Thread: MobileRead Discussion: The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster (spoilers)
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Old 02-02-2010, 07:08 AM   #53
WT Sharpe
Bah, humbug!
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Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ea View Post
(I switched around the paragraphs)

Agreed. One has at the very least an obligation to feed and clothe and keep healthy one's body. Social systems, small and large, follows right after. To be completely free, you'd have to be either in incorporeal or dead.


Just a note - being a citizen of a country with a welfare system - that while I can see that in theory, you may be more 'free' in USA, as in you have less of a social system, I have always felt more free in practise, as I have less to worry about (if I get sick, lose my job, that my (hypothetical) children get a good education, etc.) and probably more free time (in general) to pursue my own interests.

If I may drag in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, then it seems to me that the society I live in frees me (somewhat) from the lower needs and frees me to pursue the higher needs. Of course, if I lived in USA, I'd have more freedom to make a load of money and thus free myself that way. That's just not a universally realistic option - we can't all be that rich.

Not looking for a great discussion, as I think your position is equally valid. It's just something I wonder about, because I really don't understand it - I would guess you have as much problems understanding me I have been brought up with a set of morals and ethics that makes me believe that such a society is unfair and unequal and creates more human suffering than is 'necessary' now that we have means to do better.
There will always be a tension between our personal rights and our obligations to others, but I agree with what you've said. There are certain obligations we all have to the common good, or as our own Constitution puts it, to "promote the general welfare." Not wishing to engage upon an extended debate upon the subject, I will say that it seems to me that this is an area in which the U.S. has largely failed to live up to it's potential. I would gladly pay more taxes if it meant financial security and health care for all, or as you put it, freedom from the lower needs. No one can enjoy their constitutional freedoms while worrying about from where their next meal will come.
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