Tag: #freedom

The Right Way of Enjoying Your Freedom

Freedom is a powerful word. It is the basic right of every individual and no one can deny it. But are you using your freedom in a proper way? Have you thought that your sense of freedom might deprive that of others? A G Gardiner’s ‘On the Rule of the Road’ is an essay teaching the readers on the right way of enjoying freedom.

The essayist narrates a situation where an old lady walks down the middle of a street ignoring the traffic rules and other vehicles. This causes a great confusion and she doesn’t seem to care about it. It is a dangerous situation where accidents can happen and people can get hurt. But when it was pointed that she should walk in the pavement not on the road, she replies that it is her liberty to walk wherever she wants. Just like this woman, there are many who seem to take advantage of their ‘liberty’. What we need to realize is if everyone does whatever they want in whatever way they like because it is their liberty, “then the end of such liberty would be universal chaos”. 

“Everybody would be getting in everybody else’s way and nobody would get anywhere. Individual liberty would have become social anarchy. There is a sanger of the world getting liberty-drunk…”

So, the traffic rules are made to ensure that everyone can enjoy their liberty. When the policeman at the intersection directs the traffic, he “is the symbol not of tyranny, but of liberty”. If you can’t understand the statement, think of this situation as the essayist provides. You may be in an urgency to reach your destination, but when the policeman stops you, you may think he is curbing your liberty. But, if you reflect on it, you will understand that if he doesn’t stop you, he won’t stop anyone and everyone will clash into each other. 

“You have submitted to a curtailment of private liberty in order that you may enjoy a social order which makes your liberty a reality”. 

“Liberty is not a personal affair only, but a social contract”. Does the statement mean your freedom is limited by society? No, you are free to do whatever you like unless it doesn’t affect that of others. You have both personal liberty and social liberty. You may dress however you want, dye your hair, eat whatever you wish, like and dislike at your will because it is your liberty. No one can question your personal liberty. Likewise, the other person has the liberty to differ from you. You have your own kingdom where you can do whatever you wish. But, once you step out of the kingdom, your “personal liberty of action becomes qualified by other people’s liberty”. 

You may want to practice music in the middle of the night, you may do so if you are on the top of Mt. Everest. If you do so in your house, you are disturbing the sleep of your family members. If you do so in the streets, you are disturbing your neighbours and they will object to this. Their objection will remind you that your liberty of practicing music is interfering with their liberty to sleep peacefully and so it shouldn’t be done. 

“There are a lot of people in the world, and I have to accommodate my liberty to their liberties”.

We often forget this and find fault with others. We should be considerate to the rights and feelings of others because it is the “foundation of social conduct”. We should stop focusing only on our liberties and start considering that of others and the responsibilities that come along with them. We need law to limit some of our liberty in order to ensure greater liberty.

“Liberty is not a personal affair only, but a social contract”

India at 142nd rank on press freedom index

“The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent,and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.”

India ranked 142 out of 180 countries in World Press Freedom Index, 2021, produced by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a French non-governmental organisation.

In 2016, India’s rank was 133, which had steadily climbed down to 142 this year. The RSF report says India is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists trying to do their job properly.

There are many reasons why this situation arises for journalists in India which we discuss in below points:-

It’s not all depends on the government but its also depends on the Journalists too. In India most of the Journalists has categorised themselves in various category like , some are meant themselves as left, some are right, some are in religious categories etc.

While some are managing themselves and their professionalism in shake of individual profits and also to take various advantages. Also the party(not specific) which is in rule always try to handle the press because Press controls the minds of the masses, and it is a major issue of Journalism.

There is also a major problem of journalism is that new journalists having non of the future scopes and also not having decent knowledge step into the journalism and for the shake of early popularity they opt a shortcut and start presenting their views( which is not actually theirs ) against or for a specific religion, so that most of the people from that religion starts following them .

Now if we expect these things to be better, we have to be more aware of these things, and Journalists have to practice their role in un-biased way, They have to do what actually Journalism is…