The Tension of Freedom

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There's this tension I always think about which is that when you come into the world as a child, as an infant, you are helpless. You rely on your parents or friends or family to sustain you and don't like it. As we get older, we reach adolescents, certainly we want to be free of our parents. We're tired of being told what to do. And then if life turns out that way we become parents and we get to boss around some other little creatures,. "We kind of like it because we endured this being bossed around thing, the hazeling. And now we get to impose it," he says.

Journalist and author Sebastian Junger talks about his book, Freedom, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. The book and conversation are based on a 400-mile walk Junger took with buddies along railroad rights-of-way, evading police, railroad security, and other wanderers. Junger discusses the ever-present tension between the human desire to be free and the desire to be interconnected and part of something. Along the way, Junger talks about the joy of walking, the limits of human endurance, war, and why the more powerful, better-equipped military isn't always the winner.