Policymakers may hack away at the regulatory state. Leakers and whistleblowers may lay its abuses bare. But only artists can now turn the public imagination toward the possibility that our dreams of true freedom can become real.

In a time even worse for freedom than ours, Socrates had to stay up late enough with Athens’ noble sons to trick them into opening their minds. Today, friends of liberty can speak more freely. But we will despair unless we realize we speak only to those with ears to hear.

The youthful nobility were singled out by Socrates because they, above all others, were both erotic and courageous. We Americans are still pretty strong on eroticism, but all too often it is fear that spurs us or restrains us. The message of freedom must awaken a certain minimum of courage: the courage to recognize we are always already stuck with the choice of how to be.

Begin here—not with more talk of agencies, agendas, or activists—and you may be surprised. In the personal and public realm, a year spent fighting this way for freedom can transform American life.