What Does It Mean To Be Free Essay

Freedom is the right to act, speak, think, or talk without restriction. Our country was built on the foundation of freedom and equal rights. We shouldn’t be told what to do or when to do it by the government or anyone else. Freedom means that we have the right to vote for who we want to be our leader - which is known as political freedom - and to be able to voice our own opinions without harm. The countries that do not have their freedoms can be defined as a dictatorship. The value of free expression contributes to the value of freedom as a whole. The value of free expression means that we can express our ideas, thoughts, and beliefs openly and freely. This is only a part of the value of freedom. Freedom also protects our rights not just to speak freely but to do many other things as well. The philosopher, John Locke discussed more about freedom in this way than most philosophers. He believed that everyone had freedoms and everyone was entitled to them but there had to be a point where there was enough so that people didn’t go infringing upon other people's rights and

This means that the rights of individuals are more important. These rights include our right to equality, privacy, freedom, and justice. Freedom gives us the ability to be our own individual person. We can think, speak, and have opinions because we are individuals that have these freedoms and rights. The philosopher John Stewart Mill believed that since we are our own individuals one thing that might make one person happy may not make the other person happy. Therefore, individuals must be given maximum freedom to do what makes them happy and to achieve their goals. His belief goes right along with individualism in the way that he believes everyone is unique and their freedoms should be granted so that they can do what makes them happy instead of what makes society as a whole