I could have just as easily called this third personality trait "independent thinking" but wanted to stick to a single word. The point, however, is just the same. In the first two posts, I called out Skepticism and Curiosity as the first two key personality traits for someone who discovers liberty. Those two traits are all about opening one's mind to new (actually not new, just forgotten) ideas and a way of thinking that are, unfortunately, outside of the mainstream.
To the extent that the first two traits are about opening one's eyes to the principles of liberty, this third trait is about closing the door on the old notions of obedience to the state. I think that wise Jedi, Yoda, said it best: "you have to unlearn what you have learned." This isn't easy for most people. There is a lot of inertia that needs to be overcome for someone to reject statism and embrace liberty. We are bombarded from a very early age with endless propaganda about the benevolence of the state. It comes through 12,000 hours of government schooling. It's on TV and in the movies. It's everywhere and it's next to impossible to escape it.
So, those who are actually able to see through this fog of propaganda and understand what personal freedom is all about are able to do it because they have little bit of rebelliousness in them. Skepticism and curiosity will take a person down the first few steps, but what's really needed to break through that brick wall of entrenched ideology is a recalcitrant individual who doesn't care what other people think. You'll be told these ideas are crazy and that you should stop asking questions and you should just be a good little citizen and go back to your knitting and never mind what's on the other side of that wall.
I say embrace your inner rebel. Don't care what others think. Go ahead and do the thing that you're not supposed to do - what the thought controllers don't want you to do. Learn about liberty. Read some Nock or Rothbard.
