Autonomy Through Economic Self-Sufficiency

Sor Juana's strategic choice to enter the convent, while seemingly constraining, was actually her path to economic security and intellectual autonomy. As a nun, she had access to resources, protection, and time for scholarly work that secular life denied her. This paradox reveals a crucial insight: formal freedom means little without material stability. She recognized that economic vulnerability creates dependency, which destroys freedom regardless of legal protections. For libertarian justice, this means the right to property and freedom is inseparable from the ability to sustain oneself independently. When individuals lack resources or access to economic opportunity, they become susceptible to exploitation and coercion. Sor Juana's example shows that true liberty requires both legal rights and material capacity. Applied today, this concept supports property ownership for marginalized groups, entrepreneurship access, and resistance to systems that artificially create dependency.