Probably one of the most valuable commodities,
if we can call it that, is freedom. We can all imagine what it would be
like not to be free, to be incarcerated in some prison or at someone’s
constant beck and call – a slave. No one wants their liberty taken from
them but what do freedom and liberty really mean? Well supposing you
have no money,
what are you free to do? Supposing you have just a little money, enough
to pay for the essentials of life such as food and shelter, what are
you free to do? And supposing you are one of the richest men or women in
the world, what are you free to do? So we can see that freedom is not
just about being locked up in jail or being owned by someone, it is the
ability to share the same enjoyments and pleasures of others.
Probably most of us are not free to hire a private jet and fly off at a moment’s notice to some faraway place, drinking champagne and eating caviar on board. We might be free enough, because we earn enough money, to book a holiday abroad once or twice a year but many can’t even do this. Freedom therefore, is relative.
There is another freedom too and that is within education. If you come from a very wealthy family you can enjoy the best education money can buy. You will have the freedom to select the best schools and universities, with the best teachers and the best resources and activities. If however, you come from a poor family, you will take what education you can get and so there is no freedom in that. The better the education you receive, the greater the opportunities you will get and the more money you can earn as a consequence, and the more freedom you can enjoy by spending this money.
Poverty creates not only much less freedom to enjoy what others enjoy such as good education, holidays and material things but also increases the possibility that one will be tied into some low paid work and have to work long hours. Unscrupulous people looking for high profits will exploit the poorest in society to work cheaply and for arduous hours. What’s more those at the bottom end of the ladder will find it almost impossible to break free of this way of life; therefore they are effectively trapped, in a form of bondage and therefore slaves to the system dictated to them.
In fact if we care to look around we will see many people who are slaves to the system, albeit that the bonds are not so obvious. Maybe you too are slave to it too? Perhaps everyday you get up to do a job you detest and a routine which depresses you but still you keep smiling and hope one day you can make the big change to improve your lot or just win the lottery? Perhaps you look around and see gross inequalities all around and abhor the unfairness and injustices you see but you feel unable to do anything about them. You feel that the system is too big and too overpowering. Therefore what you are experiencing is a lack of freedom to act. Much of this is due to the way the system is created and this is the political system. We live in a democratic society and we defer decision making to others via the electoral process. We elect people we barely know who will become puppets of their chosen party and often they are as powerless as the voters because policy is not really controlled by them but by vested interest and corporate power.
Do you really like the way things are done or do you accept them because you feel there seems no other way? If you don’t like and just tolerate the way life is around you – the crime, the inequalities and injustices, the anti-social behaviour, selfish attitudes etc. are you really free or do you just think you are? Maybe if you were really free, you could choose a life which would suit you? The important thing to know is that, all social problems are fixable, if there is a mind to change them. However, the system is fixed and unchangeable and freedom an illusion. I am sure many people want fairer, more just societies but somehow we are incapable of creating them, at least on a national level. Some small self governing communities do however manage to achieve this.
If we think of pure freedom, we will ultimately think of happiness, this is the essence of being free. Just think of the happiness you feel when you embark on a few weeks holiday, away from the pressures and restrictions of work and home life. And at the opposite end of the scale, the less free we become the less true happiness we can enjoy. Of course we can create all sorts of things to substitute this real happiness, such as indulging in alcohol, drugs, shopping etc but they are always temporary. Freedom always comes with a price tag and for true freedom the price is giving up much of what you think makes you free. But the powers that be don’t want you to be free, only to think you are. As long as you can get your holidays in sun, you will think you are free.
Probably most of us are not free to hire a private jet and fly off at a moment’s notice to some faraway place, drinking champagne and eating caviar on board. We might be free enough, because we earn enough money, to book a holiday abroad once or twice a year but many can’t even do this. Freedom therefore, is relative.
There is another freedom too and that is within education. If you come from a very wealthy family you can enjoy the best education money can buy. You will have the freedom to select the best schools and universities, with the best teachers and the best resources and activities. If however, you come from a poor family, you will take what education you can get and so there is no freedom in that. The better the education you receive, the greater the opportunities you will get and the more money you can earn as a consequence, and the more freedom you can enjoy by spending this money.
Poverty creates not only much less freedom to enjoy what others enjoy such as good education, holidays and material things but also increases the possibility that one will be tied into some low paid work and have to work long hours. Unscrupulous people looking for high profits will exploit the poorest in society to work cheaply and for arduous hours. What’s more those at the bottom end of the ladder will find it almost impossible to break free of this way of life; therefore they are effectively trapped, in a form of bondage and therefore slaves to the system dictated to them.
In fact if we care to look around we will see many people who are slaves to the system, albeit that the bonds are not so obvious. Maybe you too are slave to it too? Perhaps everyday you get up to do a job you detest and a routine which depresses you but still you keep smiling and hope one day you can make the big change to improve your lot or just win the lottery? Perhaps you look around and see gross inequalities all around and abhor the unfairness and injustices you see but you feel unable to do anything about them. You feel that the system is too big and too overpowering. Therefore what you are experiencing is a lack of freedom to act. Much of this is due to the way the system is created and this is the political system. We live in a democratic society and we defer decision making to others via the electoral process. We elect people we barely know who will become puppets of their chosen party and often they are as powerless as the voters because policy is not really controlled by them but by vested interest and corporate power.
Do you really like the way things are done or do you accept them because you feel there seems no other way? If you don’t like and just tolerate the way life is around you – the crime, the inequalities and injustices, the anti-social behaviour, selfish attitudes etc. are you really free or do you just think you are? Maybe if you were really free, you could choose a life which would suit you? The important thing to know is that, all social problems are fixable, if there is a mind to change them. However, the system is fixed and unchangeable and freedom an illusion. I am sure many people want fairer, more just societies but somehow we are incapable of creating them, at least on a national level. Some small self governing communities do however manage to achieve this.
If we think of pure freedom, we will ultimately think of happiness, this is the essence of being free. Just think of the happiness you feel when you embark on a few weeks holiday, away from the pressures and restrictions of work and home life. And at the opposite end of the scale, the less free we become the less true happiness we can enjoy. Of course we can create all sorts of things to substitute this real happiness, such as indulging in alcohol, drugs, shopping etc but they are always temporary. Freedom always comes with a price tag and for true freedom the price is giving up much of what you think makes you free. But the powers that be don’t want you to be free, only to think you are. As long as you can get your holidays in sun, you will think you are free.
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