join their congregation. It does not mean that you will be guaranteed that the owners of restaurants will accept your patronage. However one feels about the various measures governments have taken to militate against this outcome, most people understand that, in principle, freedom of association by itself leaves you vulnerable to total ostracism. The ability to start your own club, church, or business is only as valuable as your ability to attract other people to those ventures.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The End of Safety to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.