제 8 호 What Freedom Comes First?
Kicker: DEBATE (FREEDOM)
What Freedom Comes First?
Conflict Between the Group and the Individual
Yeong-Jin Choi, Reporter/Dong-Wook Kim
pch39067@gmail.com/smartpodo@kakao.com
We encounter a lot of collision between the group and the individual while we are living. In the United States of America, many people are refusing to wear masks because they think that the government forcing them to wear the mask is the violation of their personal freedom. In Korea, there were lots of religious activities accused of violating the codes of the government and causing the pandemic to spread. Is respecting the individuals’ freedom more important than to respect the entire group? Let us discuss about the two perspectives: whether the individual is more important than the group or not.
Group Individualism: Bigger Meaning of Individual Freedom
Utilitarianism is the system of thought that states that the best action or decision in a particular situation is the one that brings most advantages to the most people. Shortly saying, it means that what satisfies most of the people is most preferable. Then what is the definition of ‘We’? The word ‘We’ is used as the subject of a verb to refer to all people, especially when considered as a group. ‘We’ is used to tell members of a group that includes all individuals. What I am trying to emphasize is that the society and the group cannot be established if not individuals.
Some people might feel insulted by the government forcing them to wear a mask in public places. They may think that their freedom not to wear a mask must be prioritized over the society’s safety. However, to gain wellness of the entire society, each one of the individual’s wellness must be guaranteed. Is punishing the criminals a violation of the criminals’ right? Yes, it is. However, it is necessary for the safety of the society. Punishing the criminal may help him or her to be a better person, which are eventually a win-win situation for the criminal and the rest of the members of the society. It is very important to distinguish the difference between neglecting an individual’s right and to limit it for the greater good, in this case, the whole society. The reason why the society limits individuals’ right is because of the ultimate happiness of the society, not because the individuals’ right is unworthy.
Individual as a member of a group
For instance, stores cannot make their customers eat indoors after 9 p.m. Franchise cafes can allow their customers for take-out only. That decision of the government to prevent the Corona virus spreading has had a critical impact on the stores and cafes’ income. The owners cried out for their own sake, that they are on the verge of closing the store because of the massive debts. Though the government tried to deal with that problem by giving out the ‘Disaster Support Fund’, the problem could not be solved completely. Does that mean that the government should let people do their work no matter of the consequences? What if the pandemic happens again? Sometimes, it is necessary to choose the bigger benefits even though it requires some sacrifices of small parts of the society itself.
Individual Freedom Leads to the Meaning of Freedom Itself
“Not under the control or in the power of another”. This is the dictionary definition of ‘free’. This also means that a person should be able to act or to do as one wishes to. The word freedom starts from the individual itself. In Western cultures, individuals gather to speak out to the world that their rights are violated by wearing masks in public ‘twenty-four-seven’. Eastern cultures are not the exceptions, and some religious people are complaining about not gathering to have freedom to do religious activities, even if the constitutional law guarantees the freedom to have religions.
Even though Eastern and Western requirements are different, their opinions to have freedom are similar in some way. Why are people around the world eager to have freedom? For the case of ‘No Mask’ protest in Western cultures, this sense of rejection starts from the negative recognition of covering faces. Men wearing a mask means that the person is weak and not cool. This thought of Western culture is linked to the freedom to express oneself which Western cultures think of as a basic right. Adding insult to injury, social distancing and quarantine due to the coronavirus play a great role to violate individual rights.
‘No Mask' Protest held in Western Countries
According to individualism, society is just an assembly which consists of individuals. According to the theory of social impact, society can be torn apart due to individual wills. The individuals have the right to pursue their priorities. As the multitude of individuals succeed, the society will prosper. With the passage of time, a lot of people are turning to be an individualist. Society exists because individuals gather to make one.
According to the theory of freewill described from a philosophical perspective, you are not free even though you are away from the constraints. While constraints exist, we do not see it as an absolute truth. Instead, we think about how we can act ourselves to be as free as possible. Freedom includes both meanings at once so it is not incorrect to say whether individual rights should be protected or the groups. At the same time, the two opinions are incompatible causing one side to violate the other's freedom. In the pandemic situation, while a lot of individual rights are being violated, the world’s health is in danger. Thus, wise choices desperately need to be made to break through the conflict between the individual and the group.
Sources:http://m.hani.co.kr/arti/society/schooling/208996.html#cb
