By James Mlaker
As president of the United States of America, George W. Bush frequently used the term freedom in many of his speeches to the American public.
I often wondered if the freedom he frequently referred to was the same freedom that I would refer to. Even more importantly, is the rest of the American public on the same page when it comes to Mr. Bush's freedom?
Freedom in the broader sense of the term as used by Mr. Bush actually refers to a large set of freedoms. I believe the broader concept of “freedom” is very subjective and would have very different meanings implied by different groups and individuals in America.
Thus, I have come to ask myself two questions. What is my perspective of freedom in America? And, how does it relate to my vision of America's past, present, and future?
Upon researching many different definitions of freedom, I have come to realize, at least in a societal sense, the term freedom is often misinterpreted as free will, when in reality freedom and free will are separate, but related, concepts.
In a society, free will is the ability to act without any constraint, whereas I believe freedom is the ability to act reasonably within a set of constraints. Societal freedom requires a set of constraints in order to function in an orderly and effective manner. Totally unconstrained free will would result in an anarchistic and chaotic society where the impositions of one’s free will most likely act in opposition to another’s free will, resulting in total chaos. The degree of constrained free will imposed by a society determines the degree of freedom relegated to members of that society. I believe the degree of freedom imposed by a society lies at a point on a scale (which I will refer to as the freedom scale) somewhere between complete totalitarian societal control (full constraint) and total societal anarchy (total lack of constraint). An ideal society would have a freedom point that is balanced perfectly between totalitarian control and anarchy on the freedom scale.
Where does the degree of freedom in America lie on the freedom scale?
I believe it has been fluctuating in between the extremes since the birth of the nation. The freedoms granted to the citizens of the United States were initially documented in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights amended to the Constitution. The earliest freedoms excluded many members of the American society, such as slaves, women, and even males who did not own property. Although the Declaration of Independence stated “all men are created equal” in its declaration of the “unalienable rights” of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, “all men” were not treated as equal when it came to freedom. It has taken over 200 years for the freedoms guaranteed to the citizens of the United States in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights to actually include “all men,” regardless of race, gender, and/or economic status. In this regard, the general degree of freedom in America has been slowly shifting from the totalitarian extreme toward an ideal balance point on the freedom scale.
Historically there have been other counteracting aberrational shifts on the freedom scale in the opposite direction toward totalitarianism.
The common denominator in all of the aberrational shifts toward the totalitarian direction is fear. Whenever fear is allowed to prevail, the American citizens come to accept more constraints on their guaranteed freedoms. Historically, there have been many instances of fear used a means of constricting the guaranteed freedoms of American citizens. A prime example is the internment of Japanese American citizens, which occurred during the American participation in World War II. Acting out of a fear that Japanese Americans would show allegiance to Japan rather than the United States during the war with Japan, the majority of the American citizenry accepted the very tight constraints of freedom placed on some American citizens (Japanese Americans). More than 40 years after the last Japanese American internment camp was closed, the United States Congress passed legislation that awarded formal payments of $20,000 to each of the surviving Japanese American internees, once again providing a shift from the totalitarian extreme in a direction toward an ideal balance point on the freedom scale.
As I reconsider George W. Bush’s concept of freedom, I recognize the freedom he must have been referring to is one encumbered in fear and skewed toward the totalitarian extreme of the freedom scale.
Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, American citizens have once again allowed their guaranteed freedoms to be compromised and further constrained due to fear. The extreme fears generated by the terrorist attacks were amplified throughout the media and used in a political manner to enact the Patriot Act. The enactment of the Patriot Act has essentially placed further constraints on many of the basic guaranteed freedoms of the American citizens.
Fear was used to such an extent that American citizens were willing to allow further constraints on their freedoms in the name of safety. The Japanese American citizens were placed in internment camps during World War II in the guise of providing safety for the rest of America. Just as it took more than 40 years for American citizens to recognize and correct the totalitarian shift on the freedom scale regarding the Japanese American internment camps, I have hope the constraints of freedom imposed on the American citizens by the Patriot Act will be recognized and corrected some day as well, moving the United States closer to the ideal balance point on the freedom scale.
James Mlaker is a professional artist living in Milwaukee, Wis. His academic achievements include a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an M.S. in professional counseling from Concordia University Wisconsin.
Technically rooted in the union of digital photography and computer graphics, Mlaker (JMlaker Artworks) uses his art to convey explorations of alternate perceptions of reality expressed through diverse themes which result in creatively complex images visually exploding with intense color and psychological impact.
His past exhibitions include the New York Art Festival, the DLG Gallery (Chicago), MIAD Venado Tuerto 2006 Exhibition (Argentina), the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art Snap to Grid exhibition, the Art Bar (Milwaukee), Sven’s Café (Milwaukee), Gallery Night & Day (Milwaukee), and 4Art Inc Gallery (Chicago). His awards and distinctions include invitations to participate in the Biennale Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea (2005 and 2007) in Florence, Italy, being named the featured new artist in the Digital Abstract website for the month of April 2005, awarded a third place commendation ("Lost in Song" - Spirit and Creative Force) in the 2005 Artists Helping Artists & Creative Line Magazine Call to Arts International Juried Art Competition (Cal Poly Downtown Center, Pomona, Calif., June 25, 2005), and receiving a second place award in the Mosaic Globe’s 2007 Creative Community Competition.
He is currently exhibiting in the Purloin Studio (Menomonee Falls, Wis.).
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