The Liberty of the Ancients Compared with That of the Moderns by Constant
by According to Constant, people seem to confuse the modern definition of liberty with the ancient one hence a distinction needs to be made.
Constant argues that moderns do not have to sacrifice their individual liberty in order to gain political liberty, individual liberty is sacred and political liberty is a consequence. The modern governments need to provide security in order for people to enjoy civil liberty. People value civil liberty more than political liberty. Additionally, Commerce also allows the individuals the power of wealth, which is readily available. The representative system of government therefore is merely a number of people chosen for the protection of individual interests. For the ancients the idea of liberty was endangered by people attaching little importance to individual liberty whereas the case for the moderns is opposite where people absorbed by individual liberty can forget their political rights. The governments need to be constantly checked and not left to operate independently. Political liberty should not be forgotten. Rather than focusing on one of them, both the individual and political liberty should be combined, in order for humanity to best achieve its aim. It is not enough for peace to exist; individual rights should be guaranteed by the state.
Constant makes an important distinction and effectively proves the importance of political and individual liberty to co-exist. However, the extent of both the liberties is not clearly mentioned. Additionally, only the desirability of the matter is discussed and not the practicality. If people are constantly emerged in commerce and have no time to exercise their political power, they will naturally only tend to focus on their individual interests only rather than their political liberty as well. The role of the Government in the modern society has not been clearly defined by Constant, whether it is only there to safeguard individual interests or does it have to formulate laws to control people as well. Overall constant raises many valid points and the importance of both the liberties, as well as the distinctions, are clearly illustrated.
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