The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way — everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want — which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear — which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world. That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation.
The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are: Equality of opportunity for youth and for others. Jobs for those who can work. Security for those who need it. The ending of special privilege for the few. The preservation of civil liberties for all. The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.
These are the simple, basic things that must never be lost sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our modern world. The strength of our economic and political systems is dependent upon the degree to which they fulfill these expectations. In other words, if the nation loses its liberties, freedoms and opportunities, the nation shall be no more.
That kind of activity is often carried out most effectively and efficiently although, admittedly, not perfectly by a governing body of some sort. If we want to live in a society where freedoms are protected and where the opportunity to exercise freedom is assured, we have to rely on some form of governance.
The right to speak your mind freely on important issues in society, access information and hold the powers that be to account, plays a vital role in the healthy development process of any society.
The lack of access to freedom of expression is a problem that particularly affects the already marginalised — that is, minorities facing discrimination both in developed and developing countries, from LGBT people in African countries, to disabled people in Western Europe.
While the scale of their struggles varies greatly, the principle is the same: within the context of their society, these groups face greater barriers to freedom of expression than the majority. If they are unable to communicate their ideas, views, worries and needs effectively, means they are often excluded from meaningful participation in society, and from the opportunity to better their own circumstances.
In other words, discrimination is one of the core elements of unequal access to freedom of expression. Access to free expression is also vital both to support the development process and as a development goal in its own right. The connection was perhaps most famously put forward by Amartya Sen in his widely cited book — Development as Freedom — where he argued that expansion of freedom is both the primary end and the principal means of development.
This is culturally-based discrimination on a major, systematic scale. When they attempted to stage a peaceful protest, they were only further marginalised, and their weak economic, social and political position further cemented. Stay up to date on free speech. We fight censorship around the world. To find out more about Index on Censorship and our work protecting free expression, join our mailing list to receive our weekly newsletter, monthly events email and periodic updates about our projects and campaigns.
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Being free in this sense is important, because it means that power relations can only be justified consensually. Something strange happened along the way, though: the response to the kings and tyrants ended up missing its own point. There are two ways to think of this. All freedom requires compromise between the rights of the individual and the goals and obligations of the state. As a result, there are many laws, regulations and judicial pronouncements regarding the ideals of freedom and the details of how it is to be practiced.
Around the world, many countries have adopted carefully written documents to define and protect their freedoms. The most well known rights are the freedoms of religion, speech, the press, peaceable assembly, and petitioning the government. Return to the list of Ask Harley questions.
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