Freedom makes people great. It increases their self-esteem, their quality of life, their education, their fulfillment, and their self-actualization. Increasing a person's freedom often provides an immediate positive influence on their life.
Sure, freedom is not always an immediate improvement. There have been times that providing freedom has increased a person's problems. Emancipating the slaves was not all wine and roses; many former slaves were not prepared for the responsibility of freedom. When children today are emancipated from their parents as they go away to college, this often creates more problems than they anticipated. We all saw how increased freedom was not exactly an immediate blessing in Iraq.
However, the problems were not caused by freedom itself. The problems were caused by the system that existed prior to freedom. A system of oppression followed by freedom leaves a chasm that cannot be quickly or easily filled. If you prepare a person for freedom, and gradually increase their freedom as their ability to handle decisions develops, you improve their life dramatically over time.
If a person or people is prepared for some level of freedom, then increasing their ability to think, learn, criticize, earn, own, travel, communicate, and create will always be an improvement over any life of restriction that can be forced upon a person. If the Taliban system of life is truly superior to any other, then it would be even more beneficial if it was practiced willingly rather than by threat of beatings and executions.
I do not propose that we inflict freedom on the planet against its will; the people of Saudi Arabia would be better off if their women were allowed equal rights; they will not realize these benefits if we try to force this freedom on them against their will. People need to have the freedom to decide not to enjoy their freedom. The U.S. achieved our level of freedom because we demanded it, we valued it, and we were willing to fight for it. The people of Vietnam did not value their own freedom in this way, which is why they are not free to this day despite the best efforts of the United States.
I argue that freedom is an ideal that everyone should seek. If it is implemented on a people who desire and value it, freedom is the one ideal that will be able to propel them to exceed their wildest dreams. No other ideal that I know of can have the empowering and enlightening effect that freedom can bring. Freedom is not a good thing, it is a great thing.
1 comment:
Hhhm. There is 'freedom from' and 'freedom to'. I know there have been times that I have been frightened by freedom--for example, one year, I took a sabbatical. During this year, I wrote a textbook...but in spite of the paid time off, I did not feel that I made as good use of my time that I might have. Freedom to shape my day is a BIG freedom to me, but sometimes I descend into slobbery when I have that freedom.
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