What Happens When People Suddenly Have Choices?

by DR. LAINA FARHAT-HOLZMAN January 13, 2012

• Slavery. Slaves, by the nature of the institution, had no choices.

• Women. With the exception of a few ancient tribes in which women determined the membership of the tribe, women have in general been slaves with little range of choice. They certainly had no choice over their mates or childbearing. The few women who, through luck, became reigning queens, were treated like surrogate males; their authority did not devolve to other women.

• Religion. Until the 16th century, only princes or chiefs had the right to choose the religion of their people. Changing religious affiliation could happen only under forced conversion, or under the duress of an Inquisition or unending persecution.

• The Reformation. During the power struggle between the Catholic Church and the Protestant spinoffs, only in England did people make  personal choices-often at great cost to themselves. In Germany and Scandinavia, Protestantism prevailed because that was the choice of princes. In Catholic Europe, conversion to Protestantism was severely persecuted.

• Jews. The Jewish population living amidst Christian Europe, Muslim Spain, and North Africa was decimated during the 2,000 years of diaspora. For many, it was easier to convert than to live under continual duress and humiliation.The remaining observant Jews, however, never had any other choices until the Protestant Reformation freed them to reform as well, which many did, which finally permitted Jews to assimilate into their larger populations.

• Politics. Until the 16th century, nobody had choices about how their societies would be governed. The process of extending this power occurred only in Europe and its spawn, America and British colonies, in which all men of property could vote. That power was gradually extended to all men, and finally (and reluctantly) to women.