Freedom, or liberty, is defined by Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan as “the absence of external impediments: which impediments, may oft take away part of a man’s power to do what he would; but cannot hinder him from using the power left him, according to his judgment, and reason shall dictate to him.” In Hobbes eyes, the law of nature — in Spark Notes version — is to not do anything that would contradict the preservation of your own life. “Rights”
are what benefit our own self-preservation. Notice that equality and freedom are not associated.
Equality to Hobbes exists in the most primitive form, the body and the mind. Some are stronger than others, but those people may have the ability to outthink and outwit the strong. The strong bodied may win in a fight to the death, but the strong have to sleep at some point. This interpretation of the world is a nasty place; but lets’ face it, that’s what we live in.
Individual freedom and the capacity to choose are what separate us from animals — not that we are all equal. Inequality has developed a negative connotation throughout the years. It is often times — and rightly so — associated with prejudice and moral injustice. It is wrong to think that one is superior to another. It is wrong to use this idea of supremeness to legitimize hate and wrong doings. However, without inequality, diversity would elude us, and there would be little motivation to bring ourselves to our greatest individual potential.
We are all different. Some of us are tall; some of us are short; some of us are academically smart; some of us are academically gifted; and others have better social skills. It is impossible to quantify which qualities that a person possesses make him or her better than the person beside them; but we are not equal. I’ll take myself as an example. I am 5 feet 5 inches tall and weigh 135 pounds. I am not the brightest crayon in the box, but I am not the dullest either. I have had to learn to adapt to compensate for my shortcomings — no pun intended — and use the talents to the best of their capacity. There is no standard that I am trying to get to; if there were, personal growth would eventually subside.
Economic inequality works in a similar manner. If everyone were rich, there would be no motivation to excel. If you are reading this you agree with what I am saying. I know because you are already taking additional steps in your education to better yourself both intellectually and monetarily. Some people do not have the opportunity to go to college, and I understand that. These people also know how important it is to make the most of their opportunities to get ahead. Monetary motivation is not the only motivation. Some people are motivated to make a difference in their communities or start families. Anyway you want to look at it, our differences motivate us to reach certain potentials that can and should always be improved upon.
The government’s role in this whole spiel is to protect us from each other and guarantee we are equally represented and equally protected under the law. If we are citizens of the United States of America then no discrimination should take place from public or private entities. As long as we are not infringing on others’ rights, it is not the government’s role to tell us what to do, how to act, what to wear or what to buy. Every step that is taken towards the government trying to make us “equal,” outside of protecting our given Constitutional rights, results in some loss of freedom, a freedom that many have sacrificed for and that often gets taken for granted. Use the qualities and circumstances that you have been given as motivators to reach your highest potential and do not worry about trying to be other people. I guarantee that most of them are not worried about you and are getting ahead. As long as I can choose, I will choose freedom.
