What is important is not that I be free but that I feel free and am able to move about. The social requirement and political commitment of an American is a slant towards freedom, which could only ever be relative. But in absolute terms we are constantly faced with and supported by force, and this is as important as the availability of paths for movement and some degree of open, pathless choice.
In this we are like earthworms. We thrive neither in solid rock nor in open air. What we want is loamy, fertile soil, shot through with variation - pockets of air, some roots and gravel, and moderate variation in moisture. It is in the intercomposition of freedom and force that we live and work and have our being.
