Freedom is the default position

I just saw a fun interview on the Colbert Report with Judge Andrew Napolitano (author of A Nation of Sheep)
I haven’t read the book, so I can’t necessarily recommend it, but he sure knows how to say some great common-sense stuff (some paraphrasing here):

Freedom is the default position. Anything the government does takes away freedom, so we must be vigilant to limit its ability.

In his book, he asks:

• Why are Americans not challenging and questioning the government as it continues to limit more and more of our freedoms?
• What part of “Congress shall make no law…” does the government not understand when it criminalizes speech?
• Whatever happened to our inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that are proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, guaranteed by the Constitution, yet ignored by the governments elected to protect them?
• Why does every public office holder swear allegiance to the Constitution, yet very few follow it?
• Don’t we have rights that are guaranteed and cannot be taken from us?

Pretty good questions — I don’t know if he has the answers.
It’s one of the things that always annoys me in drug policy conversations with idiots. So often I hear the “Why should we legalize…” or “Why is it so important that we legalize…” or “Do we really need another legal…” and I want to bang my head against the wall and ask why so many people fail to realize that basic fact: Freedom is the default position.