Not Wanting To Be Free By H. L Mencken

In “Human Freedom and the Self,” Roderick M. Chisholm takes the libertarian stance, arguing that freedom is incompatible with determinism, that determinism is in fact false, and that humans do posses the kind of freedom required for moral responsibility. Chisholm argues that a deterministic universe, where all events, including human actions, proceed from prior events without the possibility that they would proceed differently than they do prevent the possibility that humans are responsible for their actions. To validate his libertarian beliefs, Chisholm sets out to prove that humans are responsible for their actions and also the thoughts that lead to those actions. In order to answer this problem, Chisholm believes we must make some assumptions about the man who preforms the act.

The American Revolution was a fight between three groups of people who all longed for freedom and liberty. Each of these three groups of people however, valued freedom and liberty differently. The different views on freedom and liberty during the American Revolution were the Loyalists believing it was life under the King’s rule, the Patriots who saw it as free will and self-government, and the slaves who simply wanted to be freed from their owners and live their lives to the fullest. All of these groups supposedly fought for the same goal, but this goal was seen different through various pairs of eyes. Most people know the American Revolution as just a fight between the Loyalists and Patriots, however, the slaves fought in their own ways too.

Safety and freedom are both essential components of society and many argue over which component holds the most desirability in modern civilization. Many, like H.L. Mencken, believe that humanity’s desire to be safe trumps the want to be free. This view may hold true for some but there are varying interpretations of what is means to be safe and have freedoms.

Numerous instances of oppression throughout history call into question its impact on society in the past and present. Governments like those of Joseph Stalin’s Communist regime or Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime illustrate the ways in which it was justified. First-hand accounts of the people victimized from oppression give form to its methodologies. Even today, it leaves its stain on the fabric of the modern world. Through sources such as “The Need for Progress” by Joseph Stalin and Elie Wiesel’s famous memoir Night, readers can gain a better understanding of the driving principles and effects of oppression. Past governments have used the threat of racial and religious minorities to justify their persecution. One method of oppression involved the

Have you ever wanted to answer a question in class because you know the correct answer and want everyone in class to know you were right? This feeling of acceptance pushes you to learn more and further your success. A similar feeling is shown by Equality in Anthem. Yes you help your class out by giving the right answer, but you also feel a sense of pride and want to continue giving correct answers. Just like benefitting the class with the right answer, the benefit Equality gives mankind is helpful, but in reality he is really focused on gaining knowledge.

Imagine living a life in slavery, where you have a limited freedom and society constantly looks down on you. If you had the opportunity to be a free man, would you take it or would you come running back to becoming a slave? Two of Thomas Jefferson’s slaves, James Hemings and Sally Hemings had to make this decision in 1789. James and Sally are part of a family that held various high positions at Monticello, Jefferson’s plantation. Martha Jefferson, Jefferson’s wife, was step-siblings with James and Sally. When Jefferson was called to be the U.S. minister in France, he called upon James to come with him to serve as his servant. Two years later, Sally followed accompanying Jefferson’s youngest daughter, Polly to France. While in France, James and Sally were considered free due to the “Freedom Principle.” This states that any slave who sets foot in France is now considered a free man. Jefferson chose James specifically to come with him to France because he knew that James wanted to be chef and France was the perfect place to enhance his culinary skills. Not only did Jefferson pay for James’ training but he also gave James a salary that was more than the average salary of anyone in his profession. There are those who believe that James’ loyalty to Jefferson was a valid reason to stay; however, I believe James unwisely chose to leave behind the booming city of Paris and his personal freedom. This paper will explore the factors that James considered to make his decision. First, I

Night Essay Oppression is the state of being subject to unjust treatment or control. In the tragic novel Night by Elie Wiesel, the author uses personal stories to show how silence functions as a form of oppression. Silence functions as a form of oppression when the constant overwhelming fear of death keeps others from standing up during a time of need and despair. For Elie, the period after his father’s death was a time where he would not describe his life, for “nothing mattered … anymore.”

Adriane Lentz-Smith wrote the book called the Freedom of Struggles, Who is an associate Professor of History at Duke University. Adriane had studied history and African American studies. She was successful in everything Adriane did, she had many goals to achieve. One of the goals were to get across one point about how war world 1 and African Americans goes to Europe with American expeditionary forces in World War 1. How the story was a critical movement in the book “freedom of struggles”. Adriane was an aggressive and powerful writer and wanted everyone to hear her story on African Americans going to war, how back in time it interferes with the Europe civilians an African troops she illustrates an mobilized generation.

“Anthem” by Ayn Rand, is a story about the meaning behind self development of a person’s own thoughts. Ayn Rand was born February 2, 1905 in Saint petersburg, Russia. She is a novelist,philosopher, and screenwriter.

When founding the United States, the founding fathers sought to avoid the tyrannical rule they thought Great Britain exemplified. In order to do this, the founding fathers looked to history, specifically, the failed democracies of Ancient Greece and Rome, to model their country after. Now, the United States is regarded as a nation being founded upon and one that upholds the principles of democracy and liberty. Due to the United States’ association with liberty and democracy, it has become the common assumption that tyrannical rule could never occur here. However, recent occurrences of authoritarianism in Europe throughout the twentieth century, show that there is not much of a difference between Americans today and

In 1891, Irish author Oscar Wilde observed,” Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience and through rebellion. Sometimes negatives bring positives.

Thomas Paine, a revolutionary, intellectual, and supporter of American independence from England published a book titled, “Rights of Man” which deals with the government shielding the natural rights of its people. Initially, the book captures the diverse aspect of this nation, but it fails to reveal the struggles that arise to preserve and adapt to such a society. Paine expresses his optimism towards the supposed perfection of American society, as one “made up...of people from different nations,” with certain expectations. Additionally, the time gap between “Rights of Man” and modern America cannot be neglected. Paine wrote during an era in which “constructing a government on the principles of society and the rights of man” was the essential objective of the country. However, modern-day America experiences opposite ideals and Paine’s theory no longer remains true because of the educational gap between the rich and poor, terrorism, and racial profiling.

Harriet Jacobs, in her narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, was born into slavery in the south. While her youth contained “six years of happy childhood,” a few tragedies and mistresses later, Jacobs spent many years in pain under the possession of her cruel five-year-old mistress, Emily Flint, and Emily’s father, Dr. Flint. Once able to obtain freedom, Jacobs spent most of her life working for the Anti-Slavery office in New York, in hope that one day she could make a difference in the world. “She sought to win the respect and admiration of her readers for the courage with which she forestalled abuse and for the independence with which she chose a lover rather than having one forced on her” (Jacobs 921). Linda Brett, the pseudonym that Jacobs uses to narrate her life story, endures the harsh behavior women slaves were treated with in the south during the nineteenth century. The dominant theme of the corruptive power and psychological abuse of slavery, along with symbolism of good and evil, is demonstrated throughout her narrative to create a story that exposes the terrible captivity woman slaves suffered. The reality of slavery in the past, versus slavery today is used to reveal how the world has changed and grown in the idea of racism and neglect.

When looking through the history of humanity, an alarming pattern begins to emerge: the pattern of oppression. Since the beginning of civilization, humans have constantly sought to oppress one-another and establish superiority over another group of people. In the book Nights, Elie Wiesel details his petrifying experience of oppression in Nazi Concentration camps, perpetrated by the Nazi Regime and its collaborators. What happened to Wiesel and the rest of Europe’s Jews was a hate crime like the world had never seen before. But where exactly could so much “evil” come from?

    What do people give up on during the pursuit of equality? Throughout American history, people have gave up numerous things to strive for just a little bit more equality. Some things they were striving to become more equal were; gender, race, sexual orientation, jobs, opportunity, and education equality. Will there ever be true equality in the United States, or anywhere in the world? If so, what would they have to give up to ensure that there is true equality everywhere they go. Kurt Vonnegut Jr., the author of “Harrison Bergeron,” called to attention what it would be like in a world that had true equality and questioned if we should really strive for this in our society.  “Harrison Bergeron,” written during the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s explores a society that is truly equal, made possible through a number of handicaps and limitations. Vonnegut grabs your imagination and insights a society in your mind, like no other in this world. He shows that this society is a dystopia, and the level of true equality we would ultimately need, is unreal. Vonnegut judges the principle of total equality on a level that shows us we would have to sacrifice, all the qualities that make youself. To live in a dystopian world, and how it a poses a danger to society and our perception of it.