The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom poster

Basic Info

First Air: March 11, 2007

Rating: ⭐ 8.0/10 (36 votes)

Status: Ended

Seasons & Episodes

Seasons: 1

Episodes: 3

Last Episode

Name: We Will Force You To Be Free

Season: 1, Episode: 3

Air Date: 2007-03-25

Runtime: 60 min

The final program focused on the concepts of positive and negative liberty introduced in the 1950s by Isaiah Berlin. Curtis briefly explained how negative liberty could be defined as freedom from coercion and positive liberty as the opportunity to strive to fulfill one's potential. Tony Blair had read Berlin's essays on the topic and wrote to him in the late 1990s, arguing that positive and negative liberty could be mutually compatible. He never received a reply, as Berlin was on his death bed.

The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom

2007 1 seasons 3 episodes ⭐ 8.0/10 36 votes

Overview

Individual freedom is the dream of our age. It's what our leaders promise to give us, it defines how we think of ourselves and, repeatedly, we have gone to war to impose freedom around the world. But if you step back and look at what freedom actually means for us today, it's a strange and limited kind of freedom.