the paradoxes of freedom

Paradoxes of freedom arise when citizens exist in a political space governed by ideals of freedom and autonomy and when these citizens simulaneously exist in an economic space of control and heteronymy. These paradoxes in turn generate what social theorists call a "legitimation crisis". This means that the values of the political space are but empty lip service when the concrete form of life is rather one of narrow oppression. It is characteristic of modernity to claim autonomy as a moral ideal. It is characteristic of capitalism, on the other hand, to require a degree of oppression in the form of forced labor (even if one is "free"). The paradox arises in this case when we discover that we are not what we think we are and yet find both schemes of explanation somewhow accurate.