Map=>Reading "Northing"

FREEDOM AND ME

For centuries the meaning of Freedom has been a topic of debate. When I think of freedom, the words such as rights, freedom of speech come to my mind, but I think there is no more freedom except the pride that everyone owns. By definition freedom in philosophy is the human value or situation to act according to one’s will without being held up by the power of others. “While the State exists, there can be no freedom. Where there is freedom there will be no State” is a quote from “State and Revolution” by Lenin. We are still thinking there is freedom in our societies because there is written laws that tell us we are free to do certain things, but I think just by thinking about the word freedom makes us prisoners of the society.

I believe freedom dates back to the prehistory. Here is what I call freedom. There are two million years ago, when the cavemen wake up in the morning, they probably look for something to eat unless there is the rest of yesterday food. Then next they will probably turn around and then they will do whatever they want, like going to the river for taking a shower or fishing, take a nap, make a spear etc. When they are hungry they will go to the jungle to find some fruit or chase an animal. After they had a full stomach they will probably sleep again or find something else to do like discovering their environment. So they could do whatever they want whenever they want without feeling obliged to do anything else. Of course they lived in a hostile environment with dinosaurs, volcanoes, and earthquake but at least they were totally free.

Then they learned how to live in society. Without knowing it they have begun to lose their freedom for the benefit of the society and I think that’s why Lenin said “While the State exists, there can be no freedom. Where there is freedom there will be no State”. When I think about society, I automatically think about others, and when you think about others this already restricts your actions. In a society there are rules, you cannot as you want. For example you cannot chase whatever you want whenever you, you need first to get a hunting permit and then respect a schedule. Back to the prehistory they did not have any hunting permit, they just chase when they want. After all life in society is to meet the needs of the community therefore we cannot do whatever we want.

Why do I think I’m not free? First of all I’m a prisoner of the society. Since my birth I am destined to do certain things like go to school, then find a job, and have a family. I couldn’t avoid going to school because my parents wouldn’t let me any choice. Now I’m an adult I can decide to do not go to school, but who will feed me after my parents died. The society will not help me because I’m not giving to it something in exchange. I have to follow what the society wants or die. I never taste a caveman life style nevertheless I think I’m the kind of person who does not need much to be happy. A simple life in the Mother Nature like what do the Bushmen in the Kalahari will be great for me.

As a conclusion since the human being exists, he progressively creates the lost of his own freedom. The total freedom no longer exits since the creation of the society. Instead of controlling the society, the latter took over on us. To fight this unfree world, the 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature Albert Camus, a French Novelist, wrote “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion”. At least we are free to have free thinking of mind.

Map=>Description and Reflection