Freedom and Democracy

Freedom and Democracy

In this paper I will answer the question: Can a society, such as the United States, marked by a substantial inequality in wealth be considered a truly democratic and free country? While forming my argument, I will define and make use of the two theories of freedom and their related political theories.

How do we know what true freedom is? In political philosophy, freedom is divided into two separate categories: positive and negative. Negative freedom is characterized as “freedom from constraint,” or control. Proponents of this version of freedom, usually subscribe to a political theory know as “Libertarianism.” Libertarians see government only as a necessary evil and that it should only possess minimal authority or control. The common thread of all Libertarian ideals is that the individual must always have the right to choose or do for themselves, and have no obligation to adhere or cooperate with any other person or group as long as they do not impede the rights of others. This principle would also apply to economics, which is termed “economic freedom” or the “free market.”

From the Libertarian perspective, having economic freedom is about having an absence of constraints on all economic activity. It is about having the freedom to go about earning and using wealth as one would see fit. Therefore, a poor person is as economically free as a rich person. The latter statement is more idealistic than realistic, the idea that in a competitive economic system, a poor person is as economically free as a rich person, sounds true in theory but in a practical sense is just simply false. A rich person, in every way, has greater access to resources and opportunities than a poor person would have. Poor (or middle income) people in general have to take out loans in order to prosper; interest is always attached to these loans, so automatically they are placed into a position of indentured servitude. As the costs of living adds up, people placed in this position have to work longer hours and possibly take on more loans compounding their debts, it essentially takes away their freedom to pursue their dreams and reduces them to nothing more than cogs in an economic machine that only a few truly benefit from. On the other side of the spectrum, the rich can practically make money off of money, without contributing anything useful to society. When a wealthy person deposits their money into a bank, it collects interest from the loans that are taken out by the poor, which further widens the wealth gap. This effectively debunks the idea that economic freedom truly exists in America (or anywhere else for that matter).

Positive freedom, as it is defined in Thinking through Philosophy, is “the freedom to achieve full self-realization; this includes freedom from conditions which inhibit or prevent self-realization, such as poverty or ignorance.” Positive freedom