| re: NJC: Freedom - Financial opportunity or reduced responsibility? | |
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Posted by: |
John_Galt (brandonmartin@dailyuprising.com) 09:29 pm UTC 04/21/09 |
| In reply to: | NJC: Freedom - Financial opportunity or reduced responsibility? - JimmyG 01:20 am UTC 04/21/09 |
| Jimmy, I'm not sure what post you're referring to, but thanks for commenting. I agree that happiness and freedom from want for things like leisure, food, health care, and entertainment are important, but I value the freedom to choose my own path more. When it comes to individual will and drive, I'm just not convinced that social policy can address my needs as well as liberty. Unfortunately, I think you might also be correct that the distinction between what freedom means in the United States and what it means in Northern Europe is and has been eroding for some time. If you'd like to learn more about my perspective, a very good discussion can be found here: http://www.ideachannel.tv/ I don't agree with Milt on everything, but we come pretty close most of the time. Also, many of my favorite economists and thinkers were Europeans. Names like Ludwig Von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and Wilhem Roepkek come to mind. -=John Galt=- > This is a loose reply on John Galt's post below. > > There is a lot of good things that can be said about > America w.r.t financial opportunity etc. However, these > things may not necessarily correlate with "freedom", which > is a very vague word with a million nuances except for its > opposite - slavery. Anything in between is diffuse. > > For example - most citizens of a country belong to the > "working class", which may also include parts of the > middle class according to the American definition. The net > salaries for the "working class" in (northern) Europe and > America are comparable after substracting taxes, costs of > living etc. > > However, European workers (at least in northern Europe) > generally have better benefits than American workers - > more vacation days, better healthcare coverage etc. All of > these things correlate with certain aspects of "quality of > life", which includes reduced responsibility. > > As far as I recall, Denmark now has the highest taxes in > the world (even higher than those in Sweden since a couple > of years back), but a large survey still found that Danes > are the happiest people in the world. This could probably > partially be attributed to the Danish welfare system in > combination with an overall more easy-going attitude > towards towards life than, say, the Swedes, which enjoy > similar welfare benefits but seems to be less happy. > > This reduced responsibility may be one of the explanations > why the Danes are the most free people in the world, at > least if happiness is an indicator of freedom. On the > other hand, Americans are probably the most free people in > the world with regards to "pursuit of happiness", since > society promotes endless new opportunities as a way of > life (and for some people it is also a fact). > > I'm not saying that one system is better than the other, > just that the word "freedom" is misused. Once basic human > rights have been fulfilled, it is no longer clear whether > freedom should be universally correlated with > materialistic/career success or "peace of mind" - these > two factors may or may not be counterparts. > > It is true that America was originally "Land of the free, > home of the brave", and it may still be "Home of the > brave" (fighting two wars etc) but the freedom part is > less clear. (Northern) Europe today is very different from > the Europe that many American ancestors once left, and > many Europeans enjoy priviliges which make them - in some > ways - more free than Americans living similar lives. > > Although there will always be a lot of anti-Americanism in > Europe despite the tone of the presidential rhetoric, I do > think that this non-universal notion of "freedom" is out > of place and has nothing to do with the 21st century, at > least with regards to America vs. (Northern) Europe. > > /Jimmy G. | |
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