“Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.” Albert Einstein. I think we can learn a lot from this quote.All people are supposed to be treated equally, and have the same rights as everyone else. What freedom means to me is to be able to say,believe,and make our own choices without being judged or harmed.…
Over the summer I choose to read The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad by Fareed Zakaria, published by W.W. Norton& Company Inc. New York, New York © 2007. This is a unique and intricately assembled collection of 270 pages of opinions, facts, and theories depicting the authors view on what else, democracy in its past present and future state at home and abroad. Democracy is a word with a million meanings: free and equal representation of the people; political and social equality; and a tool or system for trade and economy. Zakaria starts by briefly explaining how democracy has come about, and its origination in the west, and how geographical features such as location (for example the move of the capital to Constantinople), along with its long history and ever changing politics have led to be the building blocks of what we see democracy as today. Liberal institutions and culture were just as important to the growth of freedom in the West as democracy. I also took note that the democracy in terms of what I see and have been taught to view as, is that with democracy comes happiness and equality, each person is important and has a say in our government. Although this book has really opened my eyes in the sense it showed me that democracy wasn’t and isn’t always the right tool to use when trying to fix or setup a government and its policies and is certainly not the ticket to freedom. Civil society was a key element in the stability and development of freedom and democracy; also that economic freedom and political freedom are intertwined. Each government and country was formed differently, not one I don’t think has the exact same history, politics, culture, or philosophy. Sometimes the idealistic features tacked onto democracy don’t always flow correctly in sync with human growth, nature, and cultures. “Geography and history combined to help shape Europe’s political structure”…
The author Aziz Rana pose different key arguments in this article, however the arguments are split up to the three main concerns brought up by commentators on her book titled The Two Faces of American freedom. The three main concern or challenges that arose from the book is firstly the worry about historical persuasiveness and completeness. In simpler terms the idea that her historical information was rather bias and uncompleted. Secondly was the concern that her interpretation of the new deal loses the nuance of her preceding discussions and presents a too one-sided critique of the modern administrative state. In other word that her interpretation of things seems to be once again one sided and apparently should be stopped. Finally was the question of where her account leaves the possibility for agency and transformative change in contemporary politics.…
America, what comes to you mind when you here that word ? Do you think freedom, Liberty, or maybe heroes and veterans that fought in war around the world to protect us. Well the America I think of is much more. The America that I think of is all of the above. The fact that you have the freedom to have a religious say so in what you believe in. The fact that you can decide what you like and don't like. The Liberty our society has, the fact that anyone can have a say so in what our government does or doesn't do. America knows that freedom does not come free it takes hard working brave men and woman to fight for it, and these men and woman put their lives on the line because they now what freedom means to America and everyone in it.…
Although freedom and equality are values that American’s hold dear to their hearts, they are difficult to enforce to an entire nation from the perspective of the US government. Freedom was easier breaking from the colonial days to a new constitutional government, one reason was because there was less people to govern, and secondly because only first class citizens (white male) had any true freedom to do whatever they we interested in. This was the case because all men were not created equal in the eyes of the wealthy white make, obviously I am generalizing, women and African Americans had a very difficult time even asking for the right to vote in the so-called free country. This being said true equality has never been mastered by the US Government, or any other governing body for that matter. The US today is still torn over the right to marry whomever you chose. This should be a no brainer in a country that prides itself on values of freedom and equality.…
1. William E. Connolly: Liberty as an ‘Essentially-Contested Concept’ • See Connolly, The Terms of Political Discourse (1983), and the relevant excerpt in CKS (i.e. Freedom: A Philosophical Anthology, ed. Ian Carter, Matthew Kramer and Hillel Steiner (Blackwell, 2007).) • The idea of an “essentially contested concept” – a concept that cannot be specified in detail in advance of normative debates. • The meanings of terms like liberty, equality and democracy cannot be given a neutral specification in advance of settling disagreements about the use and significance of these concepts, and an account of how they fit within a broader political view. (This would undermine a putative neat conceptual/normative distinction.) • “Debates about the criteria properly governing the concept of freedom are in part debates about the extent to which the proposed criteria fulfil the normative point of the concept and in part about exactly what the point is. To refuse to bring these considerations into one’s deliberations about ‘freedom’ is either to deny oneself access to the very considerations that can inform judgement about the concept or to delude oneself by tacitly invoking the very considerations formally eschewed.” (CKS, 200) • “… ‘Freedom’ is contested partly because of the way it bridges a positivist dichotomy between “descriptive” and “normative” concepts.” (CKS, 200) • Connolly’s thesis explains why liberty is (i) so slippery and controversial [lack of univocality] (ii) so universally popular [polemical role]…
The personal freedom notion has changed vastly over the years from the harm principle to the notion of basic rights. Cobley suggest that in this day and age, these principles will not allow us to have maximum freedom. On the other hand, suggest that only by giving up all our freedom to the government, then we can maximize our freedom. I am largely convinced by his reasons why total freedom should be given to the government as the democratic government has proven to be able to fully optimize the freedom of our society.…
word used to mean that you could not be owned and could do as you…
“Sin: an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law” (“http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sin”). How does one fall into the category of being sinful? In the novella Anthem, Ayn Rand portrays Equality to be sinful because of their appearance, according to the society they live in. Prometheus does not understand this and uses his sin to an advantage. Prometheus is marked as being “sinful” because he is not physically and mentally equal as his society wants him to be. Because of this sin, it helps Prometheus to see his world differently. There for rebelling against his society and doing what he believes would help him achieve true joy. Prometheus comes to realize that because of his sins, Prometheus becomes the person that he wants to be; instead of the person that society wanted him to be.…
In W.E.B. Du Bois’ “The Souls of Black Folks” 1903 and Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man” 1952 both authors convey that the “double consciousness” of the African American is what is slowing down their race’s progress towards true freedom in American society. After Emancipation occurred African Americans were expected to take their freedom wholeheartedly and fit into society contently. This is not what ended up happening. Slavery took on a different form for African Americans who had, “thought and dreamed, slavery was indeed the sum of all villainies, the cause of all sorrow, the root of all prejudice” (Du Bois 10). They were now succumbed to a mental slavery, denying them true freedom in American society. Hundreds of years of racism, segregation, and prejudice left African Americans looking at themselves through the eyes of their oppressors causing strife and low self esteem. These negative repercussions are reflected in these two works and are manifested in a self contradicting consciousness identified by the authors.…
Many writers’ feel strongly about ‘Freedom’ and how important it is. Compare how they use language to convey what they feel’.…
When asked the question, “Am I free?”, there is a challenge to your brain as to what the true definition of “freedom” is. When looked up in a dictionary, 17 different definitions come up. The first definition is, “the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint”, while the last definition states, “the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-determination”. These two definitions are both similar, because they describe freedom, but different in states of being. The first definition specifically creates the illusion of physical freedom, as in nothing to strapping you down or tying you to another object preventing you from moving. The other definition displays the sense of decisional freedom, meaning you can make your own decisions without being told specifically what to do, 24/7. I don’t believe that there is one answer for this question because there are so many different definitions of freedom, and there is an infinite list of why I could be free and why I couldn’t be free. For example, I am free to get up and walk out of my house. Not because my parents aren’t controlling and don’t strap me down to a chair, but because I simply have the ability to do that whenever I’d like. However, I am not free to take the car, which my dad and I share, whenever I please, because it is rude and disrespectful to my dad, who pays for that car. I have to ask politely, and within reason, to borrow the car simply because that is the rule. He’s not going to murder me if I do, but there will always be punishment for disobeying this rule. There are many rules created by the government preventing us from killing people and doing drugs and such, but people still do it. Not because they’re told not to, but because they can. They have the ability to get away with it, making it more fun and enjoyable for them. I’m not going to walk out of my house and murder the next…
* World War I allies with large debts, many of which were not paying them off.…
America is the universal symbol for freedom. Freedom stands for something greater than just the right to act however to choose. It stands for equal opportunity for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Freedom is a word that is going to keep changing with every new generation or culture. Freedom also represents the soldiers who fought and died for their country. Our soldiers, who are the backbone of our military superpower, continue to put their life on the line to protect our freedoms. Freedom allows us to achieve anything we want. We can choose to live the American dream. There are different perspectives of the American dream. Eleanor Roosevelt desired equal rights for women. Martin Luther King protested equal rights for African Americans. My version of the American dream is to be a homeowner, an educated person, raise a big family, and to have a successful career. Our forefathers went to great lengths to instill freedom for our country. Immigrants have the choice to take a citizenship test. They are required to know the history of our country which some of our citizens born and raised in America may not even know their selves. As adults, we don’t have our parents to telling what to do anymore but do we really feel free when we are on our own? How are we going to make the right decisions? Sometimes we take freedom for granted. Parents are there to teach their children that freedom comes with boundaries. They must teach their children that freedom comes with limits. Freedom in the teen years is very important for building a good character and a stable personality. Teenagers want to hang out with friends, do whatever they like, or do not like. They want to experience everything. If they are given freedom with no limits, they can get into trouble. So we must watch their behavior, teach them to do what is right and leave what is wrong. Such supervision is generally not considered a limit or constraint on freedom, it is important for…
The Age of Enlightenment swept across Europe in the 18th century. This time period was also known as the Age of Reason. This time period represented a cultural shift of political power. Several philosophers, also known as intellectuals opposed the idea of rule of the people by authoritarian monarchies. They sought to reform society from this traditional rule to a way of using reason to govern the people. Two of these important intellectuals were John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. John Locke wrote Two Treatises on Government and Rousseau wrote The Social Contract. The theme of these two intellectuals’ theories was the freedom of man, equality and the individual’s rights. These theories of freedom, equality and rights by the common people were radical ideas and thought at this time. However, Locke and Rousseau’s writings greatly influenced other philosophers and the common people. Still these two philosophers differed in their ideas. John Locke pushed more for the individual’s rights and freedom. Rousseau concentrated more on the idea of the equality of the people to ensure a just society. In the end, each of these theories were tested and ultimately resulted in different outcomes in revolution for England and France and forever changed how people in a society are governed.…