The basic concept of "Liberty"

How do you explain the concept of liberty to anyone? Do we need to explain this term in today's world where we believe that humans have progressed so much that we all understand and respect individual rights? If we look around, I am sure we will find many occasions where the term liberty or freedom is used to curb human rights rather than to protect them. It is also true that many societies, like the USA, have shown tremendous progress towards creating an atmosphere where individual rights are respected considerably, but the basic concept of liberty is still very hard for many to get a complete grasp of. I agree that it is a difficult concept to grasp, it sounds very easy, but the real meaning of liberty is not that easy to fathom, especially if you are not exposed to the real benefits of it. I value individual freedom more than anything else and that is why the concept of liberty is so dear to me.

Liberty is a basic tenet of any progressive society. Human minds and efforts flourish when they have the freedom to think and express their thoughts. I got attracted to the concept of liberty when I realized the importance of having the ability to express my thoughts and live life on my own terms. The feeling of having individual freedom brought a radical change in my life and thinking, and I try my best to practice that within my own family. I sincerely believe that if we all create an environment of liberty within our homes, our society will automatically have individual liberty. The problem is, that most of us believe that our ideas, values, belief systems, religion, or political ideology are the best and others should also follow it, and if they don't follow then at least they should not criticize it. Without the freedom to criticize there can't be freedom to express. Criticism is one of the essential processes through which every idea and concept should go to prove its mantle. 

Actually, the basic concept of liberty is very simple. If you care and value your own individual rights, then you should equally care and value other's individual rights also. Unless other's rights are not protected, there is no guarantee that your rights will remain protected. I and my wife are poles apart as far as our religious and social views are concerned, but her freedom to practice the religion of her choice is equally important in our home as much as my freedom not to practice or even criticize any religion. If you can't imagine these things living side by side in harmony then you will find it very difficult to understand the concept of liberty. This concept has nothing to do with tolerance, that is another, separate virtue where we tolerate something even though we don't agree, and we don't need to encourage or protect those views that we tolerate. For liberty, you not only tolerate, but go one step further we protect the rights of people with whom either you don't agree or even strongly disagree. As a person who values liberty, I stand for not only my own rights but also others whose ideas and views might hurt my feelings, challenge my views, or offend me. Other's right to express their ideas is as absolute and important as mine, no more, no less.

I wish that in this growing atmosphere of political polarization and racial and religious divide, people understand the importance of protecting individual rights. I would like to end the post with a very famous quote by Voltaire which is shared widely, but hardly practiced in real life, "I disapprove of what you say but will defend to the death your right to say it." If we all understand the real meaning of these words and try to practice them in real life, this world will be a more beautiful place for each one of us.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Drawbacks of having politically polarized society

Political polarization is on the rise all over the world. In many countries, especially in the USA and India, we can feel that the political rift between major political parties is widening day by day. I don't think this is a very desirable development. Political differences are part of any healthy democratic setup, there is nothing wrong with debating any topic, but when it takes the form of strong animosity then it not only creates a very politically charged environment for politically relevant issues but also very trivial things turn into big political battles. A lot of energy and resources are wasted arguing about some trivial issues. This also creates extreme bitterness among general public who feel compelled to fight these battles to support their political organization. Ultimately this leads to serious political deadlock. As a result of all this many important issues get sidetracked or they get stuck between political deadlocks as no party is interested in a compromise because of fear of hurting the sentiments of their core supporters. Whereas political opposition, debates, discussions, and arguments are necessary, political polarization is not a very productive atmosphere for any country. It is impossible to achieve any substantial progress in such an environment. We can feel the effect of this in both countries where many important issues are stuck in serious political deadlock, all we see is an endless blame game.

Why too much political polarization is bad for any country? How does it affect its population and governance? These are the questions we need to ask to understand the detrimental effect of this phenomenon. Any political ideology has some core principles on which they are not willing to compromise at all, that is why we have different political groups. Many times these issues are part of the basic political identity of those political parties, this is why we give them labels like leftist, rightist or centrist, conservative or liberal, socialist or capitalist, etc. There are many issues on which bipartisan collaboration is possible as most political parties agree on some of these topics that are not part of their core political agenda. But in a politically polarized atmosphere supporters and leaders of these political parties create a war-like situation where each and every issue, no matter how trivial or relevant, becomes a matter of serious conflict and political prestige. They become more interested in defeating their opponents at any cost rather than working in collaboration to achieve something better for their country. Any sensible person can agree that this is not a very desirable situation. We all should recognize that political opposition is necessary, it is an integral part of any democratic setup. We all should not only expect that alternate views and ideas exist but should create an atmosphere where people are not scared to express their views. The ability to express dissent is a very important aspect of any democratic setup. If we curb this for any reason then this is bound to hamper the progress of any society, country, or organization. The health of any society can be measured by the extent it allows the free flow of ideas. When there are incidents where people get arrested under the charge of sedition just for delivering some speech or a political rally of some leader gets disrupted just because some people don't agree with the views expressed by that leader then it is a matter of concern. When public perception takes precedence over the law of the land then democracy starts getting suffocated. Political opponents should not be treated as enemies of the nation, especially when you are in power. Some people in the US may not agree with many views expressed by Mr.Trump but he has the right to express them like anyone else. The US Constitution gives him that right, one can express disagreement in the strongest possible words but to disrupt his rallies or try to shut him up or his supporters is not the right way to express the disagreement. Indians should be proud of their heritage of argumentative traditions, but somehow today people seem to be more interested in settling scores against each other rather than discussions and debates. Let's go back to healthy political debates. We should debate and discuss each and very thing but in a civilized matter. Let's try to bring sensibility, rational, common sense, and patience back on discussion tables, this is the only way to progress.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]