History Main / LibertyOverProsperity

* In ''Film/StarWars'' lore, this was much more or less a doctrine of the Sith Order. Compared to the Jedi order who represented more of the Prosperity side, ordaining those in the Order to give up most of their individuality to become a unified force in pursuit of peace and justice, the Sith on the other hand shook off this notion in favor of pursuing power and enrichment for themselves.

Everyone has a different idea about what the most important aspect of life is. Some would say it is prosperity and to them, a restrictive governing body that provides them with a {{Utopia}} [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans is worth sacrificing freedoms for]]. Others, however, will refuse to bow down and would prefer to be responsible for their own future regardless of the cost. They view freedom as the ultimate right and will leave or refuse to join the prosperous nation, as long as they keep their independence. Those who decide not to become citizens ''know'' what they are giving up. To them, though their nation might be a WorldHalfEmpty, at least it is ''theirs'' to do with as they please.

Could be used in CharacterAlignment systems to portray the difference between Law and Chaos. When it comes to Chaotics, stifling their freedom is the worst thing you could do to them: it's leaving them with no air to breathe, it makes them physically suffer and decay. Freedom, or the ''illusion'' thereof, is as vital to them as water and food. Often, they can deal with harsh living conditions the same way Lawful people can endure a lack of freedom: for either party, it's a minor inconvenience in the face of what they really, viscerally need.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', the original team were all children of obscenely wealthy families, but after their parents' deaths, they chose to live off the grid in a base under La Brea Tar Pits.

'''Please note: This is not a place to vent about political opinions, so Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease.''' [[noreallife]]

Could be used in CharacterAlignment systems to portray the difference between Law and Chaos. When it comes to Chaotics, stifling their freedom is the worst thing you could do to them: it's leaving them with no air to breathe, it makes them physically suffer and decay. Freedom, or the ''illusion'' thereof, are as vital to them as water and food. Often, they can deal with harsh living conditions the same way Lawful people can endure a lack of freedom: for either party, it's a minor inconvenience in the face of what they really, viscerally need.

* ''VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar'' has a similar choice to its original. [[spoiler:HELIOS again represents Prosperity, wishing to implant every human being with nanotech so it can function as a hub for a global direct democracy where [[HiveMind it has direct access to every human being's inner thoughts and desires and can shape society according to global consensus]]. The Illuminati again represent the mid-point, wanting HELIOS destroyed so their own AI alternative can take over and institute a system similar to their ending in the first game, leaving humanity unaltered but under their control. Finally, Leo (if you rescued him earlier) [[OmnicidalNeutral wants to put all the conspiracies out to pasture with a bullet to the head]] and let people make up their own minds. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Picking his ending leads to humanity exterminating itself and the Omar inherit the world]]. The Templars represent an outside to this dichotomy, as they're [[EvilReactionary Evil Reactionaries]] who want to ban all human augmentation and institute a global purge: They create a theocratic feudal state if they come out on top, hence providing neither liberty nor prosperity.]]

The exact nature of the freedom to be sacrificed varies. At one extreme, a character may object to being herded into a BreadAndCircuses Dystopia, where surveillance is omnipresent and everything, even jobs and marriages, are arranged by the state; at the other extreme, a character may object to the imposition of a justice system, and so giving up the freedom to extract a private {{Revenge}} for slights, however trivial, or the justice system treating members of other groups as if they were equal to their own, and had rights. And all between.

Everyone has a different idea about what the most important aspect of life is. Some would say it is prosperity, and to them a restrictive governing body that provides them with a {{Utopia}} [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans is worth sacrificing freedoms for]]. Others, however, will refuse to bow down, and would prefer to be responsible for their own future regardless of the cost. They view freedom as the ultimate right, and will leave or refuse to join the prosperous nation, as long as they keep their independence. Those who decide not to become citizens ''know'' what they are giving up. To them, though their nation might be a WorldHalfEmpty, at least it is ''theirs'' to do with as they please.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Luffy expresses little to no interest in treasure, and doesn't care if One Piece even exists. His main motivation for becoming Pirate King is to be able to have the most freedom. This goes even beyond safety or warnings, from fellow pirates and allies, or Lawful marines. He once declared war on the entire World Government because it got in the way of him saving his [[TrueCompanions crewmate]]. He'll do whatever the heck he wants, and damn the consequences; we're lucky he's a good guy.

** Abdael rejects this approach. Part of the reason why he initiated Asran's civil war was because he wanted to use foreign capital to develop Asran.

* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/TheGoldenOecumene The Golden Transcendence]]'', Atkins recounts how his family prefered liberty to prosperity -- they didn't do what anyone else told them to do.

* In ''Literature/GoingPostal'', this forms the core of the emnity between Reacher Gilt and Lord Vetinari. Gilt, a [[Creator/AynRand Randian]] archetype and a completely CorruptCorporateExecutive who thinks nothing of screwing over his fellow man (including theft, embezzlement and outright murder) for fun or profit, represents the 'liberty'. Vetinari, a [[Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli Machiavellian]] autocrat and [[TheChessmaster Thud-master]] who believes the most important part of freedom is the freedom to take the consequences for your own follies but ultimately given second chances (an 'angel'), if you can use it to turn your life around, represents the 'prosperity'. [[spoiler:After Vetinari successfully guides protagonist Moist von Lipwig into defeating Gilt, it's implied Gilt [[IDieFree intentionally killed himself in the epilogue]] by stepping into a pit of spikes rather than do like Moist and take a government job.]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''TabletopGame/MutantChronicles'': Most people who decide to go freelance make this choice. However, most of them can't hack the insecurity and figure a steady paycheck, pension and medical benefits are worth the loss of liberty.

* This is the demon's path in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney''. Not to be confused with the "bad" path, the game makes it fairly clear there is no bad or good path, the demons want everyone to be free in all things, which would result in a dystopian planet with no society because everyone would do what they damn well want, and the angel's path leads to a world were everyone is happy, because they have no other choice but to be happy, and are brainwashed into so. You can also TakeAThirdOption, as per series norm.

* ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' poses this as its final question: [[spoiler:The Aquinas Hub built by Majestic 12 allows whoever controls its central AI to control all global communication, since every phone call, satellite transmission and long-range electronic signal is re-routed through the hub [[BigBrotherIsWatchingYou and can be monitored, blocked or altered at will]]. Three factions (four if you include the BigBad, but [[NoCampaignForTheWicked you cannot side with him]]) want the Hub for their own ends: [[DeusEstMachina HELIOS]] represents the Prosperity end of the scale, leaving an AI with no restraints on their power and a directive to make the world safe and prosperous in charge of humanity's future. Morgan Everett and the Illuminati represent a middle point, where the Hub is stewarded by an AncientConspiracy whose membership and goals may change as new members are brought on and old ones die, and where (hypothetically) anyone from the outside may join if found worthy. Finally, Tracer Tong represents Liberty by wanting the Aquinas Hub destroyed, which will knock out all global communication and cause civilization to temporarily fragment, which of course means an immediate loss of prosperity for everyone but maintaining the long-term freedom for humanity to self-determine.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'': The main conflict between Lucio and Vishkar Corporation (and to a small extension, their NobleTopEnforcer, Symmetra) boils down to this. Vishkar believes that Prosperity and order prevails over all else, they have built prosperous cities where people are living in great standards, and believes freedom is just an illusion that causes more harm, so they strove to make the world more prosperous, even if they have to resort to corrupt methods like slavery or destroying cultural icons. At least that is what Symmetra believed, but she's starting to doubt whether they're really aiming for prosperity of all like she's doing or [[CorruptCorporateExecutive just trying to line in more profit for them or imposing their will]]. On the other hand, Lucio is the guy who believes in Liberty so greatly that he drove Vishkar out when they went too far in oppressing his home. While he's now rich because of his rebellion making him an international superstar, his favela home still remained dirt poor, but he considers it a fair price, they still retained their freedom and he can still deliver his fortune to his home.

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'': Some members of the {{Undercity}}, including his own daughter Vi feel their de-facto leader Vander has gotten too comfortable with choosing to keep the peace over fighting back against their Piltover oppressors. Vander is unwilling to pay the price war with topside would bring, especially as a father of four. In an unusual twist, the biggest advocate is the BigBad Silco, who insists that [[TheUnfettered no price is too high for liberty]].

[[folder:TV Tropes]]
* In terms of RomanticismVersusEnlightenment you will usually find that those advocating liberty are Romantic and those pushing for prosperity are Enlightened.
[[/folder]]

* This is the demon's path in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney''. Not to be confused with the "bad" path, the game makes it fairly clear there is no bad or good path, the demons want everyone to be free in all things, which would result in a dystopian planet with no society because everyone would do what they damn well want, and the angel's path leads to a world were everyone is happy, because they have no other choice but to be happy, and are brainwashed into so. [[spoiler: You can also TakeAThirdOption]].

* Daichi's ending in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' leads to this kind of scenario. Daichi says he'd rather destroy the one who controls the world and stop him from toying with humanity than let one of the other factions depend on him to recreate their 'perfect world'. [[spoiler:The ending leads to the entire world outside the barrier being deleted and replaced with an endless, lifeless ocean to fill the void left behind, but at least humanity is completely free of supernatural influences forever.]]

* In ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', this forms the core of the emnity between Reacher Gilt and Lord Vetinari. Gilt, a [[Creator/AynRand Randian]] archetype and a completely CorruptCorporateExecutive who thinks nothing of screwing over his fellow man (including theft, embezzlement and outright murder) for fun or profit, represents the 'liberty'. Vetinari, a [[Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli Machiavellian]] autocrat and [[TheChessmaster Thud-master]] who believes the most important part of freedom is the freedom to take the consequences for your own follies but ultimately given second chances (an 'angel'), if you can use it to turn your life around, represents the 'prosperity'. [[spoiler:After Vetinari successfully guides protagonist Moist von Lipwig into defeating Gilt, it's implied Gilt [[IDieFree intentionally killed himself in the epilogue]] by stepping into a pit of spikes rather than do like Moist and take a government job.]]

* ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' poses this as its final question: The Aquinas Hub built by Majestic 12 allows whoever controls its central AI to control all global communication, since every phone call, satellite transmission and long-range electronic signal is re-routed through the hub [[BigBrotherIsWatchingYou and can be monitored, blocked or altered at will]]. Three factions (four if you include the BigBad, but [[NoCampaignForTheWicked you cannot side with him]]) want the Hub for their own ends: [[DeusEstMachina HELIOS]] represents the Prosperity end of the scale, leaving an AI with no restraints on their power and a directive to make the world safe and prosperous in charge of humanity's future. Morgan Everett and the Illuminati represent a middle point, where the Hub is stewarded by an AncientConspiracy whose membership and goals may change as new members are brought on and old ones die, and where (hypothetically) anyone from the outside may join if found worthy. Finally, Tracer Tong represents Liberty by wanting the Aquinas Hub destroyed, which will knock out all global communication and cause civilization to temporarily fragment, which of course means an immediate loss of prosperity for everyone but maintaining the long-term freedom for humanity to self-determine.
* ''VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar'' has a similar choice to its original. HELIOS again represents Prosperity, wishing to implant every human being with nanotech so it can function as a hub for a global direct democracy where [[HiveMind it has direct access to every human being's inner thoughts and desires and can shape society according to global consensus]]. The Illuminati again represent the mid-point, wanting HELIOS destroyed so their own AI alternative can take over and institute a system similar to their ending in the first game, leaving humanity unaltered but under their control. Finally, Leo (if you rescued him earlier) [[OmnicidalNeutral wants to put all the conspiracies out to pasture with a bullet to the head]] and let people make up their own minds. [[spoiler:Picking his ending leads to humanity exterminating itself and the Omar inherit the world.]] The Templars represent an outside to this dichotomy, as they're [[EvilReactionary Evil Reactionaries]] who want to ban all human augmentation and institute a global purge: They create a theocratic feudal state if they come out on top, hence providing neither liberty nor prosperity.

* Tracer Tong's recommended ending for ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' is to destroy all centralized networking and let civilization fragment into independent city-states, which course this means an immediate loss of prosperity for everyone. BigBad Bob Paige represents the other extreme, prosperity (mostly for himself) in exchange for one-world government, dissolution of national identity into a consolidated culture, not to mention the loss of civil liberty that comes with global surveillance of all communications.

Because people are opinionated, everyone has a different idea about what the most important aspect of life is. Some would say it is prosperity, and to them a restrictive governing body that provides them with a {{Utopia}} [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans is worth sacrificing freedoms for]]. Others, however, will refuse to bow down, and would prefer to be responsible for their own future regardless of the cost. They view freedom as the ultimate right, and will leave or refuse to join the prosperous nation, as long as they keep their independence. Those who decide not to become citizens ''know'' what they are giving up. To them, though their nation might be a WorldHalfEmpty, at least it is ''theirs'' to do with as they please.

Could be considered an ideological PyrrhicVictory. See also HobbesWasRight, as well as SpaceCossacks for cases when there are other motivations besides simply being free. The ProudWarriorRaceGuy often proclaims the liberty side, seeing that they would have to change KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect for many occupations to get the prosperity. This trade-off is frequently explored through a CagedBirdMetaphor. May ultimately result in IDieFree.

Could be considered an ideological PyrrhicVictory. See also HobbesWasRight, as well as SpaceCossacks for cases when there are other motivations besides simply being free. The ProudWarriorRaceGuy often proclaims the liberty side, seeing that they would have to change KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect for many occupations to get the prosperity. This trade-off is frequently explored through a CagedBirdMetaphor.

** Later, however, he blames Kirk for the hardship his people experienced on the planet, including losing his wife, and goes on [[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan a quest for revenge]].

-->'''Khan''': Have you ever read Milton, Captain? [snip]
-->'''Kirk''': (Nods) Yes. I understand.
-->'''Scott''': It's a shame for a good Scotsman to admit it, but I'm not up on Milton.
-->'''Kirk''': The statement Lucifer made when he fell into the pit. "It is better to rule in hell than serve in heaven."

Could be considered an ideological PyrrhicVictory. See also HobbesWasRight, as well as SpaceCossacks for cases when there are other motivations besides simply being free. The ProudWarriorRaceGuy often proclaims the liberty side, seeing that they would have to change KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect for many occupations to get the prosperity.

* In ''OnePiece'', Luffy expresses little to no interest in treasure, and doesn't care if One Piece even exists. His main motivation for becoming Pirate King is to be able to have the most freedom. This goes even beyond safety or warnings, from fellow pirates and allies, or Lawful marines. He once declared war on the entire World Government because it got in the way of him saving his [[TrueCompanions crewmate]]. He'll do whatever the heck he wants, and damn the consequences; we're lucky he's a good guy.

* In ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', this forms the core of the emnity between Reacher Gilt and Lord Vetinari. Gilt, a [[Creator/AynRand Randian]] archetype and a completely CorruptCorporateExecutive who thinks nothing of screwing over his fellow man (including theft, embezzlement and outright murder) for fun or profit, represents the 'liberty'. Vetinari, a [[Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli Machiavellian]] autocrat and [[TheChessmaster Thud-master]] who believes the most important part of freedom is the freedom to take the consequences for your own follies but ultimately given second chances (an 'angel') if you can use it to turn your life around, represents the 'prosperity'. [[spoiler:After Vetinari successfully guides protagonist Moist von Lipwig into defeating Gilt, it's implied Gilt [[IDieFree intentionally killed himself in the epilogue]] by stepping into a pit of spikes rather than do like Moist and take a government job.]]