Exploring Freedom in Edward Bellamys Looking Backward Essay

The definition of freedom depends entirely on how the phrase â€Å"freedom from†¦Ã¢â‚¬  ends. Perhaps a most straightforward understanding of freedom is the laissez-faire emphasis on limiting the power of government to interfere in economic and social matters. In this state of absolute freedom, however, inequalities exist between people, so that freedom from a controlling government does not imply individuals’ freedom of contract, movement, legal protection, equal rights through citizenship, or political voice. In light of the persistence of slavery in the US through the 19th century, freedom as an individual’s legal status separated people who could be citizens from people who were lifelong slaves. Even among legally free people, economic†¦show more content†¦In Looking Backward, Bellamy outlined one proposal for protecting the freedom and welfare of all citizens through equal access to education, job opportunities, and wealth. Furthermore, he expan ded the term citizen to include women and imagined a system in which men and women contribute equally to industry and home life. In Bellamy’s vision of a future America, the federal government has taken control of almost all aspects of life to maximize productivity and efficiency and to give each citizen an equally high quality of life. The government, unplagued by corruption, manages the education of all children from age 6 to 21 and all aspects of industrial production, the domestic distribution of goods, and foreign trade. All citizens must serve in some capacity in the Industrial Army from age 21 to 45, and are given the same allowance from the government regardless of their occupation, skill level, or age. Throughout the nation, in both rural and urban areas, students follow a single curriculum of mental and physical development, warehouses contain a single wide selection of goods, homes have access to a single long program of recorded music, and local governments have very few powers. Representative democracy is kept, but modified so that voters are organized by trade guild, and only citizens who have excelled