Freedom
- Thread starter kmguru
- Start date
kmguru
Staff member
In another thread (Survival) the question came up:
"How do we help each other get beyond mere survival? How do we progress to a more equitable system, minus the bloodshed? Otherwise, what will make this or any other system work for the majority of people?"
One of the answer posted :
"....allow people to be FREE. Allow them to trade freely, decide their own careers and fortunes, invest their own money, have their own beliefs, give to charities they believe in, move freely from place to place..."
with the clarification as:
"You can't FORCE all governments to be free. Hard to believe but SOME people believe in communism for example. Should we try to force all communist countries to be like the United States? That's a useless proposition. Nevertheless, individual freedom would lead to more prosperity for everyone. The best way to promote it is peaceful discussion, in my opinion.
What I mean to say, is that the government of one country should not attempt to force it's beliefs upon another country. In other words - the US should not invade China and attempt to force the country to become capitalist. Also, the US should not restrict trade with any country because of ideological differences. "
Are we forcing other countries to be free? Are we free to say with whom we can do business?
"How do we help each other get beyond mere survival? How do we progress to a more equitable system, minus the bloodshed? Otherwise, what will make this or any other system work for the majority of people?"
One of the answer posted :
"....allow people to be FREE. Allow them to trade freely, decide their own careers and fortunes, invest their own money, have their own beliefs, give to charities they believe in, move freely from place to place..."
with the clarification as:
"You can't FORCE all governments to be free. Hard to believe but SOME people believe in communism for example. Should we try to force all communist countries to be like the United States? That's a useless proposition. Nevertheless, individual freedom would lead to more prosperity for everyone. The best way to promote it is peaceful discussion, in my opinion.
What I mean to say, is that the government of one country should not attempt to force it's beliefs upon another country. In other words - the US should not invade China and attempt to force the country to become capitalist. Also, the US should not restrict trade with any country because of ideological differences. "
Are we forcing other countries to be free? Are we free to say with whom we can do business?
Hi kmguru,
I think it is a good idea to seperate between several "degrees" of freedom. I'll think an example illustrates why:
I consider myself to live in a free country. I can freely choose the religion that suits me best. I can walk to the leader of my country and say in his face that he is a moron without getting punished. But I cannot walk around nude - not something I personally would wanna do - without getting thrown in the nuthouse.
So there you already have three different kinds of freedom in just three "everyday" examples. There's the:
I'm sure we can all think of another hundred examples where other kinds of freedom are involved.
Anyway, the point of all this is the following: freedom is limited by the laws imposed by a state/community/individual, so absolute freedom would be a situation where no laws exist.
So I don't think anybody can ever be totally free. Freedom = utopia ?
Bye!
Crisp
I think it is a good idea to seperate between several "degrees" of freedom. I'll think an example illustrates why:
I consider myself to live in a free country. I can freely choose the religion that suits me best. I can walk to the leader of my country and say in his face that he is a moron without getting punished. But I cannot walk around nude - not something I personally would wanna do - without getting thrown in the nuthouse.
So there you already have three different kinds of freedom in just three "everyday" examples. There's the:
- Freedom given by the state: There are rules in the country you live in and as a citizen of the country you agree to follow these rules. Here it are laws that restrict/enbroaden your freedom.
- Freedom from individual to individual: When interacting with another person, he or her can grant you an amount of freedom of actions you are allowed to do. Your girlfriend/boyfriend/... gives you the freedom to kiss her/him. Your boss probably won't.
- Freedom given by society: The do's and dont's of society. It is not appropriate to walk around nude so you're not given that... ehr... privilege (okay, perhaps the walking around nude thingy was a bad example).
I'm sure we can all think of another hundred examples where other kinds of freedom are involved.
Anyway, the point of all this is the following: freedom is limited by the laws imposed by a state/community/individual, so absolute freedom would be a situation where no laws exist.
So I don't think anybody can ever be totally free. Freedom = utopia ?
Bye!
Crisp