October 24, 2007 2:22PM 

# Rudy: ‘Freedom is about authority.’ 

By [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch) 

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Here’s a disturbing [excerpt](http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A01E2D9173CF933A15750C0A962958260) from a speech that Giuliani delivered in 1994:

> What we don’t see is that freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. ***Freedom is about authority.*** Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.

This statement is consistent with the [Giuliani record](https://www.cato.org/2007/06/01/the-authoritarian-giuliani/). (For more, read [this](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1495).)

Giuliani and Hillary [share](https://www.cato.org/2007/09/18/hillary-hates-freedom/) an authoritarian worldview. And since they’re the frontrunners in their respective parties, that means freedom is in jeopardy.

For more talk about how freedom means state power, go [here](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6654).

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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