You are agruing that Juan was free to chose, even though some of his choices could result in death or imprisonment for himself or his relatives back in Cuba.
Yep, that's my position and I'm sticking with it, at least until and unless someone or something changes my mind.
If someone with power, like a totalitarian government or a rapist/murderer dictates your choices, then you have no freedom. You may still have a decision to make, but you don't have freedom. If you are free, however, you have an array of choices. You define the array and you make the choice. No power is dictating or constraining your choices. That doesn't mean that some or all of your options don't have risk.
Risk and freedom are two very different concepts, both of which are related to choice. When JM was in the US, he had the freedom to make any choice he wanted, but some of his choices had a lot of risk, perhaps insurmountable risk. The risk doesn't take away from his freedom to make the choice. It simply makes some of the options less attractive than others.
And yes, you're free to choose some other definition of freedom of choice, but only at great risk to your enlightenment <g>
Karen |
