I was once told that freedom was the ability to choose and liberty is the ability to exercise freedom. Benjamin Franklin once said “They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security”

When does freedom become a prison? Is there a point we reach where suddenly the freedom we have looked for seems to be gone? Strange questions maybe, but lets take a look at it a little more closely.

What exactly is freedom? It seems as though every person you ask has a different opinion. Some say that it is being able to do what you please, when you please and how you please. Others say that freedom is when everyone is treated as an equal. Still others believe that freedom is when like-minded people can live and work together to promote their ideals and values.

Some dictionary definitions include:

· The condition of being free of restraints.

· Liberty of the person from slavery, detention, or oppression.

1. · Political independence.
2. Exemption from the arbitrary exercise of authority in the performance of a specific action; civil liberty: freedom of assembly.

A right or the power to engage in certain actions without control or interference: “the seductive freedoms and excesses of the picaresque form” (John W. Aldridge).
In today’s society we keep hearing that the government is working to give us freedom. But does it feel like we are becoming freer? Most people say not.

As our society struggles to protect everyone and everything it is making more laws to protect everyone’s freedoms. In addition it is passing laws to try and be inclusive of everyone’s rights, but also of minority rights. As a result we are ending up with more and more restrictions on what we can and can not do. Some examples are the smoking issue, driving with a cellphone, having to use special recyclable shopping bags etc.

These things suddenly impose more and more rules, regulations and laws, and before you know it, it is getting out of control. We find that we are losing the “Exemption from the arbitrary exercise of authority in the performance of a specific action” part of freedom and also losing our “right or the power to engage in certain actions without control or interference”. So it appears that in the pursuit of freedom, we suddenly find ourselves trapped by the laws which were made to protect our freedom. We have become more restricted and controlled by government than before. Basically we have lost our freedom in the search for that freedom!

Is there a solution? Yes, maybe. Tomorrow I will be talking about a way of regaining our freedom. A new way of thinking and of governance which may work out better than our current situation.

Liberty is generally considered a concept of political philosophy and identifies the condition in which an individual has the ability to act according to his or her own will.  -wikipedia.com

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Posted April 4th, 2007 by J.S. in Government | Trackback

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