In 2016, the debate on liberty should focus on more than guns and cigarettes

In recent years, the debate over liberty in American life has become more and more prominent with increasing concerns over the exercise of state power from government surveillance programs to taxes on sugar-rich drinks. Liberty as an economic and government concern has not received similar attention. Richard Brodsky writes that battles over liberty tend to focus on peripheral issues such as guns and tobacco, and largely ignore the economic and social health consequences of personal freedoms. He argues that ahead of the 2016 presidential election, debates over liberty need to reach across a much wider variety of issues.