what it means to be free

[Darkover]

It means you are no longer confined or withheld by the limits others put on you, or that you put on yourself.

It means the ability to choose. It means you are not owned. It means no one can own you. Or hold you back. Or down.

To me, it means to know I am limitless, literally. Not even limited by this body. This time. This society. This world.

When I think I am nothing more than a human, living in a world, and a time, in the 'way it is', with limitations and restrictions on what I can and cannot do, choose, be or have, it hurts. When others say things that confine me to this, it hurts. Suddenly where I saw no limitations, I see many. Suddenly I don't feel free.

to be free means to be able to choose based on desire and not what he\she is allowed to or 'can' have within her limits. It means being able to choose what he\she wants, and to have it. To go where he\she wants, and be what he\she wants, and say what he\she wants, and do what he\she wants.

 

[Pluto]

 

[derpyderpins]

Freedom . . . I'm a big proponent of freedom. But I think it gets oversimplified and misconstrued here a lot.

Freedom is not a switch that's either on or off. It's a scale. But not a perfect, linear scale. There are different factors/elements... It's more complicated than I can perfectly define in one response.

First, there's a sort of cosmic sense of freedom: the constraints of physical reality. I'm bound by gravity, weather, etc., as well as the weakness of my puny human body. I get headaches, I have bad sight, I have allergies, etc. There's little wiggle room in this category, but it gives us a world with physical rules to interact with. This category is often misunderstood on here. We have hunger and a need for shelter, yes, but those are restrictions of physical reality. When someone says they should be provided food and shelter for the sake of "freedom", they're restricting the freedom of the people they would force to provide it for them.

And then, yes, there's freedom from the impositions of other people. (Such as the imposition to provide food). Governments, societies, and other individuals may try to restrict your freedom for various reasons. There are different levels here. A social expectation that you not mention certain subjects in public is less restrictive than a government mandate against speech. Society requiring you contribute in order to receive benefits is vastly different than being the legal property of another, which is why comparisons to slavery should not be made lightly.

Then there are the individual restrictions we place on ourselves or otherwise contract into. I hate work, but I'm free to leave at any time. I stay because I've determined the benefit is worth sacrificing freedom. My partner and I have chosen monogamy, and while that is a restriction we agree it is more than worth it.

Finally, there are the unintentional restrictions we place on ourselves through things like fear, anger, distorted thoughts, and neurosis. If I fear human connection, I restrict my ability to have meaningful experiences. If I fear failure, I restrict my opportunities. If I am unable to accept alternative views, I restrict my growth. If I am paranoid, seeing everything as being about me and perceiving ghosts everywhere, I restrict my ability to function. These are ways that I bind myself into a form of mental slavery.

I don't know if this is helpful to you, but the general point is that "life," the human condition, is incompatible with both absolute freedom and absolute slavery. Freedom is to be valued and sought, but not at all cost. One may have to sacrifice freedom in some respects while maintaining it in others. I think we should generally try to maximize freedom, but understand we can never fully have it.