Countdown to Christmas
24 - Looking for Freedom
- It is in its name! Liberalism is all about freedom, and how to provide and safeguard liberties for human beings. And liberals have a strong urge to.
- Liberals distinguish between negative (e.g. freedom from coercion) and positive freedom (e.g. free to pursuit happiness).
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s quote “Man is born free but everywhere in chains” is still relevant in a today: A growing number of countries or better governments fear liberty minded citizens and turn to suppression, surveillance and collectivist politics to control them.
For many it is the hymn for the unification of Germany: “Looking for Freedom”, famously sung by David Hasselhoff wearing a blinking leather jacket. To be clear, “The Hoff” did not bring down the wall – but he sure helped to celebrate the newly won freedom of the Eastern Germans. Even though they have not been born to “a rich man” they have been provided with everything necessary to physically survive – but something important was missing: the permission to pursuit happiness at each own terms. Eastern Germans have been kept behind a fiercely armoured wall, not permitted to travel to the then “free world”, to freely express themselves, to choose their career paths (especially when not being a party member) and so on and so forth. They managed to liberate themselves with peaceful demonstrations and to end the socialist dictatorship. If you would like to get a glimpse at life in the GDR, check out the movies in the additional resources below.
