Your Man Friday's Ideas: Live Free Or Die
That is the slogan on the New Hampshire license plates. It’s meaning is rather ambiguous, but it certainly sounds threatening. In fact, what constitutes ‘freedom’ is itself ambiguous. It seems there are many different ideas about what it means to be free. The United Nations “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” seems to be the most widely accepted way of defining freedom, but its interpretation is far from universally agreed upon. As just one example, Article 26 includes the statement that “Elementary education shall be compulsory.” ‘Compulsory’ isn’t a word normally associated with freedom. Of course this is intended for the good of children, but even this statement confirms in many people their fear that the biggest threat to individual freedom comes from those who are so concerned with what is good for others that they will legislate away other people’s fundamental freedoms.
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