What Is the Definition of Freedom?

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Commentary

We often hear the terms freedom and liberty thrown around, but how many folks understand the meaning of these words? In a constitutional, direct, or representative democracy, the people allegedly have the freedom to speak their minds and vote without fear of reprisal. The government’s role is to protect individual freedoms under the rule of law.

This Isn’t Freedom

Purposely spreading disinformation isn’t freedom. It is blatant deception disguised as the truth and is meant to control the narrative. For example, imposing draconian government edicts during the pandemic was meant to protect the population, but scientific methods were ignored in favor of a hysterical narrative that constantly changed. Arbitrary mandates just might have contributed to more deaths than should have been the case if factual medicine and science had been adhered to. Moreover, several government officials didn’t follow the rules they created as they subverted liberty.

Likewise, fooling people through fear is another feature of license, not liberty. Former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes summed it up thusly, “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic.” In other words, freedom implies personal responsibility in the larger framework of interactions within the social contract.

In California and other blue states, some Democrats have attempted to equate democracy and freedom with coddling criminals and almost criminalizing crime victims. They might think that leniency extended to criminal behavior coincides with “progressive” democracy.  However, they fail to consider that turning a blind eye to misdemeanors and lower-level felonies leads to increased crime rates. Infringements on the rights of law-abiding folks tend to accelerate and chip away at our liberties.

During the summer of 2020, Antifa and BLM protests spread across several American cities. Scores of businesses were burned and looted, iconic monuments defaced or toppled, and hundreds of innocent civilians and police officers assaulted, with up to $2 billion in property damage, according to media reports at the time. Yet most of the legacy media reported that these folks were merely protesting even as they witnessed the destruction. This grossly biased reporting was nowhere near what one would define as truthful journalism or responsible liberty.

People loot a store during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, in New York on June 1, 2020. Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images

Numerous unscrupulous influencers in key institutions have seized upon a social contagion and branded it as something real when it actually defies reality. The trans-industrial complex has recklessly endangered the health and well-being of impressionable young people by promoting intersex hormones, puberty blockers, and radical gender transition surgeries. How could this be associated with liberty when parents aren’t consulted and so-called “experts” fail to convey to youngsters the moderate to long-term repercussions of transitioning?

Authoritarian political leaders often claim that democracy and freedom are protected in the states they govern. One of the most Orwellian examples is that of North Korea, under the Kim family’s dictatorship since 1948. It is misnamed the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The Kim dynasty is the polar opposite of a democracy, and the people certainly don’t run the country.

Likewise, the People’s Republic of China doesn’t represent Chinese citizens. The only folks who have some measure of freedom are the small circle of dictators who control the levers of power. Unfortunately, there are several nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America that still have a deficit in democracy and liberty.

This Is Freedom

In recent years, far too many folks take their freedoms for granted and lose perspective on the value of freedom and how fragile it is. Throughout our history, millions of Americans have fought to preserve our cherished liberties as outlined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. If we feel entitled to freedom and don’t understand its true meaning, it could slip through our fingers.

In a sense, democracy and freedom are two sides of the same coin. Liberty is an inherent natural right bestowed by God. We can behave as we please free of restraint, as long as we don’t abridge the rights of others. No one can deliver freedom to you, nor can anyone take it away from you. However, our own government and foreign adversaries can attempt to erode our freedoms if we let our guard down and fail to be vigilant.

On a micro level, freedom consists of being considerate toward others and respecting their dignity. We can practice this in a neighborhood by parking our vehicles in our driveway or on the city street curb in front of our home and keeping noise to a reasonable level. Freedom implies consideration for others and their needs as well as the ability to self-govern our impulses.

On a larger scale, it takes more than clean elections to usher in democratic freedoms and prosperity. Free people should be able to criticize their governing representatives as well as pursue their dreams without bureaucratic meddling. Instead of abusing the meaning of liberty by illegally entering and residing in the USA, unlawful migrants should submit authentic immigration documents in their country of origin. They ought to wait their turn in an orderly process of out-migration.

Finally, the folks who best comprehend the values of democracy and liberty are usually those who have undergone many hardships and, in many cases, have experienced the absence of freedom in their lives. Genuine liberty should motivate us to seek the truth and other moral virtues as we contribute to society.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.