Well folks, my blog "Freedom of Speech" mentions a very strong, yet important word of the English language. "Freedom"! And as we approach the day our country achieved freedom against the British raj, i had to write a post about it. Different people across the world interpret this word in different forms. I read this story a really long time back but it is somehow etched in my memory since it taught me a profound meaning of the word!
An English gentleman decided to take a walk in a park, one fine day. As he was in good spirits, he started twirling his umbrella around as he strolled down the path in the park. Unfortunately, the umbrella ended up smacking another pedestrian on the nose, and the second gentleman was understandably very upset about this. When the injured man took up the issue with the first man, the first man said "I have the freedom to walk around in a public place in any manner i choose fit.” The second man replied, "Sir, your freedom ends where my nose begins."
This particular story redefines the word freedom for me. My rights should not hamper the way in which another person is accommodating his. Freedom has been a rallying call for reformers and revolutionaries throughout human history. The passion and sacrifice poured into that cause has however, not been based on any general consensus about the definition of the term. Almost the first thing to strike any student of the subject is the bewildering variety of concepts, social constructs and meanings that have become attached to this single emotive word. This is an issue in human history far too important to be ignored. An attempt must therefore be made to build the idea anew on the base of an acceptance of the axioms and choice of the dogma, and on the principles and aim of the society that arise from those decisions. The principle establishes that our survival both as individuals and as a species depends on our willingness to co-operate with one another, and to accept and maintain the degree of social order that makes a mutually supportive communal life possible. If it is to be consistent in its teachings therefore, the society should hold that freedom can only be enjoyed under conditions of social order compatible with that principle. The society will always teach that without stable social order no-one can hope to live long enough, or have sufficient liberty from the struggle to ensure the infinite survival of our species, to be fully free. This defines the word “freedom” for me!
An English gentleman decided to take a walk in a park, one fine day. As he was in good spirits, he started twirling his umbrella around as he strolled down the path in the park. Unfortunately, the umbrella ended up smacking another pedestrian on the nose, and the second gentleman was understandably very upset about this. When the injured man took up the issue with the first man, the first man said "I have the freedom to walk around in a public place in any manner i choose fit.” The second man replied, "Sir, your freedom ends where my nose begins."
This particular story redefines the word freedom for me. My rights should not hamper the way in which another person is accommodating his. Freedom has been a rallying call for reformers and revolutionaries throughout human history. The passion and sacrifice poured into that cause has however, not been based on any general consensus about the definition of the term. Almost the first thing to strike any student of the subject is the bewildering variety of concepts, social constructs and meanings that have become attached to this single emotive word. This is an issue in human history far too important to be ignored. An attempt must therefore be made to build the idea anew on the base of an acceptance of the axioms and choice of the dogma, and on the principles and aim of the society that arise from those decisions. The principle establishes that our survival both as individuals and as a species depends on our willingness to co-operate with one another, and to accept and maintain the degree of social order that makes a mutually supportive communal life possible. If it is to be consistent in its teachings therefore, the society should hold that freedom can only be enjoyed under conditions of social order compatible with that principle. The society will always teach that without stable social order no-one can hope to live long enough, or have sufficient liberty from the struggle to ensure the infinite survival of our species, to be fully free. This defines the word “freedom” for me!
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