On Freedom

            There are two types of freedom- positive and negative. Positive freedom is the freedom to do or own something- the freedom to own a gun, or house, or to own slaves, or to vote. Negative freedom is freedom from something- the freedom from intimidation by gun owners, to be free from slavery. Most positive freedoms can be reframed as negative freedoms.

The US Constitution’s 2^nd Amendment, as currently interpreted, guarantees freedom to own firearms. But what about other people’s freedoms to not be shot by a gun, or not be intimated by a someone carrying a gun? The US Civil War was fought over the freedom to own slaves. But what about the slave's right to be free? The current debate about abortion, in the right-wing framework, defends the life of the fetus. (I don’t think fertilized eggs or fetuses are unborn children.) But what about the freedom of the woman to decide when she chooses to be pregnant and give birth? Republicans frame anti-union laws as right-to-work laws, but what about the freedom of workers to organize and bargain? Anti-vaxxers argue for a negative freedom from mandatory vaccines, but what about society’s freedom from infectious diseases?

Anytime someone talks about freedom, they should be asked, for who, to do what or from what? Freedom could be a rallying cry for slave-owners, angry at their freed slaves, just as it could be a rallying cry for slaves. Freedom could mean, the power for men to commit violence against women, or women’s freedom from violence perpetrated against them. Freedom, and human rights, are just powers, and can be good or bad, depending on circumstance. In the United States, freedom is often co-opted by the wealthy, powerful, and corporations, to refer to their own power to do whatever they want, raise prices, dehumanize, blame, and scapegoat people who have less than they do.