Difference between revisions of "Political Freedom"

Revision as of 11:03, 6 May 2006

Freedom is the capacity for self-determination or the expression of the personal or communal will.

What freedom is not

Freedom is not a right, nor is it a privilege. Rights are the legal barriers for the state from interfering in person's life, however, these rights can often be suspended under some circumstances (such as war, terrorist attack, or natural disaster). Privilege is something that is normally practices only by a few persons, at the expense of others.

Forms of freedom

• Freedom to (do something yourself)
  • freedom of speech
  • freedom of the press
  • freedom of religion
  • freedom of association
  • freedom of movement
  • freedom of thought
• Freedom from (having something done against you)
  • freedom from discrimination
  • freedom from coercion
  • freedom to live without fear
  • freedom from physical violence

Sayings on freedom

• "Eλευθερος γ θανατος" (Freedom or Death!)
  —Cretan War cry.
• "Give me Liberty or give me Death!"
  —Patrick Henry
• "Political Freedom without economic equality is a pretense, a fraud, a lie; and the workers want no lying."
  —Mikhail Bakunin in The Red Association (1870)

Freedom in other languages