Freedom and Equality: Both or Neither.

Consider a society that is free, yet unequal. In this society, by definition, there is a lower class of people who are somehow lesser than a higher class. As a result of this class separation, it stands to reason that this lower class are unable to achieve the same goals or attain the same quality of life as those in the higher class due to their class position. While the higher class may be perfectly and truly free, by having inequality this same pure freedom does not apply to the underclass. As a result, society is not truly free as there is a significant portion of the population that is not free. Therefore you can not have a society that is free and unequal, but you can have a society that is both unfree and unequal.

Let us now consider a society that is purely equal but unfree. For a society to be unfree, there must be some force of oppression that is enforcing this lack of freedom. For this to exist, there must be a position of authority, possibly a state but not necessarily, that is enforcing this lack of freedom. As a result, while the citizens of this society may be themselves equal amongst each other, by the existence of an oppressive power society is not truly equal. Therefore it is not possible for a society to be both equal and unfree, but it is possible for a society to be both unequal and unfree.

If it is only possible to have true equality in a society that is truly free, and it is only possible to have true freedom in a society that is truly equal, then it is possible for a society to be both free and equal, but not possess only one of these traits. Therefore a society can be free and equal, or neither, but it cannot be only free or only equal.