Since the beginning of our history, America has been all about freedom. America was founded as a nation by people who had nothing to lose: religious refugees, outlaws, servants, serfs, slaves and outcasts. The one thing they all had in common was their obsession with freedom. Everywhere else in the 18th century world individuals were classified by their birth into narrow life stations according to religion, caste, craft, clan, place, or parents. America, of course, was also such a place. But the people who came here, who stayed here, and who made it here were people of great courage, resourcefulness and above all a determination to be free of the bonds from which they had fled. This characteristic is still the bedrock of what it is to be an American.
The first freedom was a personal thing — “I want to be free to do what I want for myself and my family.” It was clear from the beginning, however, that each person’s own freedom depended on the freedom of the people we lived with. The expansion of this “circle of the free” has been a constant in American life and can be considered in some ways the story of this country. From the first Thanksgiving at Plymouth Rock in 1621 when Gov. Bradford invited the great Pawtuxet king Massasoit and 90 of his people to a feast which lasted three days, to the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, to 19th amendment (women’s right to vote) in 1920, to the civil rights movement of the late 20th century, to the gay rights movement of the 21st century, the “circle of the free” has always continued to expand.
For many of those years, and still today for many Americans, the principal thrust was “freedom FROM” – from England, first, but also from injustice, from invasion of privacy, from arbitrary laws and criminal enforcement, from onerous taxation, and the rest of the Bill of Rights. These were civil freedoms. There were also technological freedoms to be sought — from weather, distance, disease, ignorance, from back-breaking labor and fatigue. We have developed machines to assist with many of the tasks of life — machines to move the earth, to move people and goods, to wash our dishes, to clean our floors, to print our letters, to play our music, to cook our food, and to sew our clothes. Our economic freedom protects our private property and, among other things, allows every person and household to decide whether to purchase any, all, or none of these products.
Always implicit in the American value of freedom has been the positive
role that freedom can have in the life of an individual and a society. When a person finds freedom from most of the tasks necessary for survival achieved, the positive values of freedom begin to be faced. Freedom FOR — what? Freedom to do — WHAT? What is the purpose of this freedom?
Freedom is for personal growth. A person sees — and wants to see more; hears — and wants to hear more; thinks — and wants to think more; learns — and wants to learn more.
It is freedom which makes the extended person possible.
And this extended person lives in the company of many such persons of extended possibilities. More and more Americans are facing questions about the way they will use their freedom from so many of the traditional limits on their time, talent, and energy. They form new leisure classes. That is, groups of people who are able to spend much of their time free from the menial tasks needed for survival. Their minds can then cast about for new ideas
The best examples of contemporary American leisure classes are perhaps the young and the old, before and after the busy years of raising a family and maintaining a career.
Many children of the relatively affluent families in our society have grown up in an atmosphere of hectic activities, such as sports, crafts, music, and other hobbies, which have as their primary purpose the pleasure of the participants. These activities have little to do with the economic responsibilities these youngsters will be later expected to undertake. As they grow older, they begin to realize this disconnect and seek alternatives, some in drugs, sex or violence.
The quickly growing community of retired persons is another leisure class. Retirees are prone to a different type of pleasure-seeking. A common assumption seems to be: “Now that I am free from the demands of work, I have fulfilled my responsibilities to society and can spend my time sightseeing, playing golf (or bridge), watching television, or fishing.
This hedonism in American society is one answer to the questions of what freedom is FOR. It says, “Now that I am free to do whatever I want, I will spend my time doing what gives me pleasure.”
Many members of both these leisure classes, however, do find productive ways to use their freedom. The huge growth of volunteerism in America is one sign of a positive answer to the unparalleled freedom of many Americans. More and more fields are experiencing a quantum leap in interest and creativity, whether politics, philanthropy, medical causes, education, the arts, science, entrepreneurship, history, or help for the handicapped and infirm, including wounded warriors. The contributions of leisure class Americans to these causes are frequently breath-taking.
In the history of civilization, it has been observed by cultural historians that many of the most important and enduring contributions to philosophy, science, art, literature, and religion have been the products of a leisure class. Never in history, however, has there been a leisure class of more than a few hundred privileged people at the top of the economic ladder of their society. The prospect of tens of millions of people having the freedom to follow their creative energies holds monumental promise for society. We are already seeing evidence of this promise in a myriad of different fields. To live in this world of expanded possibilities gives Americans the prospect of living a larger, more fulfilling, and more productive life than any previous generations.
This democratization of the leisure class is fast becoming the privilege of many Americans. It is ours to use for good or ill.
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