… is from page 19 of Deirdre McCloskey’s superb 2019 book, Why Liberalism Works: How True Liberal Values Produce a Freer, More Equal, Prosperous World for All:
Above all people should respect the other person by respecting her liberty to say no.
DBx: Yes. To say no. This liberty is one that each of us, woman and man, should possess to its maximum possible extent – an extent that is large.
Each of us should have the liberty to say no not only to requests for sex, but to say no also to demands that we sell to others at prices that we would not accept unless coerced to do so – to say no to demands that we buy from others at prices that we would not pay unless coerced to do so – to say no to anyone or to any group that demands that we alter our peaceful activities in ways that suit them.
Freedom of contract implies the freedom not to contract.
