Premium Essay

Freedom or Liberty

In: Historical Events

Submitted By year1979
Words 1145
Pages 5
Freedom and Liberty

Every day the federal government as well as state and local government pass laws to make us a safer society. As they make society safer they are slowly chewing away at our rights, liberties, and personal freedom. Where is the balance? A serf toiling away in a field had very little liberty. He couldn’t vote and didn’t have any true freedom of speech or assembly. But he did have freedom to think his own thoughts, and he was given by his creator the right to moral agency. Within his confined world, he had the freedom to make choices, either good or bad. We now have laws regulating everything. We are forced to wear seatbelts, to wear motorcycle helmets. Smokers can’t even smoke outside. Kids are expelled from school wearing t-shirts with colorful statements. The government wants to regulate abortion, child discipline, and free speech. If you spank your kids you can be charged with child abuse. We have gone from a foreign policy centered on defending our boundaries to one where we engage in foreign wars around the world in an aggressive attempt to maintain an empire. Because of the supposed threats to our country, we have authorized the government to spy on its own citizens. But freedom has a price. Our soldiers have gone to war and fought and died so that we can remain free. As we all know though, there is nothing in life that is derived from nothing of substance. So, the question exists what constitutes individual freedom when compared to the national necessity? Freedom always has a cost in the conceptual identity of absolute society. There is no doubt that when people are free bad things are going to happen to some people. If people are allowed to make choices, then some people will make bad choices. When you have freedom and liberty, you have the freedom and liberty to screw up. We as a people have to be worthy

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Anarchy, Freedom, Liberty

...INTRODUCTION II. FREEDOM III. ANARCHY IV. TOTALITARIANISM V. FREEDOM, ANARCHY, TOTALITARIANISM VI. CONCLUSION VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY INTRODUCTION At a first glance freedom, anarchy and totalitarianism can be mistaken for three words whose meanings have nothing to do with each other. In the next pages, we will demonstrate that, on the contrary, they are very strongly connected not only in a philosophical sense, but also at a political level. In order to relate the three concepts, we must define each one of them. FREEDOM The word freedom implies the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action . Freedom implies no boundaries to limit human actions, so an individual can act however he wants. The concept of boundaries transforms the word freedom into the word liberty. Whereas the concept of freedom ignores the concept of obligations, the concept of liberty implies potential obligations. The word freedom ignores interactions with other humans, the word liberty acknowledges those interactions. The word liberty describes specific freedoms of action without obligations toward others , but recognizes that obligations might exist. The concept of boundaries introduces obligations toward other people. The concept of freedom implies unrestricted movement and actions regardless of boundaries, but the concept of liberty imply restrictions on actions because of boundaries . There is another word that describes the concepts of liberty and freedom. Anarchy. ...

Words: 1226 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Freedom Liberty, Tyranny Is Dead

...“Freedom, Liberty, Tyranny is Dead” “The Ides of March are come.” In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Caesar was stabbed in the back by the Conspiracy on March 15. Brutus and Mark Antony wrote speeches to present at the funeral. The funeral speeches were given by Brutus and Mark Antony in similar and different ways and had very different reactions in the end from the crowd. Brutus’ funeral speech was written to inform the crowd the reasons why the Conspiracy killed Caesar. While presenting his speech he stood above the crowd showing that he had power over the people of Rome while he was saying his speech. The first thing Brutus does is he calls out to the people of Rome, saying the following “ Rome, countrymen, and friends”. He says...

Words: 617 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Liberty: the Freedom to Use Marijuana

...There is no reason for marijuana not to be legal. Why or why not should weed be legalized? Individuals deserve the right to make choices for themselves, while the government only has the right to limit those choices if the individual’s actions endanger another. | Coffee is addictive. Every morning, all across America, there are people (many of them idling in their cars at a drive-thru) getting java. What happens when these people do not get their coffee on time and as anticipated? Other than a little irritability, not much happens. People seem trustable enough to drink coffee, even though that behavior often results in a life-long addiction. Tobacco is addictive. Every moment of every day and night, all across America, there are people smoking tobacco. What happens when these "smokers" do not get to light up their cigarettes on time and as anticipated? Other than a lot of irritability, not much happens. Despite the enormous number of tobacco-related deaths each year, adults are nevertheless trusted to moderate their private use of tobacco. Alcohol is addictive. Usually in the evening, but not always, there are people all across America drinking alcohol. What happens when these people do not get their alcohol on time and as anticipated? Well, depending upon the individual's level of past alcohol use, there are varying degrees of negative consequences associated with alcohol withdrawal, e.g., headache, loss of appetite, and even seizures in extreme cases. Despite the...

Words: 1348 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Civil Liberties In A Mother's Freedom March

...This allows for Randall to advance that while choices may not ultimately change the fact that one will die, there can be a result from those choices that prevents people from suffering in the way those before them did. Here, had the girl gone participated in the Freedom March, attempting to help liberate her people, rather than with the safe and well-trodden path her mother favored, her likely death would have been part of many in a group fighting for the end of the racial violence that was to end her. He does not pretend as though this possibility of death for a cause justifies treating death as a means to an end, however. The mother’s initial sadness and following grief communicates to the reader that death is never accepted if it can be avoided, because the end of a life never matters for only one...

Words: 2437 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Positive Liberty

...Promote Positive Liberty? The idea of liberty, or freedom, varies between different theorists. One theorist, Isaiah Berlin, focused on the difference between two different ways of thinking about political liberty (Cherniss & Hardy, 2010). Berlin called these two different concepts negative and positive liberty. According to Berlin, negative freedom can be defined as ‘freedom from’, that is, freedom from constraint or interference of others. In contrast, positive freedom can be defined in two ways: ‘freedom to’, that is the ability to pursue and achieve willed goals; and also as autonomy or self-rule, as opposed to the dependence on others (Cherniss & Hardy, 2010). Keeping the idea of positive liberty at the forefront, this essay will focus on what positive liberty is and whether the government should promote it. As already mentioned, positive liberty can be defined as the ‘freedom to’ (Cherniss & Hardy, 2010). Smith (2008) adds that positive liberty is “the idea of self-government”. Under positive liberty, a person may decide how they wish to live, but they may unconsciously conform to the beliefs of society, religion or their parents (Smith, 2008). Positive liberty asks the question of “Who, or what, is the source of control or interference?” (Garner et al., 2012). Positive liberty therefore emphasizes the source of control, rather than the area of control associated with negative liberty (Garner, Ferdinand & Lawsom, 2012). Positive liberty is the view that...

Words: 1104 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

The Spirit of Liberty

... What Is Liberty? “The Spirit of Liberty” was a speech presented by John Hand in 1944 on “I AM an American Day”. When John Hand gives his speech he is speaking to a group of people that all have something in common. They are people that came to America looking for the same things, they were all looking for freedom and liberty. But what John is trying to get them to understand is that you can only find liberty with in yourself, he is also trying to tell them what he believes liberty is. In paragraph 1, lines 9-11 John says “I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws, and upon courts. These are false hopes; believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it.” What he means by this is that even though there is laws and constitutions that entitle us to freedom and liberty it does not really mean we have freedom and liberty because it is only something you can allow yourself to have because it comes from within yourself and if you don’t have it than the laws and constitutions are not gonna help you in anyway. After John tells the audience where he believes freedom and liberty comes from he tells the audience his opinion of what liberty is. In paragraph 1 lines 14- 18 John says “Liberty is not the ruthless,the unbridled will; it is not freedom to do as one likes...

Words: 613 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Statue Of Liberty Argumentative Essay

...The Statue of Liberty represent the essence of America. American is mostly known as to be a beacon of freedom and liberty. The Statue of Liberty portray the freedom in America, the friendship America have with other nations, and the opportunity America give to immigrant who came to American during the 1800s to earn a better life. To begin with, the Statue of Liberty was designed and made by a French sculptor with the intent it would be a gift to commemorate America 100th anniversary of independence. He wanted to honor...

Words: 638 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Statue Of Liberty Research Paper

...The lady enlightening the world In New York harbor, on liberty island, a mighty green woman figure stands as a clear idea of what America is going to be, a multicultural country protects freedom of speech and religion, liberty didn`t only mean freedom from the British empire, liberty also meant freedom for immigrants who leaving their mother countries and come to the united states to create a new life without any persecution from any kind. My goal in this paper is to focus on the meanings for the statue of liberty which have changed over the time, and the countless roles in its 127-year history. I have organized my paper into two main sections, in the first one, we`re going to reflect on some of the various political and cultural meanings of the statue of liberty, in the second section I focus on the universal meanings of the statue as freedom, emancipation, and the national unity. Political and cultural meanings As the American civil war drew to close, in the summer of 1865, several French intellectuals were at a dinner party at the historian Edouard de Laboulaye`s mansion in Glatigny, Laboulaye was a French law...

Words: 917 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Liberty: Civil Liberties In The United States

...Liberty is defined as the freedom to choose to behave, think, speak or simply be present in an area without fear of punishment. In order to properly understand the concept of liberty, it is important to understand the term power because power develops the freedoms that emerge when discussing liberty; power in this instance is the ability to do or act. In most modern states, the state grants citizens the power to legally engage in certain behaviors as long as these are in obedience to their legal system. Liberty is a relative term as liberties in the modern world are granted by states. This disparity can be observed with the contrast of speech liberties in China with Chinese “ firewall,” which bans social media websites like Facebook. When...

Words: 440 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

...John Ford’s The Man who Shot Liberty Valance is one of the greatest American films ever made, and certainly John Ford’s best, the only challenger to this title potentially being the quintessential western inversion, The Searchers. Many would classify The Man who Shot Liberty Valance as a western, and they, at first glance, would be correct to assume so: John Wayne, a gun fight, and a setting of the western territories. At further watchings, however, one can clearly see that The Man who Shot Liberty Valance is lacks the devices defining a film as a western, and shows the death of the “John Ford Western”: this is shown through the setting, the shots, and the overall plot and theme of the film. The Man who Shot Liberty Valance is about Ransom...

Words: 1867 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Freedom Definition Essay

...As we look at the meaning of Freedom it is hard not to reflect on the history of our nation. Our nation gives us many freedoms which I define as one’s ability to make their own decision when it comes to many topics. Religion, politics, which state to live in, where to work etc. Many people think just because they have many freedoms they don’t have any consequences but just because you have a freedom to make a decision doesn’t mean it is the correct one. Anytime you exercise your freedom you must ensure you don’t offend anyone. Liberty is the ability to live free within a nation with your views on certain topics changing those liberties. Every Liberty is guaranteed within the Bill of Rights. In the eyes of our Founding Fathers they believed...

Words: 532 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Dbq Colonial Individualism

...land promised. These privileges included land, religious freedom, and a political voice. Ideas of individualism and reason from the Enlightenment movement became the fundamental basis and driving factor for...

Words: 1050 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Freedom

...the fundamental aspect of governance remains the “freedom” for all. The cry and search for freedom has lead to countless revolutions, multiple uprisings, civil conflicts, and consistent advocacy to for people to be free. Citizens cry for freedom include freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, freedom to elect their own leaders, and a political system that provides equal rights and justice for all. Other advocacy for freedom include equitable distribution of national wealth, good governance, access to basic welfare, food and shelter, education, among others. In the quest to ensure that governments around the world provide these and many other kinds of freedom to its citizens, the Freedom in the World survey plays the fundamental rule of conducting research, analysis and evaluation of various political systems around the world. The Freedom in the World conduct annual survey which is directing towards evaluating political governance, their provision of political rights to their citizens and also the extent to which individual and collective citizens have access to their civil liberties freely without intimidation or fear. The Freedom in world conducts Press Freedom survey that has been in existence since 1972. They have since then been producing annual reports that analyze several forms of freedom and political restrictions. Some of those aspects of freedom that are analyzed in the survey include: Freedom of the press (that examines that kinds of laws existing...

Words: 1022 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Law and Freedom

...Psychology 3 FREEDOM Freedom starts with a principle of self-control, also known as self-ownership. In a free society, each and every person has legal control (or "ownership") of their own body and mind. As such, the concept of freedom refers to a certain type of political empowerment. It refers specifically to equal empowerment. In other words, a free society is one with an equal distribution of legal rights and in which each and every person has as much legal rights as possible. Because freedom entails political equality, freedom can only logically entail as much legal rights as compatible with the same legal rights in others. In a free society, any one person cannot have so many legal rights that all other people could not logically have the same amount of legal rights. For example, freedom does not include the legal right to enslave someone else because freedom includes the legal right to not be enslaved. In another example, freedom does not include the legal right to non-defensively punch other people in the face against their will because freedom includes the legal right to not be offensively punched. Basically, a free person has the legal allowance to do whatever he or she wants insofar as he or she does not offensively harm or coerce other people against those other people's wills. Remember, the limitation is a logical requirement. Freedom obviously can not include the legal right to limit other people's freedom because that would be illogical. Freedom does include the...

Words: 1598 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Analysis Of Paul Rosenzweig's Theory Of Civil Liberties And Physical Security

...reading the theory of Paul Rosenzweig, I found it to be interesting on what he thought of civil liberties and physical security in regards to the United States. I feel that civil liberties and physical security are both importance but however the importance of each one changes due to certain situations. I believe in order to have freedom in our country, we do need to feel safe and that we have are entitled to our civil liberties. It is written in the Declaration of Independence saying that all men shall be entitled to have life, liberties, and the pursuit of happiness. In order to maintain life even though it may put a limit on liberties one must retain these liberties even if it means some will be unhappy. After putting security measures in place to protect our rights to live and...

Words: 464 - Pages: 2