The word ‘freedom’ gets brought up a lot, by all kinds of people. But what does it even mean?
Regardless of your personal political leanings, you will likely have heard someone who agrees with you and someone who disagrees with you, talking about how their freedoms are being curtailed. Politicians of all stripes use the word frequently, often with a generic-sounding phase like, “I’ll fight for your freedoms!”
Certainly, this sounds good. We all want to be free, right? Free to say and do what we want without government interference. Of course, complete individual freedom immediately comes into conflict with other individual freedoms. My right to drive on the wrong side of the road conflicts with your right to have a safe commute.
What we say and do impacts other people, and so there have to be rules, and those rules place limits on our freedoms. The first amendment, for instance, guarantees free speech, but even free speech has limits.
Additionally, there seems to be some confusion about consequences. Free speech means you have the right to say any offensive thing you want. But other people then also have the right to think you are a jerk for saying them. Which might mean you get fired from your job, or friendships might end. You are not free from consequences of your speech and/or actions.
Most people agree that one person’s freedom does not permit them to injure or kill someone else. But what about injury to themselves? Or injuries to society as a whole? Most people seem to agree that requiring drivers to wear seatbelts is an overall good, for example, even though it limits the freedom of the driver.
How do you define freedom? Do you feel that our society is more free than not? In what ways are your freedoms being restricted? Are there times when that restriction is a good thing?
Related questions: Are you free? What makes something a human right? Freedom or security?