by Thomas Cummings

Created on: December 21, 2009

I believe that “freedom”, if not defined correctly, can be overrated and exaggerated to the point where a man can limit the freedom of another man under the guise of his “freedom”. That is what often happens in today’s society.

In modern America we define freedom as the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. This is further defined in the Bill of Rights. We, in modern America, would consider anyone without these rights to be not free, but if they are not free, then what are they. A man in a country ruled by a king would consider himself free as long as he was not a slave or a serf. Therefore “freedom” is a wholly conditional term.

When considering the branches of government (executive, judicial, and legislative) we find that the monarch in a monarchy is most like the leader of the executive branch of government. The leader of the executive branch in the US is the president, who is elected every four years by a complex system of caucus, primary voting and campaigning. To compare the two positions of monarch and president we would find a number of similarities, yet one would be quick to point out that the president is elected and a monarch is put into power mainly by blood relation. To say this would be to further imply that a monarch can’t be approved or disapproved by the people. This is wrong.

A government does what its name suggests; governs a mass of people. Therefore the government rests on the people. A president can be impeached if he does something unacceptable, while the same can be said for a monarch. A monarch can be thrown out of power if the people unite. Therefore the people have the “freedom” to choose their leader, even though they do not have as much of a direct or civilized system of doing so.

In reality everyone has “freedom”. Everyone has the choice of whether to do one thing or the other. Even slaves had the choice of revolting, they had the freedom to revolt. All that freedom really boils down to is our choice of whether we will allow ourselves freedom from an oppressor or whether we will follow that oppressor. Someone will ask “So you say that slaves chose to be slaves?” and I will answer “Yes”. They have the choice to revolt, to escape, or to limit their own freedoms.

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