Are We Free within Society - Research Paper Example

 Are We Free Within Society? Introduction “Social freedom is the concept philosophers, political scientists, and also economists are often concerned with - often without realizing it - when dealing with the subject of liberty” (Oppenheim). Social freedom is a controversial topic from the beginning of the human history itself. Bible says that the God has allowed Adam and Eve to eat everything available in the Aden except the fruit of a particular tree. In other words, God has put a restriction upon the freedom of the human when he started the creation of the world. God has realized that it is not wise to give full freedom to human as this freedom could be misused for selfish purposes. In the current society also we are hearing lot of slogans everyday for increased freedom; feminists argue for more freedom for women, children asking more freedom from the parents, adults asking more liberalized rules in the society for increasing their freedom etc. This paper explores various aspects of social freedom. Social freedom A free society is a society where people shall have the right to exercise unlimited freedom in their own lives, freedom to live in whatever manner they choose, freedom to pursue their own goals, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal rights of others to do the same. Government's only role is to secure each individual's rights, as Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence. I took an oath to God that my mission in life is to strive to attain a free society (A Free Society) It is difficult to attain absolute freedom in our society because of the interdependence of each and every body in a society. Man is a social animal. It is not necessary that all the liberties taken by a person may confine within his limits alone. His actions can affect others as well. For example, a person who strives for absolute freedom may think that he wanted to have sex with all the females he likes. On the other hand, it is not necessary that all the females like him same way. So he cannot have such liberties in his life in our social setup which is turn restricts his freedom. Government want to ensure that equal rights were provided to all and the rights of one may not create any problem to the rights of another. It is evident from above discussion that absolute freedom is not possible at all. On the other hand, freedom for doing something which may not disturb others is also restricted in the current society. We need permission from government for constructing a house; we need to pay taxes to government even if we are not getting anything in return, for buying property we have to pay taxes and so on. It is not possible for us to possess a gun even for our self protection without the license from the government. Even for opening a barber shop, permission from the government needed. It is not possible for us to kill certain preserved species animals even if it attacks us. For example, in India like countries killing of wild animals is prohibited even if they destroy the cultivation. In other words, we are not enjoying any social freedom to do something even if it doesn’t create any problems to others. So, let's reiterate. You need government permission to make your home, travel, earn a living, defend yourself, obtain medical treatment, and educate your children. You will never get government permission (i.e., make it illegal) to entertain your mind and body in unapproved ways. You must sell your property to the government if they want it, and you must kill and die for them if they tell you to. And you have no choice but to pay for it all anyway, whether you like it or not (A Free Society) Social freedom can be defined in two ways. It is the protection against the threats to the nation’s existence and well-being. Second, it means a search for measures and possibilities to achieve the goals of social development and improvement (MORKUNIENE) When we analyze social freedom with respect to first definition we can see that most of the nations are not free from threats to the nation’s existence and well-being. Even one of the strongest nations in the world, United States is also at present struggling to save the country from terrorist attacks. 9/11 world trade centre attack has proved that no nations enjoy social freedom as far as the security of the nation is concerned. Apart from United States, countries like India, Pakistan, China Russia etc are also facing so many security threats one way or other. Indian parliament and the business hub Mumbai city have been attacked by terrorists recently, which proved that terrorists can strike anywhere anytime. The second definition of social freedom refers to the social development or improvement. Each person in our society has equal rights with respect to all the social norms in our society. For example, freedom to earn, express and educate are equal for all. But because of so many barriers, these freedoms are not exercised properly by all the people. Some people earn more, express freely and educate as they like while some others, struggle to earn, express or educate. In such cases, the social freedom is limited to only a particular segment alone. Social freedom gives priority to national consciousness and intellectual resources Economic reforms and problems of social inequality, social disintegration and quite intensive emigration abroad and a radical change in the lifestyle of citizens result in passivity or lack of participation in political and economic life. The economic crisis is reflected in substantial negative changes in people’s self-esteem and dignity, as well as in loss of social identity (MORKUNIENE). Many sociologists are of the view that the current wide spread terrorism is the result of social inequalities. Some communities have a strong feeling that their interests were neglected by some dominant communities. For example, the Israel-Palestine problem is believed to be one of the major reasons for the increased terrorist activities at present. Muslim communities have a strong feeling that America has a strong bias towards Israel and they are reluctant in preventing Israel from their massacres against the Palestinian people. In other words, they feel that America is using its muscle power to silence other communities. These communities have developed a feeling that their social freedom is denied by America and in order to reestablish their social freedom they engage in terrorism like antisocial activities. There are those who insist that the distinction between negative and positive liberty is merely verbal. Surely, they maintain , if you are free from certain restraints, then you are free to direct your own life; and conversely , you cannot be in control of your own destiny unless you have been relieved of various restrictions. Hence, there can be no pure negative account of freedom - nor for that matter any pure positive one (Kristjánsson, p.10) It is not possible for the human being to live like animals in the society. The wisdom, which segregates human from animals, forced them to obey certain rules in the society for the stability of the society. For example, animals kill its preys whenever they become hungry and moreover they engage in sexual activities with the females of the same species any time anywhere. Such animal acts cannot be followed by human being since such acts may destroy the social setup. In other words, it is not possible for us to control our destiny because of various restrictions upon us. Even if these restrictions are relieved, then also our destiny is beyond our control. Nobody knows from where we come and where we go. Earth is a temporary shelter for us and our inability to identify the secret of our life has forced us to obey certain norms in our life. For example, our weakness or unawareness in controlling our destiny forced us to believe in God. Even though science doesn’t have much idea about the existence of God, religions have lot of ideas and beliefs about the existence of God. Belief in God forced us to obey certain customs and norms in our life. Thus we cannot say that we are free in our social life. Threats to social freedom The main threats to social freedom are poverty, unemployment, lack of education, gender inequalities, polarization of wealth to a particular segment, insecurity of income, increasing flow of intellectual and creative potential from the sciences to other branches of activities and increasing criminality (MORKUNIENE). Poverty is one of the major barriers for enjoying social freedom. Everybody wants to enjoy their life. Nobody wants to lead a miserable life. The uncertainties about the life after death force us to enjoy our life as much as possible. But most of the enjoyments are associated with money and only rich people can enjoy their life up to certain extent while poor people struggle fin their livelihood. Thus poverty prevents people from enjoying the social freedom. Unemployment is another threat for social freedom. An unemployed person always looks for an employment to find his livelihood rather than enjoying his life. He will always be under immense stress to achieve an employment and will never be able to look for the freedom aspect of his social life in the absence of an employment. For example, lot of employed people take a break from their employment and enjoy their vacation by touring other beautiful place. Such things are unimaginable for an unemployed person. Lack of education is another factor which prevents a person from acquiring social freedom. Society values education much and only the well educated people are getting good employment. Moreover the social status of the educated people is more compared to illiterate people. Educated people are getting more respects in public places whereas illiterates are not cared by others. For example, the words of an educated person will be listened properly by others whereas words of uneducated ones will be neglected by the society. Thus social freedom has direct relationships with education. Gender inequalities are another threat to social freedom. Traditionally, women enjoy less freedom compared to men. Moreover, the muscle power of men helped them to dominate their female counterparts in many ways. Women were not allowed to even work during ancient days. Their freedom was limited within the walls of their home earlier. Even though, women enjoy lot of freedom now compared to ancient periods, still they have lot of restrictions in the society. Many countries outside the US have considerably less freedoms and even more class and gender barriers. An extreme example of this is women in Afghanistan where women are treated as sub-humans, fit only for household slavery and as means of procreation. They basically have no freedom whatsoever. They are deprived of the right to an education and the right to work, they aren't even allowed to show their faces in public, but must cover themselves from head to toe. This demonstrates the extremely different societies and freedoms that go along with them throughout the world (Are We Free Within Society?) Afghan and Iranian women specifically and the Muslim women generally enjoys less social freedom because of the religious fundamentalism and male dominating societies. Muslim women forced to cover their entire body including face whenever they go out of their home even though the Muslim male community doesn’t have such restrictions. Moreover, Muslim men can easily divorce his wife and engage in another relationship whereas the Muslim women don’t have such liberties. In other worlds, generally speaking, social freedom has double meaning in most of the societies with respect to the gender differences; it is more evident in Muslim communities. The Iranian Presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi's wife criticized the social setup in Iran in an election campaign by saying that “When participating in social activities, our women must feel both secure and liberated and they must be allowed to freely choose their career, work environment, and clothing" (Iranian women deserve more freedom: Mousavi's wife) Polarization of wealth to a particular segment prevents others from enjoying social freedom. For example, Wealthy persons may have lot of facilities in their home like computers, internet facilities, expensive cars and televisions etc. Thus they can enjoy their social life more compared to the poor segment of the society. Increasing criminal behavior in the society is restricting our social freedom. For example, after 9/11 tourists are more particular while selecting their destinations for holiday spending. Pakistan and India like countries are more volatile to terrorist’s activities. Pakistan is manufacturing terrorists for creating problems in India and America like countries where they accused that the freedom for Muslim communities are less. An American tourist who wishes to see some places in India or Pakistan will think twice because of the threats from the terrorists. Thus increased criminal behavior has restricted our social freedom. Conclusions Absolute social freedom is never attainable for human being. Even freedom for doing something which may not sacrifice other’s interest is not allowed in the present society. Our society is driven by certain prejudices and misconceptions. The major threats for social freedom are poverty, lack of education, gender differences, unemployment etc. The interdependence of human within the society has forced him to succumb to the restrictions imposed upon him. It is possible that the freedom of one person may sacrifice something of the other. Under such circumstances, the scope for absolute freedom or even restricted freedom is limited in the current world. We can safely say that we are not free within the society or we can say that we are constrained to so many things in our society. Works Cited 1. “A Free Society”. 2006. 11 December 2009. 2. “Are We Free Within Society?”.2009. 11 December 2009. 3. “Iranian women deserve more freedom: Mousavi's wife”. 11 December 2009. 4. Kristjánsson, Kristján. “Social Freedom: The Responsibility View. 5. MORKUNIENE, JURATE. “SOCIAL FREEDOM IN CONTEMPORARY THOUGHT”. 11 December 2009. 6. Oppenheim, Felix E. “Social freedom: Definition, measurability, valuation”. 11 December 2009. Read More