PER 2015
John Stuart Mill wrote “on liberty”, which described the importance of individuality. He claimed that it was the key to social progress and without it a state will never accumulate to anything. He claimed that the error with democracies of the day was that they will inevitably lead to tyranny, whether that be from the government or a majority, which stifles individuality. He claimed that the tyranny of the majority created the most danger to society. Someone that goes against the norm are shunned by society, they are thought of as freaks. In politics, a tyranny of the majority describes the effect of alienating and disenfranchising the minority. This could be those that voted for a minor party or minority ethnics that are underrepresented in parliament. In the 2015 House of Commons, only 29% of MPs are female. When JS Mill described tyranny he was refereeing to people’s individual freedoms being encroached by the more powerful. He stated that this was at the cost of the whole of society, writing “A state which dwarfs its men, in order that they may be more docile instruments in its hands even for a beneficial purpose – will find that with small men no great thing can be accomplished”. Therefore, we can assume that as little as possible government intervention (on civil liberties) will create an environment for maximum social progress. An action that concerns the interests of no person but himself is a self-regarding action. An example of this could be me eating a bar of chocolate; it serves the interest of me alone. JS Mill wrote of the danger of a state that stops a citizen from doing a self-regarding action. An example of this is that marijuana is illegal. If someone was to get high in another part of London it wouldn’t affect you or me. Therefore, why should it not be legalised? One could argue that the recreational drug causes negative externalities, for example gang related crime. However, said crime is arguably caused by the government intervention itself. Because the drug is illegal a black market is created that breads crime. Therefore, because the state encroached someone’s individuality, a cost to the rest of society was created. Since marijuana was legalized in Colorado in 2014 crime has actually dropped by 14.6% 21 . This, suggests, that people should have unrestricted individual freedom just like JS Mill dreamed in the 19 th century. JS Mill claimed the most important civil liberty is that of freedom of thought and the ability to act accordingly on said thought or, as we know it, freedom of speech. In the UK, we think of ourselves as one of the most liberal democracies in the world. People are able to demonstrate and we have a free press. We also have the fastest growing economy in Europe, which would suggest that JS Mill’s formula for prosperity was accurate. In economics we talk about the free market, and how when individuals aim to maximise their own utility, resources will be most effectively allocated. If we think of freedom of speech as the free market of ideas, we would get a similar outcome that is a social optimum. The ability to act on your thought is described as individuality. This creates the proposed ideas that should question the truth, even if it is a ridiculous theory. Throughout history we have understood stuff and taken is as the truth for it to be disproven later on in history. For example, we used to believe that the earth was flat. It was only for our ability to act on our freedom of thought that we now know that earth is spherical. If we were to supress ideas we might be supressing the truth, which would obviously hinder society. Furthermore, a truth can only have a legitimate claim if it is constantly tested and questioned by different ideas. This is why JS Mill believed individuality was the key to social progress, the ability to find a truth aids in creating a thriving economy. However, what happens when one person’s social progress is at the cost of someone else? An “other – regarding action” is an act that encroaches on someone else’s civil right. This will inevitably happen
21 https://www.mainstreet.com/article/the-surprise-impact-of-recreational-pot-since-legalization-on-january- 1-2014
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