The Liberty Definition - Essay Example

? Liberty Defined Task: Liberty defined From a couple of previous decades, it is evident that something could be incorrect with how we live our lives. This is because the pursuit for wealth acquisition turned out to be a top note virtue for many. This dominant pursuit for monetary benefits has overwhelmed the bits that remained in honoring the moral values. In this regard, I presume that many tend to value cost than worth of certain issues. For instance, neither is a judicial ruling nor legislative an issue of major concern. This leads to one asking these questions: is it fair? Good? Just? Right? Many could describe this, as political questions that always been posed, however much they do not invite easy answers. Liberty is the position in which an individual is not under limitations due to the possibility of intimidation or suppression. From both ethical and political perspectives, liberty is expressed as the condition by which people are able to govern themselves, behave on their free will without suppression and have full responsibility for their deeds. Liberty can be both unconstructive and helpful. Negative liberty is characterized by nonexistence of impediment or interferences; whereas, positive liberty is an act of taking charge of personal life and appreciating the basic reason of existence. Varying ideologies of liberty entail the association or connection between the society and individuals; these include relation to life under the social contract and the active exercise of freedom and rights as essential to liberty. Liberty and lack of restrictions work interchangeably. In this regard, liberty helps to instill individuality and to suppress individualism. Characteristics of being in a liberal state include; being free, ability to do as one pleases, power to choose think or act on oneself, freedom from subjective or dictatorial control, as well as the positive aspect of social, political and economic right and privileges. Liberty could be divided into three categories, political liberty, which entails the direct impact of justice in relation to personal freedoms or rights. There is also social liberty that alludes to someone’s right to socialization. Finally, economic liberty indicates either the availability or inadequacy of economic power or hindrance by other parties of the individual from the same (Judt, 2011). Liberal is a label that can be respectable and displays less than it conceals. According to Tonny Judit, a liberal is someone who is not in agreement with interference of others affairs, one who tolerates attitudes that may be considered dissenting and unacceptable behavior. Historically, liberals have always been ambassadors, championing for individuals freedom to live freely and as they choose. Liberty does not exist on its own, but it is rooted in inspiring principles, which are interdependent. These principles are collectively referred, as democratic values that are the basis of democracy. These principles include fairness, justice and rights (Friedman 2009). Equality refers to individuals having rights that are free from any biases, since it is based on the notion that people are conceived on equal ground. However, this principle at times is said to contain an assertion that individuals must achieve equal access to wealth or property to, completely, attain this equality. Compared to equality, a libertarian tends to regard liberty as of more significance. They believe one should have the freedom to exercise anything he or she wants unlike being equal to the other. For instance, libertarians believe in suppressing the governments’ influence on its citizens and strongly disagree with the act of levying taxes to establish large-scale projects. Thomas Jefferson, a libertarian argues that liberty should be natural and is an unchallengeable right. Liberty and equality can coexist coherently in a constitutional government through formulation of a framework that checks the two principles. A right involves responsibility, duties or commitment on other parties concerning the right holder, whereas, liberty reflects on freedom or permission for the right owner. Liberty and rights have an inverted relationship; liberty grants an individual the free will of engaging in any activity when there is no obstacle that may act as a limitation. Conversely, a right acts as a barrier to one’s liberty. In other words, a right grants a person the permission to engage in an activity that is otherwise disallowed by a certain body, person or agency. With this in mind, it is, therefore, logical that liberty gives an individual or party an opportunity to exercise their rights without necessarily affecting or infringing on other individuals or parties’ rights (Hayek 1979). Justice as another democratic value refers to an act of being morally correct. This is gauged based on faith, moral principles, national and natural rules, reasonableness, and impartiality in relation to the penalty for breaching of the same. In other words, justice is the core virtue under which social systems are run or operated. In accordance to the set operational or governance parameters of any given institution, justice works as a moderator of liberty positively or negatively. In the context of liberty being a freedom to do or not to do by an individual, justice, therefore, comes in handy in ensuring that the ‘do’ or ‘not to do’ aspect of the individual is based on a right un-infringing ground. Thus, justice literally poses as a weighing balance of rights between parties or amongst a population. Based on the inter-relational ties between liberty and the three democratic values (equality, justice and rights), liberty is not based upon philosophies or policies but on fundamental principles. This is to mean that philosophies and policies cannot exist as constants since they keep on varying and changing according to theories, circumstances, and contextual opinions. Conversely, fundamental principles are based on truth; they do not vary, and they are timeless. Liberty, therefore, comes at a cost; it is earned or worked for and thus should be jealously guarded. It is imperative that we comprehend that liberty commands the populace’s moral principles and virtues. In this regard, it is thus evident that liberty acts as a tying bond to the three democratic values. My belief is that, unless we remain forthright and focused on the understanding the prevalence of liberty based on its guiding principles, we will not have ground stable enough to stand for its existence. This is to say that, without this important insight about liberty, we will have no unity, peace, prosperity and our security will be compromised. Thus, liberty with respect to policies and practices of any institution should not favour rights, justice or parity with the segregation of accountability either at a personal or general capacity. Without such an understanding and conviction, the subsequent consequences will cast a death spell across the structures and pillars on which the institution stands. References Judt T. (2011). Socialism in Provence 1871-1914. New York, NY. New York University Press. Friedman M. & Rose D. (2002). Capitalism and freedom. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago press. Hayek F. (1979). Law, legislation and liberty: a new statement of the liberal principles of justice and political economy. The political order of a free people. New York, NY: Taylor and Francis publishers. Read More