The Facades of Freedom essays

The Facades of Freedom essays There are multitudes of varying perceptions regarding the concept of freedom. Whether the freedom of the individual, of our nation or of the human race, there is a constant state of conflicting emotions in our country that date back to the colonial days. Just as the new settlers struggled to identify and trigger their ideas of freedom, so do Americans today. Nothing has stricken more personal chords throughout history than the struggle and debate over differing beliefs of freedom As this is a very complex area of discussion, many questions arose: Did our Founding Fathers subscribe to an idea of freedom that persists today? Or has our centrally controlled government converted our ancestors' guidelines of freedom to hold more power over the people? These are a few questions that many Americans face today, but through a philosophical view, questions surfaced on the freedom of the human race. Questions such as: Are we as humans capable of handling complete and ultimate freedom? Do we need some sort of guidelines and laws to sustain us as a race? And most importantly, are people ultimately afraid of true freedom? Following is an exploration of these questions. Webster's Dictionary defines freedom as the condition of being free of restraints. It also states that one should possess liberty from slavery, detention, and oppression. It states that freedom and liberty are virtually synonymous. In order to have complete freedom, people must have no restrictions on h ow they think, speak, or act. People are responsible for realizing what choices they have and must have the opportunity to act on those choices. Ultimately, to be free, people must not be controlled by anyone else. Yet, it is known that no organized society can actually provide all these conditions at all times. "Liberty too must be limited to be possessed" was expressed by Edmund Burke, a British philosopher. These limitations Burke spoke of arises the idea that in order to ha...