Freedom

To and From

As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. — Abraham Lincoln

If the opposite of oppression and enslavement is FREEDOM, we all want it … a lot! When we feel our freedom is being interfered with, we take it as a personal violation and we generally get angry and start pushing back. Makes sense.

Each of us wants to have our own thoughts and ideas. That’s a form of freedom too. The first thing that fascists and dictators do is take control of the media and the public sphere of debate and shut it down … hard! If you can control what people can say and hear, you can control their minds and behavior. So freedom of thought and speech are at the heart of a healthy democracy and person.

Words Matter

Life, LIBERTY and the pursuit of happiness … LIBERTE, egalite, fraternite … Give me LIBERTY or give me death …

When we all use the same word, we can be forgiven for assuming that we all mean the same thing. But we don’t. Words are just sign posts for our thoughts and ideas. The title of a book or story doesn’t show us everything contained inside. We can use a word like freedom and mean very different things.

In the current cultural discourse, people have differing views on the topic of freedom. One way of mapping that cognitive diversity is to divide up freedom into two categories:

• Freedom TO

• Freedom FROM

Freedom TO

When we use the word freedom, we usually mean the freedom TO do what we want:

• to think and say what we want

• to worship how we want or not at all

• to select our style of clothing, hair etc.

• to live and work where we want

• to love/marry who we want or not

• to receive the treatments we want or refuse them

• to have a child or not

• to use the mood altering substances we want

• to die how and when we want

This Freedom TO side of liberty has to do with personal control and autonomy and choicefulness. It matters a lot to most of us. It’s about our survival and sanity and well-being. From childhood on, we don’t like parents and teachers and managers and politicians telling us what we can and can’t do. We want to be the boss of us!

Freedom FROM

Related to the freedom TO do what we want is the freedom FROM the things that can interfere with our autonomy and control such as

• Laws (musts)

• Cultural norms and values (shoulds)

• Peer pressure

• Parental rules and discipline

• Workplace policies and regulations

• Police action

• Governmental directives

These all nibble away at the omnipotence every young child and many adults desire. But without reasonable limits on individual freedom, there will be chaos and anarchy and death. It’s the price we pay for civilization, but most people resent that to a greater or lesser degree.

Both/And

You can tell the character of a person by what makes them angry. — Abraham Lincoln

Most people want both kinds of freedom, and that’s all well and good. Where things can get interesting is when people demand a very specific combination of freedom TO and FROM.

For example, some people define “freedom of speech” as the freedom TO say whatever they want AND the freedom FROM any consequences for what they said. These people will react angrily if anyone criticizes or shames or shuns or rejects them for what they say. They will complain that their freedom of speech is being taken away from them. In fact, their freedom TO speak is fully intact and protected. They are really protesting their lack of freedom FROM any consequences for what they said.

Other examples of this To-AND-From definition of freedom include:

• Freedom to have sex AND freedom from consequences such as emotional entanglement, unwanted pregnancy, parental/financial responsibilities etc.

• Freedom to use publicly funded resources and infrastructure AND freedom from paying the taxes that support them

• Freedom to only think about oneself AND freedom from being unpopular for that attitude

• Freedom to break the law AND freedom from punishment

• Freedom to not perform well at work AND freedom from being evaluated or terminated

• Freedom to borrow money AND freedom from having to pay it back (with interest)

You might chuckle at some of these examples as unrealistic or childish, but just make sure you don’t say that to someone who defines their freedom that way. You’re free to do that but you won’t be free from their reaction if you do!

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