I recently heard Mayor Pete Buttigieg on the Pod Save America podcast arguing that Democrats should reclaim the word “freedom” because of the freedoms afforded by government support, civil rights, public health care, etc, as opposed to ceding the word to Republicans (and libertarians) who would have “freedom from government” be the only kind of freedom worth defending.
As it happens, I released a song making that very same argument in 2016 on my album The Rap Guide to Climate Chaos. The point applies well to climate change (do we value the freedom to pollute, or freedom from the harmful effects of pollution?) as well as all other scenarios where individual freedom and societal wellbeing come into conflict. I had always hoped to make a proper music video for the song but haven’t found the time or resources yet, so here’s a lyric video.
I hope you enjoy it, and I wish Mayor Pete the best of luck in the Democratic Primary. He’s an impressive thinker and nothing I’ve seen or heard from him yet suggests he’d be anything but an excellent President. It’s an impressive field of candidates and hard to stand out in (and as a non-citizen I don’t get to vote) but I do recommend you check him out.
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