[nukkad] freedom

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Freedom

While in general agreement with the drift of Dr.MCG's remarks about USA, I 
want to make a few brain-storming comments.
 
In the interest of clear thinking, we must always try to distinguish between 
correlation and causation.  This is a classical problem in statistics.  For 
example,  the green revolution in India in the 1970's was a result of a 
number of factors including government policies.  Often, the credit is given 
to or taken by one of the factors, usually the ruling power.  Converse is 
also true.  When ill fate befalls, such as happened on September 11, 2001 in 
USA, there is an expedient tendency to single out a scapegoat which is often 
a weak one, unable to withstand the onslaught of accusation, lacking the 
means and art of hypocrisy, propaganda and diplomacy to counter the charges.

Freedom of the individual in USA:  Philosophically, there is a direct 
conflict between private interest and public interest.  This basic difference 
in approach is brought home in simplistic terms by the laissez-faire economic 
theories of capitalism dating back to at least Adam Smith (1776), and the 
communist ideology outlined by Marx and Engels et al in more modern times and 
painted on a bigger canvas of political economy and class conflict.  Both 
theories have a lot of intellectual appeal but as theories always are, each 
is only as good as the axioms on which it is built. For someone wishing to 
filter out the essential questions from the quagmire of rhetoric, I propose 
the following few:

Who owns what in society?  Does the ownership of certain things by 
individuals based on "might is right" create unnatural class distinctions and 
leads to oppression and conflict in society.  On a slightly different twist, 
can the panchbhoots space, fire, air, water, and earth be owned (as opposed 
to just managed) by individuals?  Should the exclusion principle (such as 
admission by paid tickets to a cricket match or to visit the Taj Mahal) be 
applied to its maximum extent or to a minimum extent?  Is it meaningful to 
will and bequeath material possessions to one's chosen relatives/friends to 
the exclusion of others in society?  Or is there a natural and ethical basis 
for inheritance?

Should Nukkies like you and me be charged for each document submitted or 
viewed?

What are the limits of individual freedom? In a competitive market, should an 
employer have the right to hire and fire employees without having to give 
reason?  Can people enter into any kind of mutual contract? Should 
individuals have the right to bear arms? Is freedom of speech to be limited 
under certain situations?

Is it possible to conduct free and fair elections? What should be the nature 
and limits of canvassing in an election?

What kind of public goods must essentially be provided by the state and not 
by individual enterpreneurs?  Are health care and education in that list?

The answers to numerous questions such as the above cannot be given in 
general terms.  They are likely to vary with situations, in particular with 
the society and times we are looking at.  Each individual and each nation has 
to be evaluated with yardsticks suitable to that person or nation.  Desh, 
Kal, Avasar anusari.  In my opinion, USA does not measure upto the yardstick 
appropriate for it.


As I began putting my thoughts in words, I found it difficult to be concise.  
So, I am just wrapping up with the following observation.

MCG wrote:  in USA, good quality school education is free.

This is simply not true.  Good quality education is neither free nor 
inexpensive.  Perhaps the admission process to most schools is fair, but when 
it comes to top institutions, there is a subtle bias in favor of the "elite". 
 An undergraduate student to an ivy league school can expect yearly expenses 
to be upwards of $40,000.  I think that a student from a middle class family 
typically gets about $12,000 in grants and must arrange the rest in loans or 
parental contributions.  I know of many who have to consider cheaper 
education after being offered admission to such schools. Education is not 
free in America and the cost is a barrier to many.  For purposes of 
comparison, a clerk's salary is in the respectable neighbourhood of 20,000 
dollars.  Unemployment is at a high level today.

- gcg


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