On Freedom.
Chains are not other than chains,
Though fashioned of gold, I cry;
Nor is liberty less than a boon,
Though I have but a cup and a crust.
Better a bed in the fields,
And a man's heart, at dawn in the sky,
Than a luxury great as a king's,
Where a voice ever utters "Thou must!"
- No Bondage for Me, by William Francis Barnard
What does Freedom mean to you?
Is the man who escapes the chains of his oppressor, Free?
Or another, who may roam to the ends of the earth, so long as he does not utter a profanity, or speak his truth?
The child who hides his curiosity for life from her parents for fear of being punished, or worse, for fear of being judged? Is she free?
Or the same child, now an adult ; successful, having everything that money can buy, except Time, which is rationed to her by the hands that raise her.
Or the man who lives by the words, 'I am' - his fate forever suppressed by his own existence?
Over the years, I have come to realize that Freedom is an extremely complex topic that has evolved in its definition over generations. For the ancient Greeks, to be Free was to be able to think and do as one pleases. To Plato, this was a ridiculous idea. Freedom was for sure, the ability for man to fulfill his role to the state, to the fullest of his ability; a harmony between institution and man.
Then during the Age of Enlightenment, Baruch Spinoza came along and proposed that a Man is Free when he exists by the necessity of his own nature and determines his actions on his own. He claimed that we become unfree when our actions or thoughts are controlled by an external entity or something we have no control over.
The 17-th century philosopher, John Locke, along similar lines of thought as Spinoza, defined Freedom as the power for man to do or not do something based on the preference of his mind or his Will.
The concept of Freedom, much like man, has always evolved with the context of human existence and has the opportunity to evolve. There is an inherent assumption in the idea that Freedom is the ability for Man to act on his own Will. That is, Man's Will is itself Free. It can be, and should be - but is it?
I argue that Freedom exists in four distinct , but sometimes overlapping forms and should be expanded to include Freedom from the Self.
Freedom from the Chain - the most fundamental and primitive form of Freedom; the ability to be free from political, ideological and even social persecution. History (and mythology) is, for the large part, a long story about Man's struggle to Free themselves from their oppressors - the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, the French Revolution, the Nazi Holocaust, modern terrorism - you name it.
Freedom from Institution - freeing oneself from, as Nietzsche puts it, the monster called "Thou Shalt", created by the institutions that Man creates himself, such as Government, Society, Religion, Money and other constructs.
Thou Shalt go to school. Thou Shalt find a job. Thou Shalt marry within your culture. Thou Shalt worship the one God that your parents (coincidentally) happened to worship. Thou Shalt make financial wealth your definition of success. Thou shalt then strive towards owning a home to keep up with the Jones' and live the American Dream. Thou Shalt work tirelessly and sacrifice Time during your youth , when you have much of it, in the hope of enjoying the extremely limited amount of it when you are seventy.
Freedom from Perception - freeing the mind from the fear of being judged or perceived by others in ways that you, consciously or subconsciously try to avoid. The anticipation of the perception created by society controls Man's true Will through emotions like fear, shame and guilt.
Freedom from Self - this last one's a bit tricky. It is a war that Man wages against himself. His "being" versus his mind. There are two oppressors of the Freedom from Self - The Subconscious and The Ego. And they are the most dangerous of oppressors because, like a virus, they oppress from within, rarely being noticed.
I will explore these forms of Freedom in more depth in upcoming posts, as they each deserve their own investigation. But the point I want to come across here is that it is only by achieving all forms of Freedom that Man can truly be Free, even though one might spend an entire lifetime seeking just one form of it.
Another concept I'd like to clarify is that of an Oppressor - an entity that controls Man's ability to be Free. An Oppressor can be animate or inanimate, and can be external to the Self (forms 1 & 2) or internal to the Self (forms 3 & 4). And without knowledge of the Oppressor and the type of Oppression, Man cannot know who and what to Free himself from.
Historically, the emphasis has been on achieving Freedom from the Chain and Freedom from Institutions. But the world we live in today is so different from that of Plato, or Spinoza, or Locke. The Oppressor no longer makes the Oppression visible but seeks more sinister methods such as hijacking our psychology. I think of social media platforms that trap us in the ever-growing need for more 'Likes', and manipulate us to create curated versions of our lives so that we are perceived favorably.
Or politicians and institutions that turn to fake news and digital algorithms that create a bubble where they feed us only what our "profiles" need to know, forcing a divide between us. By creating multiple degrees of separation from the Oppressed, the modern Oppressor can remain hidden and create the illusion of giving Man his "Free Will".
Or the over-production and over-consumption of information today that is shared in the guise of being "educational" or in the pursuit of self-improvement. Call a wolf in sheep's clothing a wolf - the information we consume today is parceled to us using addictive methods that are specifically designed for human psychology. Most of us are aware, and yet we cannot overcome the addiction.
Or the knowledge and fear that our over-indulgence in short-term comfort and convenience is slowly destroying our planet, yet after only a moment's worry, we are back to the planning out which items that we purchased on Prime Day to return back to the supplier after trying it out at home.
Or, let's face it. People flocking to super-markets like a herd of sheep during the Corona Virus pandemic to stock up on toilet paper, just because the neighbour did so. Again, it is only by achieving all forms of Freedom that Man can truly be Free.
The difference between the Oppressed of the past and those of the present is that those of the past knew of their oppression, while those of the present do not.
To be Free, first you must acknowledge that you are not free. Then become aware of the Oppressor and the form that the Oppression takes. Then you must practice courage to work towards your Freedom. For Freedom is what gives life its Purpose. And a life without Purpose, ultimately is a life not worth living.
Ad Libertatem. For Freedom.
