Freedom

    This morning on National Public Radio (NPR, WGBH) on The Takeaway, there was a discussion of Freedom (NPR, December 17^th 2010). Freedom is perhaps the primary value of the United States. Our nation was built on immigration; we believed this was the "land of opportunity" where people could live free without the limitations of an over-powering government, as many people experienced in their own homelands. However, with settlement there was a vision that in the "land of opportunity" people would have freedom with their new found citizenship.

    In response to The Takeaway's host, Eric Foner of Colombia University, pointed out the difference in freedom given vs. freedom earned via the struggles that different groups endured. From a historical perspective, the host of The Takeaway proposed, what if individuals who came to the United States were automatically given freedom rather than the necessity to earn it, i.e. slaves, women and other oppressed demographics (NPR, 2010).

    Foner asserts that of course reconsideration of the way things happened is merely in hindsight but points out the difference between given or "entitled freedom" vs. freedom earned. If we began our journey of national establishment giving all Americans freedom, would the outcome be different today?

    As an individual who personally believes in freedom and equality for everyone I would be considered an ethical humanist in contemporary terms (perhaps a socialist in another era— but we will leave that for another blog). I believe that through strife and heartache we all grow and learn a greater sense of appreciation. Nevertheless, this is a horrible argument coming from an American who never knew the struggles of the oppressed. I also strongly believe that the method of how groups of people had to earn their rights and freedoms were unnecessary, unethical and inappropriate.

    Therefore, if we all began with a blank slate, how could American's earn their freedom if it was something ascertained as a natural right? Do we work from the bottom up, so as a blank slate and then build our freedom within this nation state, or do we assume a top-down method where we all begin free and equal and you would suffer the loss of rights and freedom upon ill actions against society's norms? Certainly you can see how both of these methods were institutionalized within our society over time. Individuals who suffered enslavement and oppression had to earn their rights whereas others experience downward mobility because of their actions; such as criminals.

 

 

 

National Public Radio (2010). Retrieved on December 17^th, 2010. Supportive information retrieved from; http://www.thetakeaway.org/2010/dec/17/american-values-freedom/