Equality vs. Freedom
Autor: Filósofo dos Quadrinhos | Publicado: 2010-05-07T10:18:00-07:00

What we believe about freedom? And equality? In the society of the contemporary world saw that? The political forms of the present world, there is none that has these two walking side by side.Born with the Revolution and developed over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the formal equality is the maxim all are equal before the law. Aims to subject all individuals and companies to the rule of law and entitled without discrimination as to creeds, races, ideologies and socioeconomic characteristics, as opposed to legal privileges based on social status and political prestige. But with the socialist influence was developed from the second half of the nineteenth century as a form of government, equality, returns to reduce social inequalities, reflecting the unequal treat the aphorism of measured inequality in order to provide protection Legal particular parts of society that often, throughout history, appear at a disadvantage. But this political regime in turn takes away the freedom of the individual, because everyone should behave as equals, injuring personal freedom.The word freedom means the condition of an individual not be subjected to the will of another and, therefore, to have power over yourself and your actions. The ability to reason and appreciate the clever way the world around you is what gives a man the sense of freedom, understood as an expression of human will. And it is the system of "democratic" government, which in the present day (from the Cold War) is believed a system of government where men are free. But this freedom has a high price or even a camouflaged freedom, where many have no access rights to life and human dignity. Thus suffering from inequality.As we see, there is no political system, that can work these two human needs, when looking for one, injures another. In a political system, the concept of equality, describes the lack of differences in rights and duties among members of a society. And in another system, the individual is free when society does not impose any limit unfair, unnecessary or absurd. The company must also protect their rights, that is, their liberties, powers and privileges basics. But this should defend a free society that give conditions for its members to enjoy equally the same freedom. Both political systems prevailing in our societies, sin in these human needs. While demand equality, takes the liberty of individuals, and the other where freedom prevails, the individual has no right to equality.Just us then, to better understand the ideology of the Enlightenment, for it was there that first came the idea of political and social freedom and equality, that he had the idea to revolutionize the way we govern. But perhaps the idea of freedom and equality can go hand in hand only when the third element of the ideology of the Enlightenment, blossoming in humans, brotherhood.But maybe it needed this century to impregnate her. Because we are (maybe) living a process of evolution Enlightenment.It was in the nineteenth century (defined as the century of freedom, even the history of freedom struggle is contiguous to the history of mankind), that the ideal of freedom was consolidated. Fall, then the last corners of slavery. This freedom "physical" - reflected by the right to come and go and stay - is the most basic of them, and why not say, the more essential, given that all other forms of freedom are based on it.The twentieth century, is said to be the century of equality, since from its first decades, there have been moves by the recognition of equality between men and women, between whites and blacks. It's in the past century that formed the whole ideology against discrimination based on sex, race, color, national origin, creed, marital status, social status or sexual orientation. The greatest influence was the war that was not announced, but froze the soul of many, the 'Cold War'. The countries on the U.S. side, "democratic", they begin to address the issue of equality as something of paramount importance to prevent the communist advance, where the equality / socialism was their biggest banner.And in this century, as a matter of logic, could raise the total banner of the Enlightenment: the Brotherhood. It is the solidarity that is so present in the media, and the actions of social organizations, government and business. In this new century the focus of protecting the rights of the individual must leave and go, definitely, to the collective. Rights are inherent to the human person, not considered in itself but as a collectivity.And perhaps that is how we will see after three hundred years, the ideology of the French philosopher Rousseau (1712-1778) and among others, that influenced the French Revolution, to work out and really show that another world is possible. With freedom, equality and fraternity.