Viva Liberty!
Liberty and Society
Liberty is the unrestricted freedom to perform activities required by a person for his normal life without infringing the rights of other person or the society. In other words, Liberty is defined as the ability to act in accordance with one’s own true self or values and be able to use one’s own judgment. It is the state of a free person; exempt from subjection to the will of another claiming ownership of the person or services; and opposed to slavery, serfdom, bondage, or subjection.
Historical evidence suggests that a majority of the wars were fought to ensure freedom and preservation of one’s values. Everyone respect their freedom and values, and hence strive to keep them intact. Humans are social animals; they have always stuck together as a community. This meant there needed to be laws for smooth functioning and prosperity for the community and also so that no one infringes on the liberties and values of the others. These required a level of obedience from the members to the laws of the community as a whole.
Obedience is defined as the act of obeying orders from others. It is the compliance with that which is required by authority; subjection to rightful restraint or control. This by definition indicates actions denoting submission to authority and being dutiful.
If Liberty for all members is the core value of a community, it cannot impose laws which curb this basic right of every individual. This means laws can be enacted by the consent of every individual and not by a majority or a representative. This was never practical, so the form of democracy we live in was introduced. But over years of progression, the core value of Liberty has been eroded and it is almost non-existent today. Today the people live in a state of compliance either through lawful/unlawful force, job-contract, or on the basis of religion. This clearly infringes on the basic right of free will, as everyone is bound by visible or invisible force to submit to a higher authority. Hence expectation of obedience towards the law without freedom to judge the validity of the law is clearly an infringement of Liberty.
One can see that blanket laws favoring one section and penalizing another being enacted as a act of appeasement to sections of community. One can see the frustration among most of the people as they are adversely affected by these laws but cannot do anything about them. The reason for the current state is due to the fact that governments do not necessarily represent the people's core values. This state has come about primary due to the fact that most societies are very large with people of varying core values. For electing ones representatives, groups are created purely on the basis of place of residence. This ensures one does not have a choice of the group they belong to.
As election of representatives is on the basis of the place of residence, if one wishes to chose representatives truly representing their values, they need to reside with similar thinking people. This is not possible in today’s times where one moves from one location to another in the same country based on their individual place of work.
There is also no control on the decision making of their leaders as the accountability is restricted to the re-election year. Today every law stands enacted unless explicitly questioned and repealed by a judicial process. This gives a supreme power to the band of leaders who have managed to get elected based on the current absurd system of election. The inability of people to band together has ensured the small section of elected representatives have successfully enacted laws giving them powers giving themselves the authority of law-enforcements and thus establishing an repressive regime which stifles any form of protest.
What are we to do?
Changes in the democratic process are a must in most of the democratic countries to ensure representation of likeminded people. Electing representatives based on the majority votes and place of residence in countries with large population base and in the current age of communication seems absurd. One should be able to band together with similar thinking individuals and elect leaders truly representative of one’s values no matter where they reside in the same country.
There must be a system of continuous non-invasive monitoring of the functioning of the government and also provide with a simple mechanism of bringing about change. Simpler and Legal form of protests should be established, which actually matter without having to take to the streets in protest of one’s own elected representatives.
Obedience and conformance is a regressive thought and should be discouraged vehemently. Freedom of thought is the key for progress of humanity. Free will and liberty is the only way nature has designed everything and everyone to be. One must actively watch out for intellectuals who can sway the masses and assume power and impose laws which curb freedom and lead people towards a certain order or thought process.
Liberty is the unrestricted freedom to perform activities required by a person for his normal life without infringing the rights of other person or the society. In other words, Liberty is defined as the ability to act in accordance with one’s own true self or values and be able to use one’s own judgment. It is the state of a free person; exempt from subjection to the will of another claiming ownership of the person or services; and opposed to slavery, serfdom, bondage, or subjection.
Historical evidence suggests that a majority of the wars were fought to ensure freedom and preservation of one’s values. Everyone respect their freedom and values, and hence strive to keep them intact. Humans are social animals; they have always stuck together as a community. This meant there needed to be laws for smooth functioning and prosperity for the community and also so that no one infringes on the liberties and values of the others. These required a level of obedience from the members to the laws of the community as a whole.
Obedience is defined as the act of obeying orders from others. It is the compliance with that which is required by authority; subjection to rightful restraint or control. This by definition indicates actions denoting submission to authority and being dutiful.
If Liberty for all members is the core value of a community, it cannot impose laws which curb this basic right of every individual. This means laws can be enacted by the consent of every individual and not by a majority or a representative. This was never practical, so the form of democracy we live in was introduced. But over years of progression, the core value of Liberty has been eroded and it is almost non-existent today. Today the people live in a state of compliance either through lawful/unlawful force, job-contract, or on the basis of religion. This clearly infringes on the basic right of free will, as everyone is bound by visible or invisible force to submit to a higher authority. Hence expectation of obedience towards the law without freedom to judge the validity of the law is clearly an infringement of Liberty.
One can see that blanket laws favoring one section and penalizing another being enacted as a act of appeasement to sections of community. One can see the frustration among most of the people as they are adversely affected by these laws but cannot do anything about them. The reason for the current state is due to the fact that governments do not necessarily represent the people's core values. This state has come about primary due to the fact that most societies are very large with people of varying core values. For electing ones representatives, groups are created purely on the basis of place of residence. This ensures one does not have a choice of the group they belong to.
As election of representatives is on the basis of the place of residence, if one wishes to chose representatives truly representing their values, they need to reside with similar thinking people. This is not possible in today’s times where one moves from one location to another in the same country based on their individual place of work.
There is also no control on the decision making of their leaders as the accountability is restricted to the re-election year. Today every law stands enacted unless explicitly questioned and repealed by a judicial process. This gives a supreme power to the band of leaders who have managed to get elected based on the current absurd system of election. The inability of people to band together has ensured the small section of elected representatives have successfully enacted laws giving them powers giving themselves the authority of law-enforcements and thus establishing an repressive regime which stifles any form of protest.
What are we to do?
Changes in the democratic process are a must in most of the democratic countries to ensure representation of likeminded people. Electing representatives based on the majority votes and place of residence in countries with large population base and in the current age of communication seems absurd. One should be able to band together with similar thinking individuals and elect leaders truly representative of one’s values no matter where they reside in the same country.
There must be a system of continuous non-invasive monitoring of the functioning of the government and also provide with a simple mechanism of bringing about change. Simpler and Legal form of protests should be established, which actually matter without having to take to the streets in protest of one’s own elected representatives.
Obedience and conformance is a regressive thought and should be discouraged vehemently. Freedom of thought is the key for progress of humanity. Free will and liberty is the only way nature has designed everything and everyone to be. One must actively watch out for intellectuals who can sway the masses and assume power and impose laws which curb freedom and lead people towards a certain order or thought process.
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