Week#11 M&M

Classical liberals like Mill usually argue that so long as you aren't being coerced or forced to do something by the state, then you are free. People sympathetic to Marx are likely to argue that freedom requires that we are protected from forms of coercion that stem from economic disparities, and that this perhaps requires some kind of active state intervention to make sure that we are free to make our own economic choices.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you agree with Mill or Marx? Or perhaps a little with  both?

it's a little bit of both and then some. as long as you are not the last person on earth, you are not really free. as long as you are with people, (at least one person) there will be set of rules you have to follow. so you need government (even if it is not physical one , there are set of rules you can consider as government). once there is some form of government, you are not really free. the question is if you want to govern a lot or govern less? in Mill's way he prefer to be govern less and in Marx's way it is somewhat more of government involvement than Mill's way. They both have their advantage and disadvantages. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do to be able to stabilize community and steady growth of community. example - Taxation. nobody want to pay tax but government must force people to pay tax because there are a lot of good things governments do for people that require money. Things like roads, bridges, school, defense and so on.. sometimes government will have to force people to do something for their own safety or safety of the others. example - if you live near a forest fire, and refuse to leave, the government will probably drag you out and if you gonna blame that the government violate the freedom, you should have left and burn in the fire. it is like those people in Sovereign citizen movement , they will do and think they are answerable only to their particular interpretation of the common law and are not subject to any government statutes or proceedings. that's just crazy to me. to me Mill's way are going to that SCM. In Marx way, the government have to provide and make sure the need of the citizen are fulfill. we all know it's not free. you have to pay for your share. government will control what you eat, what share you get. in hard time government will force you to work for the country in return for the supports you are getting, so it is not total freedom as well. basically it is like you lose some, you win some situation. also, if government is providing all the needs, the citizen will not work hard or not work at all and it will hurt the country badly. freedom really is a very complex subject. All the system has flaws, even in the fantasy stories like star trek, where the poverty is eliminated and everyone needs are taken care off, they are still bound by the rules and regulations because total freedom will bring chaos within a short time. so we kind of need both Mill and Marx ways and then some more to make sure that everyone get the needs for survival and also enough freedom without getting in each other way but i don't think we have find that system yet.