Freedom vs. Equality (Harrison Bergeron)

[woojongpark]

When I was reading the story and discussion board, I came up with a conclusion: freedom and equality are contradicting two things cannot be satisfied at the same time.

To achieve equality, people must sacrifice what they have, or capable of. In this story, people who were talented were assigned handicaps to make them equal to other people. This restricted individuals' freedom to be 'themselves'.
Now let's think from the other side. Do you think equality is stressed on societies that respect freedom? In my opinion, not really. Because there is freedom, there are people who are starving to death while there are people who are rich. There are people who are talented in art while there are people who are talented in mathematics.

I think it is very difficult to balance between freedom and equality.


What do you guys think?

[bilal15]

i agree with u woojong, like i said in my other post that they made the better people to do the work they made them to sacrifice which is not good. In my opinion equality is stressed on societies that respect freedom because it is quite difficult to manage both, the freedom for the people and at the same time treating them equally. Thus, some will have to sacrifice, if freedom and equality are to be kept in a country. And i also agree it is very difficult to balance between freedom and equality.

[ExtremelyExtremeExtremist]

I also agree with Woo Jong, that equality and freedom cannot be accomplished at the same time. Sacrifice is one of the way to achieve equality, but there are many ways to achieve it. These include sharing (or donation) and robbery (only in dictatorship).

I don't think equality is emphasized from the government that respect freedom, because if there is a freedom, then people can do whatever they want (if they have an ethic, they wouldn't commit crimes every time), making them to think that they don't need equality since they are already happy. And at least poor people and other related ones will get some support from government (I have seen this example where government worked hard to give them work or donate them).

But ironically, there is an example where both equality and freedom were accomplished, which is France. The slogan is liberty, equality, and fraternity, which was made after French Revolution. Today, France is one of the developed country where there are low crime rate, people both enjoying their freedom and equality (nearly equal, not completely), and has other aspects to satisfy its slogan.

Anyone who can answer how France accomplished both freedom and equality?

[KevinW]

Freedom cannot be achieved without losing freedom. You cannot be free to do what you want without having limits on what you may or may not do.

Equality by treatment is the quality we're after. It limits freedom, which limits itself (you may not do anything that infringes upon the rights of others).

I don't see any issue with striking that balance between freedom and quality. Treating everyone equally is not a big sacrifice. The challenge is to get everyone to comply.

[linnie]

What we need in this story is balance between freedom and equality. But as all of you guys have mentioned, it is not an easy task. One of the reasons that makes hard to balance equality and freedom is that we don't know which level is considered as free or equal. Until what level is considered free and what level is equal? I already have mentioned this in other post, people have different perspective and have certain standard when they view something. Some might think the rule is too harsh that it limits people's freedom and ability and some might think that laws are too lenient that there isn't enough equality. I am sure government will have hard time defining which is freedom and which is equality with all different point of views.

I agree to what Woojong said, we have to give one up for another, freedom or equality.

[KevinW]

Sept 4, 2012 4:56:27 GMT -5 linnie said:

What we need in this story is balance between freedom and equality. But as all of you guys have mentioned, it is not an easy task. One of the reasons that makes hard to balance equality and freedom is that we don't know which level is considered as free or equal. Until what level is considered free and what level is equal? I already have mentioned this in other post, people have different perspective and have certain standard when they view something. Some might think the rule is too harsh that it limits people's freedom and ability and some might think that laws are too lenient that there isn't enough equality. I am sure government will have hard time defining which is freedom and which is equality with all different point of views.

I agree to what Woojong said, we have to give one up for another, freedom or equality.

Democracy

Give up? A little, yes. But not all. That's silly.

[jisu25]

personally I thought that it is diffient to balance freedom and equality because even though there are many people who are free, theny do not have the same power as someone like the president so i dn't really think that those two can be balanced.

[lukejoo1092]

I agree on that freedom and equality are two different things. However, I don't think this means that one is better than the other nor one is worse than the other. They are simply two kinds of concepts that unfortunately overlap with each other.

Freedom is when people can pursue and achieve what they want. Whether it's becoming an artist, an athlete, or most commonly, a rich guy. All of these desires are freedom. But since not everyone can have this, we compete with each other, trying to be better than the other to obtain what we want. This is why equality is impossible in freedom.

Equality isn't that much different from that it is a desire of man kind. Most of the time we want to be equal so that we don't need to fight over each other to gain what we need. We believe it best for all of us to be able to get them. But in order for this to happen, we must all have the same abilities as well as understandings. In some way you can say that this is closer to impossible than freedom since it's fact that everyone is different. Anyhow, viewing that in order for equality to happen, people have to lower their potentials and limit their possibilities which clearly contradicts with freedom.

Then which one should we pursue? Freedom or equality? I believe that there is no and will be no answer to this question but having hope of being able to become what you dream sounds more appealing than everyone being the same.

[yeajinchoi]

Freedom and equality can be two different things but not necessarily contradicting ones. I believe that societies can reach freedom and equality at the same time.
If you look at freedom in a different point of view, it is totally possible. It doesn't mean that you don't have freedom if you give up something. I believe that freedom is not being limitless or perfectly equal but about being able to enjoy yourself and FEEL limitless within your boundaries. If that's not considered as freedom, then everyone in this country should feel miserable, not having freedom under all the government laws.
So, in conclusion, I believe that the Handicapper general in the story was directly focusing on one point, equality, as he left the matters of freedom into the hands of the citizens.

[sorn]

It is hard to balance freedom and equality. Every human being wants freedom along with equal rights as other people in the society. But I also think that it can freedom and equality can go along at the same time. People might all have freedom but are not equal due to their position they sit in the society. Both of these points are to satisfy human's personal needs and in many countries in the world, there are issues about people that has freedom but are not equal. That is why we see wars, uprisings, protesting everyday in different parts of the world because citizens are trying to shout out their ideas and tell the world that they want equality.

[elisalee]

It would be difficult to balance between freedom and equality, but I think that it will be possible. I think being equal doesn't mean that their ability has to be the same. I think to be equal, the people's thoughts have to be the same. If people think the same way, there will be no conflicts between people, then there will be freedom.

[irin]

I think it is hard to balance freedom and equality. but it is impossible because people think different way but if we get equailty it is possible to have freedom but all people has different thought so it is impossible.

[james]

I agree, I do not think that freedom and equality can be accomplished at the same time. It is hard to balance them both at the same time. There are already tons of people who are not being treated equal, and there are tons of countries where people are not really free.
Also, people's need and wants are basically unlimited. Once you get something, you want more and more and more. It's unstoppable. Technically speaking, it's impossible to satisfy both needs and wants and accomplish both freedom and equality. Unless you make every people dumb just like the story Harrison Burgeron...Or get rid of emotions.

[woori]

Freedom!!

[agneslianaputri99]

we have to have both but I think I'm more on freedom side because its freedom! we can do anything we want without being stopped by people..but we would need equality too because I think people would be arrogant without equality in this planet..