The Cornerstones of Freedom

There are many cornerstones to freedom, as freedom is a complex concept with many corners and angles that need stone foundations to support them, metaphorically speaking. But for this post I shall discuss the lesser celebrated yet most important cornerstones.

Freedom begins with choice, but you can only have choice when you have the freedom to choose. The freedom of choice is not a matter confined only by laws, but also by capability, financial as well as physical. The threat of financial ruin in many countries cripples the freedom of its citizens. In the ‘free‘ USA, if you loose your job you could face death not only from starvation but also from sickness. The US does not provide public healthcare, and health insurance companies go out of their way to avoid paying for healthcare. It hangs above people like the sword of damocles.

Not so in the UK. Every British citizen may sleep soundly in their beds because they know that whatever happens they cannot truly hit rock bottom because in this country we have a safety net. This consists of the two most important cornerstones to British freedom other than education and free speech. In the UK, should you hit financial ruin, you will not starve, nor will your children because of state benefits. You will not die of curable disease or injury because of the National Health Service. We can fly as high as we want because we know, should we fall, we can survive.

It’s not quite as simple as all that, but the basic idea is sound, and it’s a damn sight more than people get in some other countries. To those who lament their taxes being spent on benefits and the NHS, I say you are reckless to want to remove the mattress below your cliff, you shun a worthy investment, and by begrudging your duty as a citizen to support the poor of your country you are not earning the passport you hold nor the safety you get in your home towns that those who live in Baghdad or Kabul would walk over hot coals to get.

Life is not perfect, but by getting a sense of perspective we can learn to value that which we would miss most should we loose it.