Freedom and Equality in Democratic Societies - Essay Example

Sur Supervisor Freedom and Equality Can freedom and equality be compatible? Since ages, many thinkers and sociologists have proposed their view points on this important topic of freedom and equality time to time. In the beginning of the 19th century, in France and Spain, the term liberalism came into limelight. The meaning of the word changed dramatically by the end of 19th century and many other terms such as individual rights, free-markets with limited governance came into being. Classical liberals supported the viewpoint of private property with individual liberty. That means everyone must have the right to live their life employing their capital and labor as per their liking. Locke is considered one of the proponents of classical liberalism. In the Second Treatise of Civil Government, Locke argues that ruler derives power from the people. All individuals have a birth right to possess property and if government or ruler deprives them from this natural right, the people have all right to force ruler to leave. Locke also speaks about equality for everyone. He states liberty does not mean that anyone is given liberty of destroying oneself or for that matter anyone else's property, health, life or freedom. No one can encroach on other's rights or inflict destruction. Simply the law of nature must prevail that speaks about peace and preservation for fellow citizens. Locke lends a special emphasis on having a freedom to possess earned property. Whatever has been acquired through one's labor and hard work will, in all case, belong to that person and no one else will have right on that possession. Locke is categorical in stating that human being is born with a perfect freedom and full rights of enjoyment with what has been provided by nature. And to this extent everyone is equal. Thus, for Locke, freedom is compatible with equality as far as it is derived from the nature and its gifts to mankind – no discrimination of any kind can be allowed. On freedom, Jean Rousseau declares, "Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains" (1). Rousseau’s social contract is a political concept that was written in the eighteenth century when monarchs were at the helm of affairs at the most of places and democratic system had not taken its roots. Social contract deals with people's freedom and rights albeit in a political sense. Everyone is free in this social contract and laws that are essentially to safeguard and regulate each individual. He also asserts that freedom of each person is the chief element to be preserved; however, they still need to follow social contract for their own survival. As per Rousseau, equality and freedom are two political ends and they are correlated such that the equality is a necessary condition to restore freedom. With the advent of industrial revolution in Europe, a new kind of thought process emerged, especially from Marx and Angles as they believed that a great dividing line existed between haves and have-nots. According to them, there is no true equality among the people and the root cause behind inequality is the capitalist nature of the society. According to them, a true freedom is acquired when everyone is free from oppression and exploitation by any section of the society. They strongly believe that a large section of the labor class in the society does not enjoy true freedom or equality. That was the time when Europe had already ushered into a great industrial revolution in the nineteenth century and large scale labor transition to the industries took place. For them, economic equality is of a great importance for the society and since that due to its absence labor class does not enjoy the true freedom. In other sense, they emphasize that freedom and equality are not compatible and individual freedom to generate wealth must be taken away to restore equality among the people. In their Manifesto, they depict, "Masses of laborers, crowded into the factor, are organized like soldiers. Not only are they slaves of the bourgeois class, and the bourgeois state, they are daily and hourly enslaved by the machine, by the over-seer"(415). Marx's views on equality and freedom during his life time and their after influenced the European society and other parts of the world immensely giving rise to the communist governments in many parts of the world; however, the whole idea of equality without individual freedom collapsed like a pack-of-cards during 1989 when most of the communist countries failed economically and politically. Friedrich Engels describes about the condition of working-class in Manchester during 1840s to emphasize his perspective on freedom and equality of life. His detailed observations in the city of Manchester clearly demonstrate that laborer or working class never enjoyed a kind of equality with the middle class. What he finds that the working people's quarters are located away from the main part of the city that is reserved for the middle-class. Even these houses exhibit a shabby look as he describes: “Below the bridge you look upon the piles of debris, the refuse, filth, and offal from the courts on the steep left bank; here each house is packed close behind its neighbour and a piece of each is visible, all black, smoky, crumbling, ancient, with broken panes and window frames. The background is furnished by old barrack-like factory buildings” (Engels, 52). The working class people use to live in such an indecent condition in the Manchester and people are deprived of certain minimum requirements such as a pure air and water. His commentary categorically mentioned that such a horrible state of affairs has been contributed by the industrial revolution that flourishes in the world's first industrial city of Manchester during 1840s and that is instrumental in developing inequality between two different classes of people. Engels want to emphasize that significant inequality prevailed in the industrial town of England and usual talk of freedom has no meaning for economically weaker section of the society until economic equality is restored. Engels commentary on economic disparities on the behest of industrial revolution emphasize that freedom and equality are incompatible. During 18th Century and before the society was largely fragmented in several classes. States were largely involved in the wars and the industrial revolution had just begun. The French Revolution finally culminates into “The Declaration of Rights of Man". France's National Assembly adopts 17 articles during 1789 specifying the basic charters of human rights. The basic tenet of the declaration says that “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights” (Article 1). The Article 1 specifies about rights of freedom, and right to property. The Article also specifies that all citizens of the nation bore equal rights before the law. In this declaration of rights of man, freedom of religion and speech are granted within legal statutes. Possession of property is considered a fundamental right for all citizens alike. National Assembly establishes that among the rights of man is the right of free communication of opinions and ideas. That means "Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law" (Article 11). National Assembly in its Charter also specifies that “All citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally eligible to all dignities and to all public positions and occupations, according to their abilities, and without distinction except that of their virtues and talents (Article 6). Thus, National Assembly in France amalgamates Locke and Rousseau’s ideas while formulating own constitution and establishes that freedom and equality are quite compatible with each other and freedom of any citizen is not compromised at all while considering all of them equal before the law. While summing up the views expressed by various enlightened thinkers time to time, it emerges that freedom and equality are compatible in the general sense of the word. Political setup and mankind has gained much of the maturity since the French and industrial revolution took place in the eighteenth century. As such everyone is free to do what one wishes, yet State does not permit unlimited freedom to anyone that could result into exploitation of the common masses. For example, at times, people or organizations attempt to create monopolistic situation to profit from but that kind of freedom, certainly, harms fellow citizens or consumers. State regulatory bodies are formulated precisely to prevent such practices and restrict such behaviors. Does this mean that the State Regulatory Body is functioning against individual freedom? Absolutely not! In fact, regulatory bodies are formed for a fair play in the market place and prevent monopoly practices of the large organization. In this way, regulatory bodies are serving to the cause of bringing equity and justice thwarting anarchy or deceitfulness in the society but that does not mean that freedom and equality are incompatible. In today’s world, one cannot have unlimited freedom to do anything as we all live in a society with the objective of a common good for all. Conversely, Lenin's and Stalin's version of Communism talk about economic equality but without considering individual freedom for its citizens. Even the State fails to deliver economic equality that they talk about for the simple reason that individual freedom is totally non-existent. Given the choice between economic equality and freedom, most people would choose individual freedom over economic equality. In the true sense, it is a pseudo-equality that deprives everyone from everything as people has no freedom to do any creative activities. Individual freedom is suppressed to such an extent that the people lose charms in any developmental activities. The example of Soviet Russia brand Communism informs only one thing that freedom can pave the way for economic equality sooner or later but it cannot work other way around. The notion of human freedom is a natural state that person is born with to think, do or follow any pursuit that they wish to do without harming fellow citizens. Equality means all are equal before the law as far as its enforcement is concerned but it cannot not be construed that economic equality for all may be acquired as Marx and Angels propose in their Manifesto. In the modern democratic political set up, States run several welfare programs for the growth and advancement of economically weaker class and that is how the issue of economic inequality is addressed in the society without jeopardizing freedom of other people. In the truly modern democratic societies, thus, freedom and equality goes hand in hand – they are fully compatible with each other. Works-Cited Encyclopedia of Britannica. Declaration of the Rights of Man - 1789. Web. 17 May 2013. http://ww.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/503563/Declaration-of-the-Rights-of-Man- and-of-the-Citizen Engels, Friedrich. The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844. (London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1892), pp. 45, 48-53 Locke, John. The Second Treatise of Civil Government. 1960, Web. 17 May 2013. http://www.constitution.org/jl/2ndtreat.txt Marx, Karl & Engels, Friedrich. Manifesto of the Communist party: Translation by Samuel Moore. (New York: Socialist Labor Party, 1888), 7-21, 28 Revolution. Declaration of the Rights of Man - 1789. Web. 17 May 2013. http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/295/ Rousseau, Jean J. The Social Contract. Translated 1782 by G. D. H. Cole, public domain. Read More