Private property was the original source of freedom. It still is its main bulwark.

Lippmann’s line links political liberty to an economic and legal foundation: secure private property. The claim is not simply that property enables wealth, but that it creates a protected sphere of independence—resources, space, and rights that limit arbitrary power by the state or other authorities. In this view, citizens who can own and control property can resist coercion, support dissenting institutions (press, associations), and plan their lives without constant permission. The second sentence (“It still is its main bulwark”) updates the argument from origins to ongoing necessity, implying that modern freedoms remain fragile if property rights are undermined or made contingent on political favor.