Dear Baya,

      Where does freedom come from? Indeed, what is freedom? Is it the same as liberty? Is it a universal human right, or just an accident that occurs by chance in certain societies? Should we force people to be free, even if they don’t wish to be? And will free individuals and free societies continue long into the future?

      There are so many questions here which I’ve never really thought about, but now start to intrigue me. Perhaps it is partly because a whole heap of large civilizations which were closed before are trying to make a go of freedom, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, China and a number of dictatorships. They look to our traditions. But when they ask us to explain what our freedom means, what it is upheld by, where it came from, then I am really not able to say much.

      I’m also interested because I’m just reaching the age of freedom – from my parents and from school. I’ll soon be able to vote and make certain legal contracts. What do these freedoms mean?

      It seems that freedom give us the right to do things, but does it also bring responsibilities? And is freedom only possible if there are also rules and constraints?

     People often tell me that freedom of speech, of rights to join with others, are very important and somehow linked to something people talk a lot about nowadays called ‘civil society’. What is this? And how did it emerge and is it really important?

      If you could give me a non-technical sketch of something which seems so important but hazy, that would be cool.

       Lots of love,