"To defend the truth, to articulate it with humility and conviction, and to bear witness to it in life are therefore exacting and indispensable forms of charity."

H. H. Benedict XVI. Caritas in Veritate Encyclical. June 29, 2009

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Freedom

Freedom is no more than a property right on oneself.

2 comments:

Adrián said...

A riddle on the so-called "positive" freedom:

A man is free in the sense that he is the owner of himself. However he happened to be born inside a cage. The owner of the cage uses his property right on the cage in such a way as not to open it, leaving this way the man with no possibility of exiting the cage. Can this man be called free?

Adrián said...

In this example, the man in the cage is free. The things he can not do, such as leaving the cage is not to a lack of freedom but to poverty. He has not property over other resources in order to leave the cage.

Historically, the example is bizarre. It calls to ask: why the man's mother gave birth in the cage?, why did not somebody else help the man to leave the cage, etc.

However, the example highlights the fact that freedom ultimately deals with property on resources.

If man wants to be himself's owner economic development necessarily will tend to erode slavery till disappearing.