What Does Freedom Mean In a Capitalist Society?
In a capitalist society, what does it mean for a person to be free? Does it mean the ability to make one’s own choices? The chance to rise to the top? The chance to experience a life of no limits other than the ones placed on oneself? Before answering that, let’s consider a hypothetical slave society. In this society, freedom, to a salve, means to own one’s own life. Freedom, to the master, means the freedom to not be a slave, to instead own slaves who will make his money for him and do his hard labor. In this slave society, freedom does not exist without the notation of slavery. The members define freedom in terms of what it is not. In this case, it is not slavery. Similarly, in a feudalistic society, freedom would mean the freedom to own land and be protected without having to pay high taxes/rent on the things one produces. In a socialist society, freedom from society would mean to be able to own however much one wished, to be able to increase one's income by increasing one