Freedom from want and fear

Not subdued by severe curbs, the hunger for freedom and citizen-based democracy worldwide is growing, with apparently no end to the current plight of the frustrated majority in the existing social structure. In the realm of ideas on how to go about putting things right, updated economic literature spotlights various issues in freedom and democracy, clearly spelt out by great thinkers and statesmen, though now forgotten. In his latest book, The Road to Freedom — Economics and the Society, Joseph E. Stiglitz asks: “What happens when one person’s freedom comes at the expense of another’s; the freedom of some to harm others, or the freedom of others not to be harmed? What is the meaning of the right to vote for one who is starving? What about the freedom to live up to one’s potential?”