01-24-2026, 03:44 PM
#6: On Freedom by Timothy Snyder.
Reading this book was like consuming a huge, meaty, chewy meal. Every few paragraphs, I had to stop and think and digest. I frequently wanted to copy tidbits to social media to see who would react to a passage and how. I’ve never been a member of a book club, and I doubt I’d find one in my neck of the foothills that would read this, but I wouldn’t mind listening to the reactions of others who read it. It also made me want to run away from social media. Briefly, this book confronts the concept of freedom seen from positive and negative perspectives. Positive freedom is “freedom to.” Negative freedom is “freedom from.” One actively encourages human interaction/community; the other isolation and the shedding of responsibility. Both are attractive in their own ways but negative freedom depends more on your societal and economic status, and positive freedom tends to be healthier and brings about more positive outcomes for a greater number of people.
Reading this book was like consuming a huge, meaty, chewy meal. Every few paragraphs, I had to stop and think and digest. I frequently wanted to copy tidbits to social media to see who would react to a passage and how. I’ve never been a member of a book club, and I doubt I’d find one in my neck of the foothills that would read this, but I wouldn’t mind listening to the reactions of others who read it. It also made me want to run away from social media. Briefly, this book confronts the concept of freedom seen from positive and negative perspectives. Positive freedom is “freedom to.” Negative freedom is “freedom from.” One actively encourages human interaction/community; the other isolation and the shedding of responsibility. Both are attractive in their own ways but negative freedom depends more on your societal and economic status, and positive freedom tends to be healthier and brings about more positive outcomes for a greater number of people.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.