Liberty comes in many shapes and sizes. Isaiah Berlin distinguished between two; positive and negative liberty (1,2). Negative liberty epitomizes the absence of constraints or limits. With this, people freely choose. Their actions and their futures are only constrained by their abilities. Morality and the political elite merely provide suggestions.
The Untied States best demonstrates living in negative liberty. Freedom is their buzz word. They’ve the right to self-fulfillment without barriers or constraints. This ideology forms the basis for their democracy.
Yet, in reality, the citizens of the United States have many legislative and moral constraints that guide their lives. Travel is restricted, discussion is constrained and actions are evaluated. The war on terror is heightening the confines to freedoms. The effort of group guidance whether for safety or survival is positive liberty.
Planning for the future directly relates to personal freedoms. As a critical necessity people must have the right to choose their future. However, we know that absolute freedom don’t occur. Choices can only be made in due consideration of the consequences.
Negative liberty suggests we can freely using energy without contemplating consequences, without worrying about global warming or mass extinction. Today’s choices include entertainment in front of a large home theatre system or travelling to a tropical paradises to play on white sandy beaches. Many of our actions rely on vast energy expenditures but there are consequences.
Positive liberty suggests we encroach upon an individual’s negative liberty. Necessarily we need to restrict individual’s choices so as to allow their survival and the survival of their children. Restricting energy use is a form of positive liberty and may be a necessity for anyone to have any type of liberty in the future. The challenge for future planners is to ensure positive liberty permits the maximum choices for the individual but that an individual’s actions don’t doom everyone’s future.
(1) Isaiah Berlin
(2)Liberty
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