INTRODUCTION
The ideas of Liberty and Equality, in a contemporary political context, are two sides of the same coin. They both are closely related to each other, which means changes in understanding and dynamics of liberty brings changes inequality on personal and national levels. There are some political thinkers, who assert that Equality and Liberty cannot co-exist as socio-political factors and aren’t compatible with each other; for one to work in a society, the other must be ignored or undermined. Whereas other political thinkers claim that if there’s a right balance between the two, both socio-political concepts can coexist as factors.
What Freedom means is a state of being. Freedom is a right granted to each in a society under the rule of law. Without violating the law and social norms, an individual can choose what makes him/her happy following the set of rules given by the government, or society. The individual can act according to his desires without there being restrictions on him if the law permits.
Compared to Freedom, the definition of Equality is quite similar; it is a state of being equal to everyone in the society that grants freedom to the citizens under the law. If there are rules set forth by the government that grants freedom or liberty, it is also important that each is treated equally.
WHAT SORT OF EQUALITY IS COMPATIBLE WITH LIBERTY?
Political movements for personal liberty originated from Western Europe, especially from France. It wasn’t long after the French Revolution that the revolutionaries, they started undermining equality and liberty. It was during this period political thinkers began to view liberty and equality as separate entities that were not compatible most of the time. The majority of the political thinkers had assumed that Equality and Liberty could not co-exist with each other; some are born with greater potential, and when they are allowed to exploit their potential freely, some will achieve more than the others (Locke 166).
Liberty and Equality are closely related, they just have different angles, but they both serve the same purpose in society. Political thinkers, such as De Tocqueville, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Lord Acton, saw no relation between equality and liberty. They considered equality and liberty antagonistic to each other because they thought in achieving equality the hope of liberty became vain. They were of the thought that every individual is born unequal (potential wise), inequality is also seen in nature (Locke 48).
It is generally assumed that every individual is born different (with special traits and potential), some are tall, short, fair, dark, and each serves a purpose in society. Hence, they cannot all be equal. If a citizen gets freedom, he may choose whom he wishes to work with, or how he wishes to keep his property, etc. A society cannot have both equality and liberty, as each society treats different sets of people differently. To achieve equality, it is important that each is granted the same rights.
It is a fact that the basic reality of a human being is inequality. Some human beings are born gifted, who can come out stronger, handle pressure and make difficult decisions with ease. Whereas a society would always have people who are weak and are meant to be commanded by strong individuals in the society.
It has gone on since the beginning of time, from the Greeks, Romans to Aztecs, all have ruled the weak people. To those weak individuals, freedom was only limited to life serving the stronger individuals. Times changed after the weak people began revolting against the strong people.
It is true that humans are born with different potential; however, it is also a fact that each human can achieve greatness (of a particular type) by emphasizing his/her potential. Achievements are of different kinds and only an individual with a particular talent or potential can realize the certain type of achievement. Therefore, it is essential that the state gives equal opportunities to all individuals to freely exploit their natural potential. Also, the state also must devise such an environment, where the there difference between different social classes must not be immense. Studies suggest that when inequality increases in a socioeconomic system, the elite class begins to undermine liberty. For instance, it employs resources, financial and others, to not only set priorities and agenda but also to suppress dissident voices. Therefore, when equality is undermined, liberty/freedom suffers.
CONCLUSION
Since each human has his own sets of traits the notion that each human being is born, different would always remain relevant. However, a system must acknowledge that whenever equality is undermined, liberty suffers. For instance, when individuals would not have equal right access to resources and opportunities, a small segment of society will prevail and will eventually begin to manipulate the social-political system. Gradually, liberty, of various kinds, would start to regress. Having the right kind of balance between Equality and Liberty is very important for a society to prosper and function well.
From the methodical study of the literature, about liberty and equality, it is apparent that equality cannot be forced upon society, as different people have different potentials; however, the state can provide equal opportunities to all individuals so that they could exploit their potential. It will reduce the size of inequality in a socioeconomic system. It is also essential to understand that there is a negative correlation between liberty and income inequality, which means when inequality increases, liberty will regress. Therefore, equality must be emphasized to protect liberty.
Work Cited
Locke, John. Letters Concerning Toleration. University of Lausanne, 1689.
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