I often ask my son for suggestions of different topics to write about and the topic of freedom often seem to pop up. (I would like to be clear from the start: I view this topic as massive and extremely complex, hence, I have been dragging my feet when it comes to write my views on this topic.) The above image is ink on canvas, an interpretation of a photo I saw in a book.
What my image does not disclose is that the women are on a train, a train on the way away from the camps in which they had been imprisoned and suffered for years.
Freedom, according to some, means "the right or power to act, speak and think as one wants."
Perhaps it could also be defined as the right to act, speak and think without any external control or influence?
As far as I can ascertain, there are different kinds of "freedoms": the freedom of association, the freedom of the press, the freedom of belief, the freedom of speech, the freedom to express oneself, the freedom to chose ones own path in life, the freedom to exchange ideas freely with each other....and so on.
The freedoms we may enjoy to a large extent depends on the constitutions on which the governments in our respective countries are founded. Well, ideally that is, but as history will attest, constitutions can be amended, overruled, ignored and re-written.
Many of us may hold the idea and or belief, that in a democratic country, we are able to act or have the power to speak and think as we want, in a democracy we are "free".
But, in reality, is that really true?
For many of us who have grown up, and or still live in democratic societies, the notion that we are free to follow our dreams, to seek our own paths, free to chose what kind of lives we want to live,
seems very real, but......
how free is a person who is born into poverty, how free is a person who is illiterate, how free is a person who is born with a physical or mental health illness, how free is a child who is born into a chaotic and dysfunctional family situation?
We are not free to chose what kind of families we are born into; functional or dysfunctional, happy or unhappy, poor or rich, ....regardless of whether we are born into a democracy or dictatorship. We are not free to chose our genetic make-up, we are not free to chose our complexion, we are not free to chose whether or not to inherit our parents "looks", ....just to mention a few things that we are not actually free to chose regardless of whether we are Eskimos or Kalahari bushmen, free or enslaved.
I was once told a story: "A zoo decided that it was time to put their brown bear back into his natural environment, so they transported him back to where they had captured him as a cub. The bear was released and the zoo keepers headed back to the zoo. A week or so later they went back to where they had released the bear to see how he was doing. To their surprise, they found the bear where they had left him, wandering round and round in a circle just as he had done for years in the zoo where he had been chained to a stake in the ground."
From this story I draw the conclusion that although the bear had been freed from his chain, in his mind he was still fettered.
Carrying on along that thought, what would freedom mean to someone who has grown up in an externally controlled environment?
What would freedom mean to someone who has never experienced butting up against some very firm boundaries?
If freedom is understood as independence of the arbitrary will of another, does that mean that anything goes? Well, not really, since most societies have laws, rules and customs they follow.
Robin Hood may have stolen from the rich to give to the poor, but stealing was still regarded as a crime with consequences to follow. Freedom, some say, is always constrained by rules and laws that applies equally to each member of a society. Well, in theory at least......
If freedom for us means being free to follow our dreams, seek our own paths and truths, free to chose what kind of lives we want to live, and the power to act, speak and think as we want, then would it not be reasonable to consider that perhaps with that freedom comes responsibilities?
Although it may seem a bit oxymoronic, I am going to suggest that without a modicum of restraint and a sense of responsibility in the mix of what freedom means, we would be hard pressed to grasp any deeper understanding of the term freedom. (Often it is by juxtaposition that we are able to grasp a deeper understanding at times. Ex: sweet sorrow, tragically beautiful, sweet and sour, bitter sweet, etc.)
Although for many people jazz music appears to be everyone playing at the same time and whatever the heck they want to---"being free,man"---let me assure you, it's the opposite. To be able to improvise freely a person actually needs to know a lot about harmony, structure, and melodic sense, plus being able to compose on the spot, and have the skill set to go with it....like some dude said to me: "Learn everything, and then when you know it, forget it."
If there is a "cost"(responsibilities) involved with freedom, do we still want it?
"Most people do not want freedom because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened by responsibility." (Sigmund Freud)
"To be free is not to merely throw off ones chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the lives of others." (Nelson Mandela)
The word freedom has many meanings, definitions, and interpretations, may I ask: what is yours?
"Frederick Douglas taught that literacy is the path from slavery to freedom. There are many kinds of slavery and many kinds of freedom, but reading is still the path." (Carl Sagan)
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