Diversity and Freedom
Published May 12, 2020
Freedom and diversity go hand in hand. While freedom promotes diversity, diversity protects freedom and prevents conformity. Together, freedom and diversity permit different expressions of people’s individuality that lead to the great achievements of civilization.
Discussion Questions
- Has the interpretation of diversity changed over time? If so, how?
- What comes to mind when you hear the word "freedom"?
Additional Resources
- Watch “How to Stay Free” on Free to Choose with Milton Friedman. Available here.
- Read Milton Friedman on Freedom, available here.
- Read “The Diversity Fundamentalists by Richard A. Epstein. Available here.
- Read “Diversity Can Spell Trouble” by Victor Davis Hanson. Available here.
- Read “The Rise of Faux Diversity” by Bruce Thornton. Available here.
The real value of freedom is that it provides diversity, and diversity is in turn the real protection of freedom.
People who like to live in small cities can live in small cities.
People who like the impersonality of a metropolis can live in a metropolis.
We have loyalties to our churches, we have loyalties to our universities, to our schools, to our clubs, to our cities, to our states.
It’s this diversity, the fact that there isn’t a monolithic conformity imposed on us that is the source of protection for our freedom, and also the fruit of freedom.
It’s because freedom protects diversity, the fact that you have all these different expressions of people’s individuality, that produces the great achievements of civilization, and that provides the great hope and protection of our freedom.