Sunday, February 15, 2009
Is "Freedom" Really Freedom?
The discussion on freedom really sparked an interest this past week, because it made me really think if we are free. One of the comments said was that you can't be completely free without law, which then there is no freedom. And I totally agree. It seems that the idea of freedom has changed from age to age and everybody has this different aspect of freedom in their mind. This is another reason why there is no clear cut idea of freedom. Then the question of is the United States free? I think we are as free as free is ever going to get without there being chaos. So the first comment is that freedom can't exist without law resulting in no freedom. Well this seems to be a contradicting statement, but it is very true. If we had no law then people would infringe on others freedom to be free so then there would not be this idea of freedom. Then this infringement would bring about chaos which no one wants because everybody wants peace, which then results in this idea of freedom. The second point is that everybody has a different idea of freedom. Well if everyone has a different concept won't they destroy others freedom. Yes, because if my idea interferes with someone else's, then like in the first example, there is no real freedom. So then is the United States free? Yes, compared to the rest of the world. People have a chance to make something of themselves and do what they want in life, and it is mostly theirs to control. Also there are laws that prohibit others from infringing on others "freedom". So to an extent the United States is free provides the best oppurtunity of freedom. So this brings me to my final point, is there really a perfect idea of freedom. I say no, because of all the reasons above. It seems that we have painted this unrealistic picture of freedom in our mind, when we really need to take a closer look at what freedom really is.
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I disagree with Fowler in that I do not think that “we are free as we are ever going to get…” I do agree however that law is needed to protect freedom. The law has been able to protect all American citizens their freedom. We have a police force to prevent physical abuse or murders among people. People are free to own land and property and do with it as they choose. Even animals have rights and freedom protected under law. However, I don’t think that this is as free as we are ever going to get. Many changes to our law have increased freedoms. In 1920, women were given the right to vote through the 19th Amendment. The Civil Rights movement from 1955-1968 worked to abolish racial discrimination. I only see Americans continuing to enact laws that hopefully increase the freedom of its citizens. The best example of a current issue is the conflict over gay rights. Our current laws infringe on gay people’s rights such as the freedom to get married. I am not advocating one side or another but I merely want to use this as a tool to show how the United States will continue to debate the rights and freedoms of its people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ryan in that I believe that people have a somewhat unrealistic idea of freedom in their mind, and that if you take a step back and look at the country in which we live, and compare it with other countries and their definitions of freedom, you will realize how very lucky we are. To have freedom, there must be law, but it seems as though people are so consumed with the idea that any sort of law is "restricting their freedom" that they don't stop to realize that these restrictions are positive things and actually enhancing our freedom. The article that I referred to in my original posting, "Live Free or Drown" illustrates this point, in that people are going to such extremes as building floating communities because they are not satisfied with the restrictions of government, when the government (for the most part) is put in place to help us and protect our freedom. I believe that people need to stop looking at the negative and becoming so wrapped up in it, and realizing how truly fortune we are to have freedom, as it exists, in the United States.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement that we are as free as we are ever going to get. As time shows the government has become increasingly invasive and reaches further into people’s lives than many are comfortable. When the government knows more about someone than that person knows about themselves the idea of freedom is just that; an idea. Laws are necessary to sustain a sense of order, but how far and how many laws are necessary? This question needs to be asked to justify the actions of the government. It seems the answer by the government is more, more, and more laws. They claim that doing so protects individual’s freedom, but they do so at the expense of others and society’s total utility is not usually increased as a result of these actions. There needs to be a balance between governmental restrictions and people’s idea of freedom, but this is difficult to measure because it varies between individuals.
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