Freedom's Just Another Word

With all the constant yabbling about "freedom," a word drained of every lofty connotation whenerver our prez-uh-dint says it, you'd think Americans could agree on what that word means.

Of course, we don't and we can't, a point discussed by three social scientists argue in the Sunday Times Magazine. "First, most Americans do not think that freedom is about exercising more and more choice. And second, even for those who do equate freedom with choice, having more choice does not seem to make them feel freer. Instead, Americans are increasingly bewildered — not liberated — by the sheer volume of choices they must make in a day."

We feel less free now than when we had fewer choices, and we show it in our behavior... We see this result echoed in the panicked reactions of senior citizens to the drug-plan choices they now face. And when people manage to overcome paralysis and make choices — even sound ones — they are likely to be plagued with doubt, worried that their choice was not the best one. So the assumption that more choice means more freedom is false, at least as a general rule. American society has given the educated elites what they have asked for, and an increase in stress, anxiety and dissatisfaction has been a widespread result.

The political implications of this finding are profound, because "while the upper and middle classes define freedom as choice, working-class Americans emphasize freedom from instability." This was something some liberals once understood, but now it seems like a perfect "wedge issue" with which to drive the GOP leadership away from its working-class base. Read the rest of the article for more information and argument.