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Should I use "liberties" or "freedoms" in the following sentence:

Social inequalities, as we know, also lead to capabilities inequalities, generating stratification wherein those who are categorized as "poor" are likewise in deprivation of the rights and ------- (freedoms/liberties) others have.

I wanted to say that poor people can't do what they want not because they are not allowed to but because they don't have the resources.

Glorfindel
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Solange Miguel
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    Historically, the "standard" collocation was always *rights and liberties* until a few decades ago, but nowadays the more common version is *rights and freedoms. But it's really just a stylistic choice, with no implications for meaning* or grammaticality. – FumbleFingers Dec 17 '16 at 14:13
  • Is that your sentence or one you found? :) The grammar and usage are very off and I can "feel" the Spanish or Portuguese coming through into the English. Not sure what you mean by capabilities inequalities though. lead to unequal abilities or skills. – Lambie Dec 17 '16 at 17:14

2 Answers2

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Neither freedoms nor liberties (nor, for that matter, rights) is appropriate here. These terms, without qualification, will be understood to designate political or legal liberties, which is exactly what you deny is at issue: "not because they are not allowed to".

The term we usually employ for access to the means of exercising those liberties is opportunity.

There are, moreover, other problems with your sentence, both idiomatic and substantive:

  • I trust that what precedes this sentence explains exactly what you mean by social inequality. But you should be aware that 'social inequality' usually designates a broader range of discriminants than just the economic and that the term usually includes precisely the matter of access to social goods which you seem to want to distinguish.

  • capabilities inequalities is not idiomatic. In the first place, it is rare for a plural to act as an attributive (see this discussion). More importantly, capability designates a person's internal capacity to perform some action, not the absence of external constraints, which is what you seem to be talking about.

  • The term stratification usually designates a series of discrete 'bands' rather than a continuous spectrum. Taken with the term categorized it seems to imply that what denies poor people the opportunities enjoyed by the affluent is not their actual poverty but the label which is put on them—which is something quite different from what is set forth in your explanation.

  • To be in deprivation of is not English. Use a passive instead— are deprived of. And consider whether are denied might be more appropriate: to 'deprive someone of X' is to take away the X which they have, to 'deny someone X' is to prevent them from obtaining it in the first place.

Community
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StoneyB on hiatus
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  • When a sentence is so patently wrong, I find it more useful to rewrite it and then explain. At least then, one is starting from something that makes sense in English. – Lambie Dec 17 '16 at 17:15
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They mean the same thing. Liberty has a Latin root (via Old French), whereas freedom has a Germanic root (via Old English). Since your sentence contains a lot of words with Latin roots, perhaps you should use liberty for the sake of consistency.

Online Etymology Dictionary

Mick
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  • I don't believe there's any reason to favour "etymological consistency" in OP's context (or in any other context, come to that). – FumbleFingers Dec 17 '16 at 14:15
  • @FumbleFingers I usually favour words with Germanic roots. At least, the OP can make an informed decision. Each to his own. – Mick Dec 17 '16 at 14:19
  • I've no idea why you (or anyone else) would want to "favour words with Germanic roots", but that certainly doesn't seem like sound advice for learners. – FumbleFingers Dec 17 '16 at 14:25
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    @FumbleFingers ... which is why I didn't give it (in this case). Words with Germanic roots are often shorter than words with Latin roots, for example want vs. desire, and I am all in favour of using short words when possible. However, there is little point doing this when a sentence is peppered with words having Latin roots. – Mick Dec 17 '16 at 14:29