Freedom. First encounter.

 

(This is an essay written like a letter to Helene, instructor of POLS 0820. )

 

I didn’t notice the importance of the concept of freedom until two years ago. It came to me through Bush’s second inaugural speech, “There Is No Justice without Freedom” Before he spoke, I assumed that he would elaborate on combating terrorism, but he turned the speech into a praise song of the idealism of liberty. And his justification for Iraq was done by invoking the cause of freedom:

 

We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.

Applause. Now I know that, after listening to a hundred or so American speeches, this is exactly what the audience is waiting for. Freedom explains a lot. For so many times does some American politician painstakingly build up the momentum and the voice level of his speech, by piling stories and analogies, only to lead to the resounding outburst of this final word – freedom! When this long awaited word pops out of his mouth, the audience cheers vigorously, just like the fans cheers their long awaited movie star. This word speaks deep into their heart.

But to a typical Chinese boy who was new to this western notion of freedom, the whole thing seemed so illogical. In Bush’s speech, freedom became omnipotent. For example:

There is only one force of history that can [1] break the reign of hatred and resentment, and [2] expose the pretensions of tyrants, and [3] reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom.

I was confused: why on earth can an abstract concept accomplish so many daunting tasks?

This speech focused on liberty. Let’s see a few more quotes:

“…freedom, … is eternally right.”

“Eventually, the call of freedom comes to every mind and every soul.”

“freedom is the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul”

And don’t these quotes remind us of sermons, which always appeal to some higher authority of spirit which is all-powerful? Later, after being omnipotent and utmost desirable, freedom became a force that spreads and conquers:

“We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom.”

“……one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world.”

……

I should stop here, or this essay will turn into a quoting count of some speech (it already is, I’m afraid). In this two thousand word speech, the very word “freedom” occurred twenty-seven times; “liberty” occurred fifteen times. That’s another reason I relate this speech with religious texts – science persuade by reasoning; religion convince by repeating.

His speech concluded, leaving me puzzled. Through his words, I gradually came to see the weight they assign to the idea of liberty. It seems that freedom, to Americans, is the only and ultimate goal of humanity. And government is instituted solely to defend freedom. And the fact that people applause and agree to all Bush’s assumptions and statements about freedom, reveals something to me about western minds. Why don’t they question? Well, because they believe in it too.

Interesting.

Okay. This was the thing that triggered my curiosity on this subject. After that encounter, I listened to political speeches and read political statements, with a wary eye for references to freedom. I read a bit on Rousseau and his contemporary thinkers who initiated the sweeping cause for liberty. I studied the American system. I made more liberal friends and discussed with them. Since freedom worth the whole western world’s zeal, it must worth my time, as well.

The concept is so important. The western belief of personal liberty can help explain the interpretation of democracy, the argument for smaller government, the prioritization of equity over efficiency, the preference of common law over Roman law, the commitment for lassie-faire economy, the fear of communism. Therefore I consider it as a good starting point to more understanding.

It underlies the whole western world ideology, including philosophy, politics, legislature, and even economics. It is a prevailing reason and explains people’s actions and inner most desires. It’s something deeply rooted in every western heart. Bush knows that well when he conducted his speech to please his people. If he is president in China, he won’t invoke freedom to justify himself and hide the real concerns. It does not work so well there.

Our world is undergoing an ideology globalization, and many western notions are becoming universal. Therefore understanding freedom is also a way to understand the world.

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So it’s worth the effort to study.

When reading philosopher’s works, I often see tendencies to exaggerate the importance of things they feel strongly of – human minds are inevitable restricted by their immediate experience. For the same reason, I may be mistaken in taking the freedom thing so seriously. Or am I?