"Economic freedom is an essential requisite for political freedom. By enabling people to cooperate with one another without coercion or central direction, it reduces the area over which political power is exercised." - Milton & Rose Friedman
The only adjustment I would make to Dr. Friedman's statement is that you need a benevolent central director, else, it is mob rule at the end of the day when the populous abandons absolutes in the area of values, morals and nature.