The definition of human freedom varies in every culture and political ideology.
There is no specific or unique idea that would encompass all the possible variations that this concept may suffer and furthermore, we do not have the right to say which of these definitions is more correct.
As Gearts expresses, communities need ideologies to support each other and be able to develop. By imagining a line where we could draw conclusions on these theories based on the spectrum of the comparisons, it is possible to see the variations of these theories and the extent to which they allow for true human freedom.
From Communism, Socialism, Conservatism, Fascism, and Nazism, the following paper will compare and contrast the possibilities that each of these systems gives to the achievement of self actualization by the societies which they represent.
First of all, the political and economic theory of socialism advocates that land, natural resources and industries should be owned by the community as a whole and not by individual, private groups.
The best way to carry on with this ideology is through the application of a communist social system where all property including the aforementioned benefits, would be owned equally by all members of society and they will all work for the common benefit.
In these systems individualism is not seen as a value, instead, it is an opposing force to communism in pro of capitalism. In people’s democracies as well as in social democracies, economic equality and equal distribution can most successfully be achieved by the implementation of a communist State.
For as long as the State remains powerful and the goals of the community are being equally satisfied through the global objective of self actualization, then the system can be considered as successful at guaranteeing human freedom.
As an opposing force to capitalism and instead of promoting the individual freedoms of a person, communism and socialism promote the important of working together as a community in the achievement of the mutual goals.
After all, if the goals are mutual, why not work together in achieving them and saving energy in the effort?
Even though these systems seem to put limits on the capabilities approach of each person simply because being considered as an element of the community and not as an individual, it can be seen how the theory of working together for common, basic goals seems to be fair and justified.
The contrasting characteristic of these theories can be best explained by the idea of J.S. Mill who explains that the rule of ignorant masses can give too much power to unprepared individuals who would use tyranny and dictatorships as the only manner to keep control.
Furthermore, putting limits on a person’s self-development opportunities goes against the universal declaration of human rights, this is why there are other systems that offer opposing views and put more emphasis on the superior individual work of a single race.
This is the case of the importance of human freedoms in Nazism and Fascism.
Nazism refers to a socialist based party who takes this economic and political theory to the extent of controlling not only where the community should focus its efforts in the sake of society’s goals, but also believes in the superiority of a single race that is naturally entitled to the enjoyment of these benefits.
As well as fascism, extreme right movements are more prone to conserving the background characteristics that culturally define each of our societies.
According to John Locke, humans will always make decisions that will give them the most advantageous position over others and this is a reason for Nazism and Fascism to encourage the creation of a single master race where the mindsets and morals of all are equally shared.
Each society has its own norms, beliefs and values with its own common and individual goals. This explains why, under these two ideologies there is no space for other cultures that would try to put themselves in more advantageous positions as the one that inherently deserves the occupied territory.
Jewish people for example, were seen as a culture illegally occupying European areas in order to make a profit and take advantage of the locals.
This therefore leads, through the power of the masses and the coming to power of ignorant leaders such as Benito Mussolini and Adolph Hitler (J.S. Mill), to an unsustainable and senseless political system which little by little takes away more individual freedoms from the community in order to keep tyrannical power.
There can not be individual freedoms in a society that believes in elitism, anti-liberal individualism, survival of a master race and other forms of social Darwinism.
In these communities, only those who are part of the so called "master race" are capable of enjoying freedom at the expense of the suffering of others.
Even though we can not blame Nazism and Fascism for the results of the genocidal politics of its known leaders during World War II, we can generalize that if the success and enjoyment of some is based on the suffering and destruction of others, this form of government is not placing much importance on the individual freedoms of most people.
Another political system that can be compared and contrasted with the theories of communism and socialism is expressed in those systems that support conservatism such as the United States.
As mentioned above, communism believes that, as an alternative to capitalism, the working together of the community will lead to the achievement of common goals in the most efficient manner. In conservatism, the ideal of capitalism is essential for the success of these societies, thus the differences between these two theories will consist on the importance that they place on the role of the individual vs. the community.
The public and private spheres of communism and socialism are characterized by high government control and the little opportunity to make individual decisions.
On the other hand, public and private spheres of societies with a more conservative tradition keep government well separated from the decision making process of the individual, specially at the private sphere level.
Capitalist theories of conservatism express that individual freedom leads to competition among members of society and this is the best way to keep people in constant struggle for self actualization.
The truth of this statement is undeniable and can be proved by looking at the per capita gross domestic product of the United States.
When people are forced to be individualistic in order to achieve individual goals, be more successful and more valuable as a member of society, they are not living a very important part of life.
On the other hand, the socialist theories that do not allow people to become self actualized at their own pace but instead, become one more piece of the keyboard equally valuable as anyone else, is not allowing for freedom either.
Socialization as different from socialism is the ability to share, understand and mutually engage as a member of a community. As Michael Walzer expressed, communal society encourages equality and justice.
Having a multicultural perspective allows for continuous development of societies. I believe that the importance of human freedom relies on the capabilities of a person to understand other cultures, ideologies and political systems with the highest amount of cultural sensitivity. Encouraging a society where the mutual basic goals can be guaranteed through the communal effort gives equal opportunities to all members of society to do all that is necessary to continuously achieve self actualization.
The democratic ideal will come naturally as a result of the ability of each person to govern oneself as an authentic and unique human being.
The most important anecdote that we can learn from this examination is that none of the political and economic systems mentioned in this essay can be forced upon the will of any society. As seen in Carl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, we can not say that capitalism is bad and socialism is good. In order to reach socialism Marx declared that a capitalist society has to create the proper environment for a revolution to take place.
The unique characteristics of all human beings make civilizations different from each other, therefore the natural course of action that a political system suffers is in constant adaptation to the changing values of a society.
For as long as we have the power to feel free to express our thoughts in regards to the political setting of our society and furthermore promote options for change without feeling oppressed by the system in control, then we could say we have achieved human political freedom.
Bibliography
▪ Ball, Terence; Dagger, Richard. Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal 5th edition. New York: Pearson Education, 2004.
▪ Ball, Terence; Dagger, Richard. (Burke) Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal 5th edition. New York: Pearson Education, 2004.
▪ Ball, Terence; Dagger Richard. Ideals and Ideologies Reader 5th edition. New York: Pearson Education, 2004.
Fabio Fermi
November 25th 2004