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Free Societies

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Free Societies Paper Outline

1. Introduction

A. Thesis Statement: I am researching Free societies in order to find out the benefits,

risks and dilemmas surrounding free societies with the aim of understanding the

impact such a system has on individuals and the society as a whole.

B. Topic overview: Explain in depth what Free societies are and provide a

summarized background of this system.

C. Provide an overview of the ways in which free societies have impacted the lives

of people living within these societies focusing on different aspects of the society.

2. Body

A. Background information

I. Provide a detailed information of the relationship between free societies

and the government

II. Explain how free societies affect different sectors of the economy with

reference to Iraq/Iran and Turkey

B. Advantages and disadvantages of free societies.

3. Conclusion

A. Restate the statement: rephrase the thesis statement explaining the purpose of the

study

B. Overview the study: provide a quick summary of all the points discussed in the

body

C. Provide a personal thought on the issue of free societies based on the lesson learnt

from the study

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Works to be cited in the study include

Cooper, F., Holt, T. C. (2016). Beyond Slavery: Explorations of race, labor, and citizenship in

postemancipation societies. UNC Press Books.

Gonchar, M. (2018, Sept. 12). Why is freedom of speech an important Right? The New York

Times, pp 25-26

Janowitz, M. (2017). The professional soldier: A social and political portrait. Simon and

Schuster.

Polletta, F., & Kretschmer, K. (2015). Free spaces. The Wiley‐Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social

and Political Movements.

Verghese, B. G. (2017, Apr. 30). The Media in a Free Society. Economic and Political Weekly

Vol. 12, No. 18 pp. 731-740

Free Societies

Introduction
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This paper explores and tries to determine whether the people of today live in free societies

or is the concept of a free society, merely a fallacy. Free societies are usually perceived as places

where individuals are free to live as they will with no control and stronghold of a higher

authority. But this is not true as every society has a government and system that manages it.

Freedom is a very strong and potent element in today's society, and it holds a lot of importance

for individuals. The government, the media and the internet are also important factors which

impact society and also determine its freedom.

The definition and extent of freedom are mostly contextual, and it varies from place to

place, region to region and culture to culture. The stronghold of technology, intertwined with

political power and influence shows that real freedom is something that many people all over the

world still struggle to get. Although the world is relatively free and there is no restriction or

bondage of individuality in the literal sense, societies of the present age are not free because of

the stronghold and monitoring of the government and the vigilance of the internet practically

controls all humanity.

A free society is not imposed from above by political authority; instead, it is developed

from the actions of individuals aimed at promoting peaceful co-existence. However, the

government still exists to exercise control over the freedom of the citizens by maintaining and

enforcing justice. As such, the government in free societies are bound by the rule of law. This

paper describes the government's surveillance and control over people, the media's control over

the direction of social speech, and the influence of the internet on various aspects of people's

lives. Therefore, it expresses that people do not live in a free society.

Governments in free societies

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The government in most societies is seen as inflictors of inequality and injustice, contrary

to the free society where the government has a finite capacity. The government exists to protect

the rights of its citizens through maintenance of law and enforcement of justice and putting up a

proper defense to mitigate against any threats its citizens may face (Polletta & Kretschmer, 2015,

23). The government is therefore only justified to operate within the jurisdictions of law and

order such as punishing individuals who indulge in fraudulent activities, those who violate

personal or property rights of others and devising a method of resolving disputes.

The government is however not involved in activities such as the provision of aid or

grants to businesses or individuals, eradication of poverty, provision of disaster relief, regulating

standard income rates, create employee protection policies or even creation of employment

opportunities for its citizens (Polletta & Kretschmer, 2015, 24). Government is not expected to

intervene in peaceful protests and walkouts by employees of any organizations provided it does

not violate personal or property rights. Leaders are also not expected to engage in discriminatory

activities such as favoritism and misuse of power for their benefit.

Economic freedom

Living in a free society means that individuals are entitled to engage freely in trade

without any barriers or restrictions from the government; consequently, they can freely move

into and out of the free market. The government is, therefore, only supposed to create policies

that protect the properties of the traders. In contrast, the market creates policies that govern

trading since markets in a free society are self-regulatory. According to the Economic and

political weekly, The Media in a Free Society by Verghese, the Government involvement in

trade is usually associated with tyranny where privilege is only accorded to people in power, and
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the poor continue to suffer as it was in the case during the slave trade. The government,

therefore, does not offer trade incentives, no price controls, no government grants or subsidies,

and no tariffs to protect local industries.

Whenever governments are involved in trade, they put in place sanctions and barriers that

hinder the practice of free trade. As a result, people can only engage in trading practices within a

set of jurisdictions monitored by the government. Government involvement in the free market

should, therefore, be minimally aimed solely at creating regulatory policies that protect its

citizens from extortion and their property rights (Polletta & Kretschmer, 2015, 33).

With lack of government involvement in trade comes monopoly where the market power

belongs to the wealthy who controls the market prices and influences most of the trading policies

thus making trading in these societies unfair to small scale business people.

Freedom of speech/expression

Freedom of speech is the freedom of being able to express oneself without limitations.

Freedom of speech also includes freedom of information. This kind of freedom varies from one

society to another, and there are a set of definitive laws that outlines boundaries within which the

freedom of speech should not cross. According to The New York Times, why is freedom of

speech an important Right? By Gonchar, the Governments in most instances are known to places

constraints which limit the freedom of speech available to its citizens as these governments tend

to view freedom of speech as potential revolutionary threats. For instance, the Turkish

government has restricted freedom of expression of citizens of Kurdish origin as means of

solving the conflict between the Kurd separatists and the state.
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In a free society, it may, however, be challenging to control this freedom owing to the

technological developments in the internet and social media where people can freely express

themselves with little constraint (Cooper & Holt, 2016, 65). The government in these societies

have therefore deduced measures which regulate against the content which people can post on

the internet and on social media handles and individuals who fail to abide by these laws may face

dire consequences. To illustrate, The Iranian government banned the use of popular messaging

app Telegram (Cooper & Holt, 2016, 66).

The government, in some instances, usually has control over the press and the public are

accessible to supervised information that the government wishes them to know and are therefore

denied a right to free and fair information. As an illustration, the state broadcasting company in

Iran is controlled by the government, the news is highly censored and the opposition rarely given

any media platforms. Journalists who share their news through blogging must agree to a set of

rules which governs the nature of the content they can publish, and as such, they must be

compliant to the state regulations. For instance, Turkey is also known to have the highest number

of journalists in detention.

Internet

The development of the internet over the years has drastically influenced people’s lives in

free societies as opposed to those still living in countries that have not embraced this freedom.

Among these changes is Online shopping whereby individuals can make orders and access

services at the comfort of their premises (Janowitz, 2017, 37). The internet has also made

dispersion news simple through avenues such as blogs and WordPress, and social media where
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anyone can easily exchange information and share news; thus, the internet is considered as a

virtual press.

In most free societies, the internet has been integrated to store information about a

particular country's citizens and such has helped in the investigative department to solve crimes

through different algorithms developed by these departments. Research has been easier through

the internet as it stores unlimited information on any subject one may choose to partake in its

study. However, the internet having greatly influenced positive developments it is also subject to

some vices. Through the internet, people engage in crimes such as cyberbullying where

individuals choose to violate other people’s rights (by body-shaming) with no action taken

against them as this is usually considered a petty crime (Cooper, & Holt, 2016, 40).

Advantages of free society

The minimal involvement of government in the activities of the people makes the get

closer to the citizens and as such these governments become more accountable. Free press also

guarantees accountability from the government as the information given to the public is not

influenced by any political authorities. Free markets also enable individuals to engage freely in

trade and as such the individuals are able to improve their standards of living. The internet in free

society can also be used as means for sharing of news and information exchange and at the same

time it can be used as a business platform through activities such as online shopping.

Disadvantages of free society

With the governments minimal involvement in most sectors of the economy, free society

results to adverse working conditions, with no minimum wage rates since employment is viewed

as a private entity. It also results in unemployment as the government do not offer job
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opportunities and neither does it give subsidies or grants to business institutions and as such

employment is only available to those who are able to purchase job insurance. With privatization

in the education system, there is no regulation in the fees charged by schools and as such

education is only available to the wealthy as the poor families are not able to afford the costs

incurred in educating their children. Free society may also lead to discrimination on the basis of

race, gender, religion and even political affiliations. These cons in most societies outweigh the

pros and as such government intervention is usually required as a result of failure in these

systems

Conclusion

In conclusion, I can state that the minimal involvement of government in most activities

in free societies comes at a price as the government only exists to execute law and order and this

is evident in the health, education, economic and communication sectors. Even though

international trade and free markets help improve living standards; this trade is biased as

monopolies control the markets. Whereas the internet and advancement in communication

through technology have opened free societies to trade with the rest of the world, this freedom of

communication has led to government sanctions on the content that individuals can publish and

post on the internet and social media. Thus, it is prudent to say that freedom is just a mere fallacy

aimed at promoting peaceful cooperation and co-existence in these societies but we do not

exactly live in free societies as portrayed by the system.

References

Cooper, F., Holt, T. C. (2016). Beyond Slavery: Explorations of race, labor, and citizenship in

postemancipation societies. UNC Press Books.

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Gonchar, M. (2018, Sept. 12). Why is freedom of speech an important Right? The New York

Times, pp 25-26

Janowitz, M. (2017). The professional soldier: A social and political portrait. Simon and

Schuster.

Polletta, F., & Kretschmer, K. (2015). Free spaces. The Wiley‐Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social

and Political Movements.

Verghese, B. G. (2017, Apr. 30). The Media in a Free Society. Economic and Political Weekly

Vol. 12, No. 18 pp. 731-740