Freedom?

“If society fits you comfortably enough, you call it freedom.”
- Robert Frost

Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously observed about pornography, “I know it when I see it.” The same might be said about freedom. There may not be a universally agreed upon definition of freedom, but most of us know it when we see it, or at least think we do. Each individual’s perception of their own freedom, or lack thereof, is highly subjective. Two people living in the same country, at the same time, at the same socio-economic level, of the same ethnicity, and of similar age may hold vastly disparate views as to their own, and their nation’s, freedom.

During our War for Independence, a majority of colonists were indifferent to dissolving America’s bonds with the motherland; in fact many were opposed to the move altogether. Surely, these “loyalists” thought, “What’s the big deal? Why ruin a good thing? We are free enough.” Only a small fraction of Chinese stared down the tanks in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Granted, these brave souls were most certainly morally supported by a great number of Chinese (those that were even aware of the event). Many more, I believe, thought, “Why are these kids making trouble? Things could be much worse.”

So, possibly, individual freedom is not only in the eye of the beholder, but is also a matter of degree. The American loyalists were indeed “free enough”; maybe not as free as their British cousins or the Dutch, but free nonetheless. A majority of Chinese in 1989 could, with some legitimacy, look back over their lifetimes and conclude that they enjoyed considerable freedom, compared to during the Cultural Revolution or the “Great Leap Forward.”

In many ways, Americans are freer than they have been in the past. Homosexuality and interracial marriage have become more accepted. African-Americans have experienced an unprecedented expansion of personal freedom over the past 60 years or so. Discussion of drug legalization has crept out of the fringes and into the mainstream, and marijuana decriminalization ballot initiatives have sprung up across the country. In many states, gun laws over the past 20 years have become increasingly less restrictive, and unlike 40 years ago, there is no longer an active military draft.

Unfortunately, in other areas we are considerably less free. Government regulations have made it more difficult for entrepreneurs to start new businesses. A perverted judicial interpretation of eminent domain has eroded property rights, allowing governments to confiscate land from one private owner and transfer it to another. Our natural right to travel, as well as the constitutionally guaranteed “right of the people to be secure in their persons,” have been abridged by an irrational and overzealous Department of Homeland Security and TSA. There are calls from both the Left and the Right for some form of national identification system. Will we soon, in the name of national security, be randomly asked to show our “papers,” as citizens of former Soviet bloc countries were once required?

Please, take a moment to contemplate your own personal freedom and how free you feel America has become. Then vote in the poll in the left-hand column. Thank you.

“There is no such thing as part freedom.”
- Nelson Mandela