Freedom of Action
You may or may not have read my proposal, freedom of action, but I would like to say why i am proposing it. It is a bit odd at first you may agree, but i am trying to increase the freedom every human has. Though it may seem like a Fascist propostion, but i think freedom is the most important thing. please reply, if only to tell me what you think of this moral ground
oli
Freedom is one of only two things you can not have unless you are willing to share it with others. ( the other is Love).
The Global Market
08-12-2003, 18:58
Freedom is one of only two things you can not have unless you are willing to share it with others. ( the other is Love).
No, freedom is an individual thing. How do you "share" freedom?
Well it really goes both ways... One can have freedom for a population so everybody gets freedom but really freedom is personal. I agree, think of communist Russia, Stalin had freedom while others did not
Define "freedom".
Freedom to do something?
Freedom from some burden or threat?
What if your freedom to commit a particular act clashes with my freedom not to have that act committed towards me?
A nice example: "positive" versus "negative" freedoms. A country enacts legislation so that every citizen is free to attend whatever educational establishment they choose (let's take universities as an example). However, that freedom is meaningless without someone to pay for it; if you cannot afford to pay living expenses, where is your freedom?
And if enabling you to make use of a particular freedom requires state intervention - welfare, for example - what then happens to those who wish to be free of state taxation?
I use this only as an example, not related to my own political viewpoints. Sometimes a positive freedom - freedom to do something - requires help, and that help comes at a cost that those who wish for negative freedoms - freedom from something, such as taxation.
Dendrilys
08-12-2003, 20:09
Freedom is like a power drill.
* You probably don't want to give it to individuals who can't handle it.
* It can run and run for a long time if you have it connected to a good source, but if you try to make it run without connections to something, it will run itself out.
* It can bust things up, even in skilled hands.
* It has lots of complicated bits that very few people know how to use properly.
* You have to be wise enough to use the right bit for what you're trying to accomplish.
Freedom in and of itself is just a thing. How you use it is what is good or bad. How your government is set up dictates how people, in general, are allowed or encouraged to use it, or discouraged from using it. Therefore, total license is probably not something governments are interested in giving.