Comment by Michael Grove on November 6, 2010 at 11:37

Freedom in the nation state era has been closely associated with the ability to control one’s labour and secure one’s property, because that is the way to optimize pleasure and be happy. The classical economists argued that every individual is free to the extent he or she can pursue their individual self- interest in the material world. Freedom, in the rational mode, is the freedom to be autonomous and independent and to be an island to one’s self.

To be free is to be rational, detached, acquisitive, and utilitarian.      The role of government, in turn, is to safeguard private property relations and allow market forces to operate, unfettered by political constraints. The conventional American dream is personal
opportunity to succeed in the marketplace.

The empathic approach to freedom in the emerging Biosphere Age is based on a different premise. Freedom means being able to optimize the full potential of one’s life, and the fulfilled life is one of companionship, affection, and belonging, made possible by ever
deeper and more meaningful personal experiences and relationships with others–across neighbourhoods, continents and the world. One is free, then, to the extent that one has been nurtured and raised in a global society that allows for empathetic opportunities at every
level of human discourse.

The new dream is the quality of life of humanity.

Comment by Michael Grove on September 14, 2020 at 7:43

SO here we are today almost a decade later enjoying the entries to the 

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020 and the fact that Andromeda Galaxy image wins top prize

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