Maybe the whole point of American history is that it’s a work in progress, Edward Price writes.
Getty ImagesAbout the author: Edward Price, a former British economic official, is a nonresident senior fellow at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs.
Americans agree on only two things: equality and inequality. All are created equal. Thereafter, anyone can excel.
This is confusing, but necessary. There are two types of freedom, and Americans enjoy both. The first, the freedom from, avoids what’s bad. This (equality) is legal protection. The second, the freedom to, pursues what’s good. It (inequality) opposes rules. They are, if you like, the letter and spirit of the United States. Collective restrictions alongside individual liberty.
So why does American freedom feel so completely dysfunctional today?
Consider the obvious example: face masks. Many Americans think masks are a protective measure that provides freedom from the novel coronavirus. They probably support President Biden. For others, mask mandates violate the freedom to decide. They likely preferred President Trump. Both are fundamentally correct. The mask mandate is both coercive and beneficial. But there’s just no agreement in sight.
Or take the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms. Some Americans view firearms as a freedom to live free from fear. They are probably GOP. Others think quite the opposite. Typically liberal, they want the freedom to live in freedom from guns, objects that are fearful themselves. Guns are pretty scary (that’s the point). But they are far less so when carried by good guys, those who will protect. Let’s always remind ourselves of the visit the Navy SEALs paid Osama bin Laden. Again, both sides of the gun debate have good points. Nobody, however, has an interest in common ground.
Instead, today, one set of modern Americans doggedly emphasizes the freedom from (often Democrats) while others fanatically prefer the freedom to (frequently Republicans). And it’s getting crazy. Where past Americans found objective solutions to their differences—constitutional in 1783, martial in 1861—modern Americans are just spinning their wheels.
One reason might be the cognitive disruption of social media. Social sites spread vapid nonsense. Plus, America’s foes have propagated many disruptive ideas. The internet is awash not so much with conspiracy theories, which embrace mystery, as explanation theories, which seek certitude. Another reason is the slow burn consequences of the 2007-2008 financial crisis and subsequent gig economy. People are very fed up. Yet another is human nature, or the lazy need to think in only one way. Plus the pandemic—soon to be endemic—coronavirus that has driven everyone slightly crazy. Truly can modernity suck.
But interesting is that America’s contemporary partisanship is so very incoherent. In an age of facial recognition technology, one might have thought American libertarians would welcome the right to cover their face. Not a bit of it. Likewise, one may have imagined American liberals would be far quicker to perceive the historical links between big government and autocracy. Nope. Both sides are, in one way, right in their doggedly-held views. This is because both have good old fashioned Americanism on their side. But both sides are wrong, because they are also ignoring key aspects of the same. There is just so little imagination. For example, the MAGA crowd, were they lucid, would surely support minority rights as an analog for their own.
Maybe today’s dysfunction was a long time coming. The two freedoms have, of course, never cooperated seamlessly. There was always tension, one as American as Oreo-infused, mint-chocolate ice cream. It goes back to the Republic’s inception. If there was to be a new country at all, it needed effective authority. That was the early Federalists’ point. But, if there was to be a purpose to that country, it also needed to limit that power. That was the early Republicans’. That debate was never quite resolved and, later, good old Abraham Lincoln had to step in. He protected one central authority, the federal government, in order to destroy another, the Confederacy. This he did in the name of liberty. But in applying the freedom from to create the freedom to, Honest Abe trampled on both, for example suspending habeas corpus. Not just freedom, but defining freedom is messy.
That mess is good. This country only exists because it refused kings. The English idea of Magna Carta (freedom from) underpinned the rebellion against Britain and created the emergent United States. But a merely restrictive approach wasn’t enough, and the United States only continues to exist because Americans also pursue their happiness (the freedom to). This was a fudge. Witness John Adams arguing for central authority, the freedom from, and Thomas Jefferson arguing for personal autonomy, the freedom to. The two men spent their lives covering each other with lukewarm buckets of mud. But the fudge worked out in the end. The Founders eventually compromised and the Union survived all threats.
Or, it has to date. Maybe the whole point of American history is that it’s a work in progress, an ongoing attempt to enjoy both freedoms. And that means there’s work to do. We can’t go on as we are. If nothing else, America’s image, its soft power, is at stake in an increasingly competitive global landscape. Or maybe we can go on like this. Perhaps inflaming and then exporting this debate will become the ultimate American influence in the world.
What we can say is that if contemporary Americans persist in choosing either the freedom the government provides or the freedom individuals seek, they will very likely end up with neither. As Lincoln said, a house divided against itself cannot stand. This is the danger now. Not so much foreign adversaries threatening Americans from abroad, as Americans threatening other Americans at home. How very strange, and at once how very typical, of America.
Guest commentaries like this one are written by authors outside the Barron’s and MarketWatch newsroom. They reflect the perspective and opinions of the authors. Submit commentary proposals and other feedback to ideas@barrons.com.
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