Beyoncé’s song “Freedom” is the campaign anthem for Vice President Harris. A new book, “On Freedom,” by Timothy Snyder explores the nature of freedom.
What is freedom? Are there different kinds of freedom?
At the 2024 national convention, Democrats celebrated a wonderfully positive vision of freedom and contrasted it with the dark, negative vision of Republicans: “When Republicans use the word freedom, they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor’s office. Corporations—free to pollute your air and water. And banks—free to take advantage of customers.
“But when we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love. Freedom to make your own health care decisions. And yeah, your kids’ freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot dead in the hall.”
So: there are two starkly different visions of freedom. There is a positive, enabling kind of freedom: freedom to accomplish something, and there is a more negative vision: freedom from prohibitions of actions.
That positive, enabling kind of freedom means that a child should be able to have a real childhood, to grow and to learn. The negative vision of freedom means employers have the freedom to send children down into the mines without government interference.
The negative vision of freedom means that predatory payday lenders can — without any government interference — set up shop outside an Army base and prey on young soldiers and their families.
In general, Democrats and other progressives align with the positive vision of freedom, promoting freedoms for most people. Republicans support the interests of the rich and powerful, reducing regulations that protect the less-powerful and less-connected. They will, like Trump, side with the tobacco industry, Americans’ lungs be damned.
For centuries, the trend has been in favor of progressives: slavery mostly fell, the divine right of kings is mostly gone, women can vote in most countries, and our nation has come a long way in our efforts to overcome Jim Crow and a lot of prejudice. We have decent pure food and drug laws. We have decent (and improving) labor laws.
Every one of these changes allowed positive freedoms for the many, but these changes limited the negative freedoms of the powerful. Most of us, including most conservatives, would celebrate that progress. But there are Republicans today on record as wishing to repeal the 19th Amendment. There is even a Republican Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina, running for Governor, who has lamented the ending of slavery, indicating that he would “buy a few” for himself.
The issue in front of us now is how to insure further progress of the kind of freedom that makes life better for everyday Americans, and for the world.
Here is Vice President Harris:
“In this election, many other fundamental freedoms are at stake. The freedom to live safe from gun violence—in our schools, communities, and places of worship. The freedom to love who you love openly and with pride. The freedom to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis. And the freedom that unlocks all the others. The freedom to vote.”
Freedom is in the air. Breathe it in. And vote for freedom.
Here are the freedom candidates you will see on your ballot, depending on where you live in Douglas County:
U.S. House Of Representatives 4th Congressional District: Val Hoyle
U.S. House Of Representatives 2nd Congressional District: Dan Ruby
Oregon House District 1: Brett Cecil
Oregon House District 2: August Warren
Oregon House District 4: Richard Chasm
Oregon House District 9: William Mrkvicka
Oregon Senate District 1: Lupe Preciado-McAlister
Oregon Senate District 2: Tracy Thompson
Oregon Senate District 5: Jo Beaudreau
Joe Yetter is a retired U.S. Army physician who ran for Congress in 2022 in Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District. He now lives in Washington State, but still has a ranch in Douglas County and strong ties to Oregon.
This article was published in the News-Review on Oct 4 2024.