Rob: Welcome to 6 Minute English with me, Rob.
Finn: And me, Finn. Hello.
Rob: In today's programme, we're talking about freedom. It's a big subject and
it's something the BBC has been exploring in its Freedom 2014 season.
Finn: That's right. There's been a season of programmes about what freedom
means to different people.
Rob: Well, we're going to try and summarise what freedom really is and look at
some related vocabulary. But first a definition – what does freedom
mean?
Finn: According to the Oxford English Dictionary, freedom is the power or right
to act, speak, or think as one wants.
Rob: Yes, it's something many people expect to have – we consider it our right
- but certain people in some of the world do not get to experience the
feeling of freedom.
Finn: You mean some people are restricted and controlled in what they can
and can't do.
Rob: Some organisations try to rank countries – or give them a score – based
on how free its people are. It's calculated according to certain factors -
and my question for you today Finn is, according to the World Freedom
Index 2013 by the Canadian Fraser Institute, the people of which country
came out as number one, in terms of having the most freedom? Was it:
a) the USA
b) Sweden
c) New Zealand
Finn: I'm going to say c) New Zealand.
Rob: We'll see if you're right later on. So let's talk more about freedom – a
word that means many things to many people. We sometimes hear about
political freedom – where people are able to vote in elections to choose
who runs their country – and where people are able to challenge what
their leaders do. We often refer to this system as a democracy.
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Finn: Many people would say that any system of democracy should
automatically include the right to free speech – that’s the right to say
what you want about anything you want. We also hear about freedom for
women – when they have the same rights as men. This is one form of
equality. We also hear about equality for people of different colour,
religion or sexual orientation. People usually don't feel free or equal if they
are treated differently because of something like their race, colour, gender
or disability. One example of this is the system of apartheid, which
passed laws to restrict the freedom and rights of black people in South
Africa.
Rob: Many of those laws are no longer in existence – but freedom is still an
issue around the world today. The BBC Freedom 2014 season looked at
examples of modern-day slavery in the Thai fishing industry. There is
forced labour, where people are made to work in terrible conditions for
little or no money.
Finn: There's also secrecy and surveillance – when you're being watched by
the government; these can also be seen as ways of controlling someone's
freedom. And some say that blocking the public’s access to certain
information limits freedom.
Rob: Yes, the American computer expert Edward Snowden famously disclosed
thousands of confidential – or secret – documents held by America's
National Security Agency so people could see what information was being
kept about them.
Finn: But possibly the most personal example of having your freedom restricted
is when you are held unfairly against your will – in prison or as a hostage,
which is what happened to Norman Kember, a British man who was taken
hostage in Iraq in 2005.
Rob: He says the only thing that kept him free was his mind. He would picture
something good in his head. So, although as a hostage his body wasn't
free, he could still feel free by thinking about his garden - the flowers and
trees and the sound of birdsong. Simple pleasures.
Finn: Freedom really came for him when he was eventually rescued during a
military operation on 23 March 2006, and the first thing he did when he
returned to England was… walk in his garden. It must have been a great
feeling.
Rob: In different situations, people around the world have fought to win their
freedom in many different ways. They have held protests and marches,
and campaigned for a change in laws and attitudes – changing the way
people think.
Finn: And when people living under a regime want to make a change for the
better they sometimes take to the streets to chant, shout and sing. Lots of
songs have been written about freedom. But if you can't sing, there's
another, newer way to make your voice heard: people use social media to
spread their message and hopefully get support for their cause. It's what
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happened in a number of uprisings in the Middle East, such as the Arab
Spring.
Rob: Let's get back to the question I asked you earlier about which country
came first in the World Freedom Index 2013, according to the Canadian
Fraser Institute?
Finn: I said c) New Zealand. Was I right?
Rob: Yes, well done, the answer is New Zealand. The freedom index was based
on a number of measures such as freedom of speech, religion, economic
choice and women's rights. You can find more detail about the BBC
Freedom Season on the BBC website. We'll be back with more 6 Minute
English very soon. Please join us then.
Both: Bye.
