Otázka: Freedom
Jazyk: Angličtina
Přidal(a): Kůra
What is freedom
- dictionary definitions:
- “the right to act, speak, or think as one wants”
- “the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved”
- x freedom is too complex of a term to put it into a few words
- the problem about freedom: “mine liberty ends where yours begins” (one can do as he/she wishes as long as his action does no harm to other people) = a principle most of the developed societies agree on – it sets a boundary that an individual must not cross – otherwise, he will be punished x humans naturally crave power and some of them are willing to tie others down to gain it → punishment is necessary to prevent injustice from happening
Human rights and civil liberties
- some of the fundamental human rights:
- most of them are violated in non-democratic countries (the communist era in the CSR etc.)
- freedom of speech, the press, worship, assembly, movement…
- two fundamental documents that insure equal rights for everyone:
- human rights are discussed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- =a document adopted by the United Nations after the WW2 – created to prevent atrocities of the war from happening again
- initiated by a group of women including Eleanor Roosevelt – wife of Franklin Roosevelt – the president of the US
- declares that human rights are universal = everyone is equal regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, wealth, abilities…
- x even today eg. a gender pay gap is a thing in every country in the world (on average, women earn less money than men in the same position)
- implemented in constitutions of democratic countries
- the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms – a part of the Czech and Slovak constitution – cannot be abolished, adopted in the 90s before the split of CSR
- human rights are discussed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- violators of freedom
- from without – by a totalitarian government
- from within – assault, robbery, murder, domestic violence (a serious problem – the victims are too frightened and ashamed to let anyone know about it)
- penalty for violating the freedom of others
- absolutely necessary – otherwise some people would not even realize they are oppressing others (anarchy can never work as it would turn out to be the rule of the strong – humans naturally crave power)
- two major forms of punishment:
- judiciary (courts interpret and apply laws in legal cases)
- social (contempt + exclusion from the society → lead to a certain death in the history – humans are hard-wired for pursuing compassion + social-adjustment)
Freedom fighters
- =people engaged in a resistance movement against an oppressive government
- Mahátma Gándhí
- an Indian lawyer + leader of nonviolent resistance campaigns that lead to India’s independence from the British rule in 1947
- he initiated the Salt March (a protest against British tax law which taxed salt, Indians marched many kilometres to get salt from the ocean rather than buying it)
- Martin Luther King
- an African-American Christian minister + leader of the civil rights movement
- nonviolent resistance campaigns – he joined the Montgomery Bus Boycott (50s) (Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man – she was arrested – African-Americans refused to ride city buses)
- March on Washington – “I have a dream” – the iconic speech (1963)
- in 1964 discrimination based on race, gender etc. + racial segregation was outlawed
