The Free World

So, I have for years decried the popular division of the world during the Cold War into the Communist World and the Free World. I always thought that it was silly and arrogant. I may have changed by mind. The division is far different than I thought.

I'm reading George Lakoff's book called "Whose Freedom?" about the different concepts of freedom.

I always thought of "freedom" as a fairly nebulous concept that people used to sound good. I have begun to find it a detestable word and I've now learned why. Freedom has come to mean, amongst conservatives, freedom from economic restrictions, freedom to live without the moral degradation that they see in homosexuality, the freedom to practice and spread one's religion, the freedom from evil, the freedom from government imposition on one's wallet.

Freedom in my mind has always been much more up FDR's alley. Freedom from want (restrictions on the ultimate freedom of the market, according to conservatives), freedom to not be controlled by someone else's religion (restrictions on your ability to express your religion, according to conservatives), freedom to be, even if it deviates from someone's conception of normal (harming morality, according to conservatives), the freedom that derives from government support of health (taxation, imposition on one's wallet, to conservatives).

In the Soviet Union, it becomes even more interesting. You had government-alleged freedom from want through the restriction of anyone's excelling in the economy, but the masses ended up poor. This is an attack on economic freedom for both conservatives (restrictions on the free market) and progressives (restrictions on ACTUAL freedom from want). You had restrictions on religion. This is an attack on religious freedom for both concservatives (restrictions on the propagation of your religion) and progressives (restrictions on freedom of opinion and expression). You also had restrictions on security and civil liberties in the progressive sense (an attack on freedom from fear and freedom of expression) but also for conservatives (the conservative ideal of "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" didn't really work in the Soviet Union. You might still have something to fear, as it was often random).

So, in reality, in both conceptions of freedom that have ever been used in America, we were more free than the Soviets, thus making us the Free World. I would argue, though, that I fear the conservative form of freedom as much as I fear the Soviet lack of freedom. Everything I hold dear and moral in this world is diametrically opposed to exactly what conservatives believe in. They attack my freedom, differently than the Soviets, but to similar effect. I have grown up in a time when radical conservatives have been on the rise and I have always thought it a major portion of society. If George Lakoff is correct however, it hasn't always been that way. The Republicans and Democrats both used to support taxes as part of the Common Wealth (the Commonwealth of Virginia, for example). Now, we have these violently individualistic plutocrats who are threatening our way of life. I was SO born at the wrong time.

Under the Soviets I would have had no safety net for food, but I wouldn't under the conservatives either. I would have had no freedom to decide my own religion under the Soviets, but the conservatives oppose my atheism. I would be under surveillance under both systems, restricting my freedom. The Soviets would have promised me health care, but I'm sure not whether they would have funded it. The conservatives would simply not give it to me at all. The conservatives are pretty scary people. The conservatives are not Soviets, but neither of them agreed with my conception of freedom. Can anyone explain to me why the conservatives aren't just as bad?

I think Angela Merkel is a progressive in many of these senses. I'm beginning to think that even if I didn't always agree with politicians like the Kennedys, I may have misjudged them all along. I'm becoming ever more interested in earlier American politicians.

Current music: Avril Lavigne - Imagine (much better thank you'd think - it's on the Save Darfur album)