The Meaning of Freedom
There are still people in the world, who believe that if they can coerce, manipulate and deceive another into doing their bidding, that is what "freedom" is all about -- that it is only about their own freedom and not about anybody else’s. It just never occurs to them that others should have those rights too -- and even believe in fact, that their rights must come at the cost of everyone else’s -- and that’s just too bad and the way it is, or at least, the way they make it so. Many of these people actually believe that they are the world’s freedom fighters -- when in fact, everything they actually do, makes everyone else in the world, less free.
Somehow, there is no connection in their minds between their own freedom and the freedom of others -- and that there can just be freedom, for everyone. Immediately, they will demand, “Whose freedom?”, and if it is not just their own, they are not interested. How absurd and a waste of time that they should be interested in anybody else’s freedom. All that matters is their own -- even if they have to oppress, suppress, and repress everybody else to obtain it. That, to their minds, is what freedom is all about, the extent to which “the world” can be free, and it is this manner of thinking, that enslaves the world -- no matter what they want to call themselves. And of course, the greater the oppression, the more they will want a grand name indicating otherwise -- like The Great Benevolent Order of Peace-Loving People Who Never give a thought to Themselves but selflessly and piously sacrifice themselves for everyone else’s benefit.
Something like that: more often than not, it is just implied or suggested as the “correct” way one should be thinking about these things. They are “democratic, liberal, fair-minded, selfless,” and so all their demands must be met -- on the punishment that they will withhold their selflessness until their demands are met. The freedom everyone else has, is to meet their demands -- and if not, they can take sterner measures to enforce that compliance -- which hopefully to a few still, is not freedom -- no matter how much they demand that we believe it so.
Real freedom is really the regard one has for the freedom of all -- and not just their own, to suppress everybody else’s. This essential understanding -- is the great problem for “democratic” republics around the world -- that freedom is not just the tyranny of the majority, or even the minority, over everybody else -- and we have to believe it!
At what point do people really become free -- and not just repeat words mindlessly with no understanding of what they are talking about? That is a very critical issue of “discrimination” of that difference, which the oppressors of the world, don’t want people to do -- which is their own thinking and ability to determine these things for themselves. It is far more convenient and expedient that they just be told what to think -- as the education, indoctrination, conditioning they get -- and are taught never to question.
But among them, a few will emerge, who will insist that there can be "agreement," only when everyone is free to arrive at their own conclusions -- rather than being forced to accept these conclusions without participating in the process of arriving at them. That is the freedom to know -- which is the very basis of any understanding, of the truth that sets one free.
posted by Mike Hu @ 7:46 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Unless there is truth, there can not be freedom -- so an important foundation in building a free society -- is determining truth, by anyone living in that society -- and not just following the truth of the leaders, even if ostensibly "elected," which even most tyrants are. That merely varnishes their legitimacy -- when they receive 99+% of the vote and are the only candidate who wishes to run. That proves their "selflessness."
But even in the most advanced societies, the truth is often distorted -- by the leaders themselves, and then by the media, schools and universities who report on them -- for their own purposes, which is often to consolidate their own power. It is not as obvious as the political races themselves -- causing many to wonder why they have bad, unresponsive government.
Fortunately, government doesn't do everything, as much as it would like to control every life -- as their right. People educated in the government schools, particularly think that is what education is for -- to indoctrinate the next generation in the legitimacy of the bureaucracy.
Alternatives are usually suppressed -- in favor of strict conformity and obedience to the political correctness enforced by the "teachers." Invariably, it is the instruction that things have to be done as they always have been -- and so knowledge of the past becomes the most important part of that curriculum.
Only a few may be allowed to be "creative" -- mainly because they can't be controlled, and so that is the line of least resistance. Hopefully, these people will just move away after they get out of school -- rather than continue to be "disruptive."
That is the safety valve for those with creative intelligence -- that they can move elsewhere. And so life can continue to get worse and more hopeless -- because that's the way it's always been before.
We can probably run the whole government by blog now.
The original conception for electing representatives was because we couldn’t all be in Washington D.C., or the state capitol, representing ourselves -- but now we can all “be there” largely through the miracle of today’s information and communications capabilities.
Instead of the traditional ways increasing our representation and effectiveness, that manner now decreases our representation as many are now capable of articulating and representing themselves in ways not possible in the traditional ways by having to be funneled through a bottleneck of each legislators understanding and effectiveness. People are far more capable than just casting their vote for one person every two-four years; they can participate knowledgeably and probably even more competently than was ever imagined possible before.
A lot of the old institutions are failing in this way, including the old mainstream media -- mainly because they haven’t kept up to the pace of change and innovation, but are instead, insisting that nobody can surpass them in their control of “the only game in town.”
Most of government is largely this preoccupation with jurisdiction, control, and of course, increasing salaries for themselves -- so that very little of the “people’s” business will get done anymore. Obviously, the solution is not more of the same -- year after year, but a break to the new level of effectiveness now possible if we can simply let go of how it “must be,” and consider the possibilities of what “can be.”
I think we’re moving into the post-government age in which many more are empowered to look beyond government solutions as the only solution, which is a very positive development. The apathy and indifference in elections may not be because people aren’t informed but because they are too informed and are shut out because of the control issues -- in doing things in the way they’ve always been done before.
So of course, each year, it takes twice as many people at twice the pay, to do half the work, half as well. We know in the evolution of everything else, we pay half as much for twice as good as the direction we want to be heading.
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