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Freedom and Our Future
Page 2
Memorandum for the President
Amartya Sen, February 25, 2000
The progress of a community can hardly be judged primarily by an increase in inanimate
objects of convenience, such as a rise in the GNP (or in personal incomes), or industrialization, or
technological advance, or social modernization. These are, of course, valuable - often crucially
important - accomplishments, but their value must depend on what they do to the lives and options
of the people involved. Commodities are valuable because they enhance our capabilities - our
freedom to do the things that we value. That relationship is far from simple, and involve many
variables that are influenced by the institutional and organizational arrangements in the economy
and society.²
Freedom as Means
In addition to the role of freedom as an end, it is also a most effective instrument. Freedom
of one kind can be a very effective means of enhancing freedom of other kinds. Different types of
freedom tend to sustain each other.³ A person's actual capability to achieve the things he or she
values can be influenced by economic opportunities, political liberties, social facilities, as well as the
enabling conditions of good health, basic education, and the encouragement and cultivation of
initiatives. These opportunities are, to a great extent, mutually complementary, and tend to
reinforce the reach and use of each other.
For example, political freedom and democracy give people the power to protest against
economic catastrophes (this is related to the well-established fact that famines never occur in any
democratic country). Similarly, social opportunities in the form of education and health care help
2
I have discussed this relationship in Commodities and Capabilities (Amsterdam: North-
Holland, 1985), and also in Development as Freedom (1999).
3 The empirical evidence for this rather strong claim is discussed in Amartya Sen, Development
as Freedom (1999).
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"ocrText": "Freedom and Our Future\nPage 2\nMemorandum for the President\nAmartya Sen, February 25, 2000\nThe progress of a community can hardly be judged primarily by an increase in inanimate\nobjects of convenience, such as a rise in the GNP (or in personal incomes), or industrialization, or\ntechnological advance, or social modernization. These are, of course, valuable - often crucially\nimportant - accomplishments, but their value must depend on what they do to the lives and options\nof the people involved. Commodities are valuable because they enhance our capabilities - our\nfreedom to do the things that we value. That relationship is far from simple, and involve many\nvariables that are influenced by the institutional and organizational arrangements in the economy\nand society.²\nFreedom as Means\nIn addition to the role of freedom as an end, it is also a most effective instrument. Freedom\nof one kind can be a very effective means of enhancing freedom of other kinds. Different types of\nfreedom tend to sustain each other.³ A person's actual capability to achieve the things he or she\nvalues can be influenced by economic opportunities, political liberties, social facilities, as well as the\nenabling conditions of good health, basic education, and the encouragement and cultivation of\ninitiatives. These opportunities are, to a great extent, mutually complementary, and tend to\nreinforce the reach and use of each other.\nFor example, political freedom and democracy give people the power to protest against\neconomic catastrophes (this is related to the well-established fact that famines never occur in any\ndemocratic country). Similarly, social opportunities in the form of education and health care help\n2\nI have discussed this relationship in Commodities and Capabilities (Amsterdam: North-\nHolland, 1985), and also in Development as Freedom (1999).\n3 The empirical evidence for this rather strong claim is discussed in Amartya Sen, Development\nas Freedom (1999)."
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