Freedom From What

There's the FourFreedoms. There's FreeAsInBeer, FreeAsInSex, FreeAsInSpeech. There's FreeEnterprise, FreeSoftware, FreeThinker?s, FreeWill, and even FreedomOfWiki. But there still ain't no such thing as a FreeLunch.

When someone says the word "freedom" they're usually selling something (usually "convenience"). Don't be afraid to reply, "FreedomFromWhat?".

Free will be the last word to be co-opted to mean the complete opposite. The same will happen to the word freedom. or has.

Or, alternatively, FreedomToWhat??

I'm sure that "FreeToSpeakMyMind?" can be expressed as an inversion, e.g. "FreedomFromCensorship?," however, the more direct positive declaration (freedom to ...) won't always have a clear inverse (freedom from ...), along the lines of "freedom to breathe" as opposed to "freedom from having one's life choked out."

So, an equally valid question will be "freedom to do what?"

Indeed you are correct. It is ALWAYS the case that "freedom from" can be inverted to "freedom to" (as long as you understand that rights are an obligation of people, not of the universe) but it is FALSE that "freedom to" can always be inverted to "freedom from". Therefore, all rights should be expressed as "freedom to". For more on this issue, see RightsArePositive?.