Liberty today Essay Example for Free

Liberty today Essay The common notion of liberty today has been linked to the connotation of being free – freedom from dictators telling what the people should do and should not do, freedom from responsibilities, and alleviation of any restrictions we are suffering before. Liberty has always been related to the mitigation of certain laws and restrictions that bind us to do things that we desire. This is exists either as punishment or as a responsibility. Some perceptions of liberty are those which enable us to do something, or give us access to certain things that we were not able to access before. This is a manifestation of how varied people’s views of liberty are, wherein this also created a delineation of liberty, as either positive, or the â€Å"freedom to † and negative liberty which is about being â€Å"free from†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This various meanings arise depending on the situation or timeline one lives in. Therefore, the meaning of liberty has been twisted and redefined over the course of history, making it a term directly associated with freedom. Liberty for some is a description of oneness, of a singular thing or object, wherein there exists one state of being. It is an interpersonal, social idea wherein it arose from the people’s need to communicate. Liberty means being treated as a fellow person by another man, not just his servant or worker. This acknowledgement means that the person is being treated as an equal, not as anyone higher or lower that you are. Liberty doesn’t mean you are moving away from a certain group, but looking closely, liberty is a feature of connection, not of isolation or exclusion. Liberty doesn’t entail isolating oneself from the others, but rather being able to connect with various people, like socializing and promoting interpersonal relationships from various people. So whether you isolate yourself, you are depriving yourself your liberty. Liberty has solicited a lot of different meanings, and there is no proof on which meaning is true or not. There are no clear definitions that tell what liberty means, and that it doesn’t necessarily imply that liberty means being free from people, from the laws they set which binds us, or whatever the consequences our actions bring on other people. The certain instance when liberty becomes meaningful is when we are free with people, wherein we are able to do anything that we desire freely. But doing this still has a limitation. Our freedom stops when we are overlapping or stepping on some other’s freedom. That is the time when liberty makes sense, when we know our limitations, when we know that a certain level of exercising our freedom would intervene somebody else liberty, not unless our actions could re-enforce other people’s liberty. But the sad reality of liberty is that it only exists on people of the same footing, between equal human beings. In the case of inequality, it introduces a hierarchal position, thus putting a man above another man, thus implying superiority over the other. Inequality leads to slavery and other forms of undermining other people. That is why liberty only exists or is exercised freely in a society of equals. Before, back when people are engaged in slave trade, the notion of liberty was being able to alleviate yourself from the bounds of your master, since you are a servant, you are expected to serve him. Since slavery at that time were literally robbing other ethnic societies of their people (eg. Slave trade in Africa,) they are being transported to other parts of the world, primarily in the western side, the Europeans. They are alienated from their own homes, forced to work in the lands of the white people, and their notion of liberty was going back to the lives they ones had, back in their homeland, where they lived freely, away from the bonds that these white people have imposed on them. Liberty at that time was an aspiration for the slaves, for slavery was the great oppressing force at that time. After slavery came the wars. People from other nations were moving to conquer other lands, extending their influence, showing the world the power they possess. After colonizing, their colonies were subjected to foreign rule, laws wherein they are not accustomed to, and these are being imposed to them strictly, whether they like it or not. At this point of time, Liberty is more of about freedom from the influence of other ideologies or customaries. When people are imposing something, like a certain rule or law to other people, it is a manifestation of their subjugation, thus trampling down the Liberty that exists for the people in the country that they have conquered. Liberty has been the cause of wars, of uprisings from these colonies, in order to fight for what they believe is right. Another instance was in the times of civil war, when people desired liberty from the harsh rules or unpleasant dispositions of their current leader. This causes people to form groups or factions and do undesirable things. These uprisings are said to be fighting for liberty, which in this case was being autonomous from the grasps of a cruel leader. Looking closely, the aspect of liberty in these situations was of a larger scale as compared to that of slavery. Slavery’s focus was alleviating your personal situation as a slave, or the liberty from the bonds of a master and slave. While these wars and uprisings is liberty on a larger scale on a national level wherein you wish to liberate the whole country or region itself from the bonds it has on the parent or colonizing country, wherein you demand for a better quality of life, no that of which you have now. In our present situation, we are also experiencing a certain liberty. Liberty now is expressed as freedom – freedom to do whatever you want, depending on your rights as a human being, provided that you don’t step on the rights of other people. Liberty now has different forms, depending on the person addressing it. It could include the way you dress, the way you speak, how you look, your choice of religion, and so much more. It is a clear manifestation that what was being fought for before was now achieved, yet liberty is still being used, but in a different context. Liberty now express freedom of the person, or even a institution, like for example, the journalists are free to write about topics which they deem essential for the people to hear or see, which is simply the freedom of the press. Liberty means exercising these things to the fullest, and not doing so means you are being treated unfairly. Prostitution as the Oldest Occupation The emergence of prostitution could be traced back in the 1800’s in the Victorian Era, at the time of strict morality and repulsion of anything that deviates from social norm. It generally elicited a negative impression from the people, condemning the act of using one’s body to earn a living. The people which are most affected by this negative outlook are the women involved in prostitution. They are looked down as man-sucking vampires, seducing them with their bodies in order to earn money (Ruggiero). But in reality, these women maybe the ones oppressed the ones who are victimized by the harsh conditions of the society especially in the Victorian Era. Their turn on prostitution may be the outcome of man’s desire to keep the women oppressed: a manifestation of women being marginalized and discriminated. Women before were considered to be inferior to men, usually seen as dependent on their male counterparts. Sex has been a way to satisfy these men, and that is one of the very few uses of women at that time. Thus, when there is a time of great need, the women would often resort to selling their bodies to the males who are very willing to pay for their services. This opens the opportunity for sex as an income-generating medium for these women. Economic poverty has been one of the main factors that drive a woman to prostitution. This happens when they were at the edge, burdened by the problem of making the ends meet. Poverty is evident in the society not only today but even in the classical times. People really have to work their bodies out in order to earn money so that they will have food on their plates. A person owning a piece of land and a small vegetable plot is lucky if he’ll be able to feed his family three meals a day. What about those who doesn’t own anything? How will they be able to support themselves if they don’t have a source of income to be able to buy the foods for their everyday life? Will they choose to live a life of a thief and be contended with taking away what they don’t own? But considering that their body could be used in order to earn money, would they still resort to a life of crime? These questions are the ones at play when we talk about justifying prostitution as a profession, a career where you earn a living. Morality and Prostitution There are two opposing ideas when it comes to the concept of morality. The first can be classified as the moralist perspective, when the society associates shame and disgust with this act. They consider the fundamental ideas of a society, wherein sex is should be between two persons that are married, and that it should elicit a feeling of love. Another point of view is the libertarian, wherein prostitution is not associated with morality. It is considered as a willing buyer-willing seller interaction, wherein there I something between two people, and they both consent to it. It is a crime without a victim, if ever the law criminalizes it. Obligations and Prostitution People have the obligation to guard the people’s safety and welfare. This means that they are concerned with the wellness of every member of the society that’s why they wouldn’t permit anything that could be negative be associated with the people and the society. They are held accountable for any of the acts that could be very detrimental to the society, and some would say that these factors include prostitution. That is why there are those who would rather suppress prostitution than permit it, even though there are other issues with the people, like poverty and illiteracy. The people’s obligation is to watch the safety and well being of the society that is why prostitution should be removed. But this takes into consideration the wellness of those who rely solely in prostitution in order to support their lives. If we take away or criminalize prostitution, what would just happen to those who are relying on what they earn in order to live, or even to support a large family. Consequences Prostitution entails a great deal of consequences, starting with the people who are involved with this concern and also their family. Prostitution delineates the person from others as something â€Å"dirty,† or sinful at that. Because of this, a person’s (especially women’s) way of life can be affected. The people may have a different outlook when they came to know you better, but that is not readily accepted by the society. Homosexuality The word homosexual is used to describe the sexual orientation of men and women who find their primary emotional and sexual fulfillment with people of the same sex (Davies Janosik, 1991). Homosexuality is only an aspect of personality, as is heterosexuality. According to Davies Janosik (1991), identifying people solely by their choice of sex partners tends to belittle them; it conveys the impression that homosexuals’ only interest is in sex. They added that other aspects of an individual’s personality tend to be ignored when sexual labels are applied, so such labels should be used carefully and with the understanding that the only basic difference between heterosexual and homosexual is in their preference of sexual partners. According to Davies Janosik (1991), â€Å"our culture’s negative attitude toward homosexuality has been strongly influenced by religious teachings that hold homosexuality to be sinful and by psychoanalytical theory, which has traditionally held that homosexuality is an emotional disorder caused by psychosexual development†. Most of the people have their own religions and because of this almost everyone views homosexuality as negative and is linked to committing a sin. As Davies Janosik quoted, â€Å"homosexuality can be attributed to an unresolved masochistic attachment to the pre-oedipal mother, a distant relationship with the father, a defense against castration anxiety, or immature ego. The Origins of Sexual Orientation Diversity According to Money et. al (2005), one of the prevailing questions raised regarding sexual orientation centers on its origin or cause; questions about the causes of sexual orientation are typically concerned with the origins of homosexuality and bisexuality. Because heterosexuality is considered normative and natural causes of heterosexuality are rarely considered. Much of the biomedical and psychological research on sexual orientation attempts to identify one or more causes of sexual orientation diversity. The driving question behind this research is, is sexual orientation inborn? Or is it learned or acquired from environmental influences? While a number of factors have been correlated with sexual orientation, including genetic factors, gender role behavior in childhood, and fraternal birth order, there is no single theory that can explain diversity in sexual orientation (qtd.in Money et. al, 2005). Reference: Ruggiero, Vincent. Thinking Critically About Ethical Issues. Sixth Edition ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2003. Blasius, M. Phelan, S. A. (1997). We are Everywhere: A Historical Sourcebook of Gay and Lesbian Politics. New York: Routledge. Davies, J. L. Janosik, E. H. (1991). Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing: A Caring Approach. New York: Jones Bartlett Publishers. Glesne, D. N. (2005). Understanding Homosexuality: Perspective for the Living Church. New York: Kirk House Publishers. Koertge, N. (1981). The Nature and Causes of Homosexuality: A Philosophic and Scientific Inquiry. New York: Haworth Press. Money, L. A. , Knox, D. Schacht, C. (2005). Understanding Social Problems. New York: Thomson Wadsworth. Stewart, C. (2003). Gay and Lesbian Issues: A Reference Handbook. New York: ABC CLIO. Winer, J. A. (2006). The Annual of Psychoanalysis: Rethinking Psychoanalysis and Homosexuality V. 30. New York: Routledge. Brayton, Ed. Olson and the Meaning of Liberty. 2006. April 2008. http://positiveliberty. com/2006/07/olson-and-the-meaning-of-liberty. html. Derounian-Stodola, Kathryn Zabelle. Womens Indian Captivity Narratives. Penguin Group USA, 1998. Giollamoir, Oisin Mac. Liberty. 2005. April 2008. http://struggle. ws/wsm/ws/2005/85/liberty. html. Roberts, Dorothy. Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty: Building a Social Justice Vision of Reproductive Freedom. 2001. April 2008. http://www. othmerinstitute. org/reports/report1. html.