The Route to Freedom The American culture has been dominated by the idea of freedom and liberty. America is considered the land of free where people can practice their own religions, traditions, and cultures, knowing that there is no unjust treatment or oppression towards people. Fundamentally, America’s freedom began with the hard work of the Continental Congress when The Declaration of Independence was crafted by Thomas Jefferson. Nevertheless, The Declaration of Independence did not grant liberty to all citizens and that is why Elizabeth Cady Stanton crafted the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions in order to give rights to women.
The phrase, “The average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe”, by H.L. Mencken, an American essayist and social critic, is an accurate and agreeable statement. What Mencken is trying to say here is that people in this society don’t really look for freedom to do whatever they want, instead they look for the feeling of safety because without safety you can’t live life to the fullest. What is freedom if you don’t feel safe? Mencken’s quote emphasizes the true meaning of safety and gets you thinking about what it would be life if we didn’t have that.
America is known as the “Land of the free, home of the brave,” and as Americans, we are both free and brave. Americans take a stand, sticking to their values no matter the consequences. Their unbridled willpower makes Americans a force to be reckoned with and the forerunners of change, good and bad. This change appears as feminism, activism, free speech, capitalism, civil rights, and social justice.
In "Human Freedom and the Self", Roderick Chisholm has taken a libertarian approach on the issue of free will and determinism. Libertarians believe that humans have free will and make a distinction that free will and determinism are incompatible. Chisholm has the same opinion. On the problem of human freedom, Chisholm thinks that “Human beings are responsible agents; but this fact appears to conflict with a deterministic view of human action (the view that every event that is involved in an act is caused by some other event); and it also appears to conflict with an indeterministic view of human action (the view that the act, or some event that is essential to the act, is not caused at all).”(Page 3). He does not agree that determinism or indeterminism
Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. The foundation of America is freedom. Freedom from Britain. However, the freedom is limited to white males who own property. When colonists started to immigrate to America, they wanted to escape from under the rule of Britain.
Freedom- what does it mean? Freedom’s definition can differ depending on the culture you ask. Over the course of American history, there have been many influential documents that define what American freedom means. None, however, have been quite as compelling as the Preamble to the Constitution. This piece brings Americans together while showing the values that Americans hold near and dear; in short, it shows what it means to be “American.”
To have freedom is to do, say, or think anything one desire without restriction. However there is an indefinite difference between feeling free and being free, it's how unassuming people tend to cross the blurry line where being free stops, and feeling free begins. The great philosopher Epictetus once said ‘’Happiness and freedom begin with one principle: some things are within our control and some things are not’’. This can also refer to the science fiction novel by Octavia E. Butler, where she deftly contrasts the weighty subjects of racism, human rights, and enslavement. It follows a story about Dana, an African American woman from 1970s California, who travels via a series of time travels to an antebellum South plantation.
Free will is defined by three things: (1) there is nothing that prevents a person from doing a certain thing, (2) there is nothing that keeps a person from doing or forces them to do a certain thing and, (3) the person can do whatever they choose. A person’s actions are free, according to Hobbes, if a person can do what they have a will to do. The “will,” means the last appetite before action; it is the state of mind that leads one to act. The idea is that freedom means there is nothing external blocking you from doing what you will to do. It does not matter whether your decision to do one thing rather than another was caused by factors outside of your control.
William James thought the real problem was not understanding freedom, but rather knowing what determinism was. Determinism could be looked at as a belief. Indeterminism is not to accept this, but accept the alternatives. The world could be viewed as deterministic or in deterministic. There is no correct view because it brings conclusions only on facts we have.
H. L. Mencken wrote “the average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.” I agree with this quote because of the deeper meaning it has behind it. In today’s society, people do not seem to have ambitions or dreams that they want to pursue. A lot of people settle with a job that pays just enough to make a living or they do not go beyond their limits to get a higher education to be able to make more money.
Associating the word “freedom” with American values is a widely accepted ideology. However, the application of “freedom” to the people who have lived and worked within the United States is spotty, inconsistent or non-existent throughout U.S. labor history. In consequence, it is an obligation to ask: what is freedom? Merriam Webster gives several definitions for “freedom”. The first two are“ the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action and “liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another.”
True freedom is commonly defined as absolute choice; whether it is in thought, actions or speech, freedom is an individual’s ability to take control of their lives and enables the human experience. Civilization views freedom as an ideal, yet the means of achieving it and whether or not freedom is truly achieved remains ambiguous. There are often individuals in civilized society who struggle and believe themselves to be free after a hard earned victory against oppression. Yet, the implications of maintaining a civilized social structure upon freedom is often overlooked. Many individuals view themselves as free from a subjective standpoint, although true freedom has an absolute meaning.
Freedom Anyone in the world with an occasional source of internet has no choice but to see the seemingly outrageous news stories, posted weekly on events in the US. American’s have made their distrust in the government more than obvious, which in many cases, the government has provoked. The largest debate in the states today is the with the concept of freedom and where the lines are drawn between social security, equality, and one’s rights. Freedom is and always has been heavily emphasized in the development of the 50 states. It’s brought peace and war both figuratively and literally.
We cannot hope to find an easy solution to the question of “what is freedom?” , only work to develop nuance in
Freedom means the power or right to act, speak, or think without restraint, and the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. Freedom is the correction to do what he/she wants, live life, and eat what he/she wants. How do we live free? We live free by not judging other people’s freedom rights. Everyone has their own rights.
