Since Ancient Greece, People Have Fought for Genuine Freedom Against the Wealthy
Today, it is common for the libertarian and Christian right to claim they are fighting for freedom. But their notion of freedom has always stood at odds with the democratic cause of freedom to redistribute political power and wealth.
Liberty Leading the People (July 28, 1830), 1830, by Eugene Delacroix. (DeAgostini / Getty Images)
“Freedom is life,” declared a banner at a recent rally against public health measures taken to reduce the effect of the pandemic. Indeed, this has become a consistent theme during the pandemic, as the movement against vaccines and public health measures has claimed the mantle of “freedom.” In response, the Left has pointed out that our individual freedom relies on social solidarity, arguing that the public measures are needed to preserve our right to health.
At stake are two opposed definitions of freedom — and this conflict is not new. In her recent book, Freedom: An Unruly History, Annelien de Dijn helps to shed light on these often contradictory meanings of the term. It is a sweeping history of the idea of freedom in the West, from Ancient Greece, to our time.
Democratic Freedom
“For centuries,” writes de Dijn, “western thinkers and political actors identified freedom not with being left alone by the state, but with exercising control over the way one is governed.” As this suggests, de Dijn distinguishes between two types of freedom: “freedom from” versus “freedom to,” or, as they are sometimes styled, negative freedom versus positive freedom.
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