Redefining Freedom
I woke up this morning with a debate rattling in my brain:
"Freedom is a state of being in which one has the methods and means to diagnose and solve one's problem(s)."
"That sounds more like a burden. Freedom is not having to solve any problems at all. Or better yet, having other people solve problems for you while you drink a margarita on the beach."
"That's shortsighted. Who lives on the beach drinking a margarita?"
"Free slash rich people."
"No way. That would get boring so fast. You're talking about a vacation, not freedom."
"You're free to do whatever you want on vacation."
"You can't do whatever you want. I mean, you can't grope the waitress who's bringing you the margarita's. You can't rob the bar selling the margaritas. You can't start a tire fire on the beach. Vacation is not GTA."
"Then you're not really free are you."
"Freedom is getting to know the woman bringing the margaritas until she wants you to touch her. Freedom is owning the margarita bar. Freedom is moving all the tires off the beach and recycling them so there isn't a tire fire."
"Those are all based on the rules and regulations imposed by someone else. That's not freedom. The dictionary says that freedom is the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action."
"By that definition the only people who are free are the super rich."
"Not necessarily. You could live outside of society and money and laws in some cave in the middle of nowhere."
"Who wants to do that."
"You would still be subject to your needs of food, water and shelter. Even the super rich are subject to the laws of physics and nature."
"So then, freedom by your definition is unattainable."
"By the dictionary's definition."
"So we should do a double think every time we use the word freedom? Freedom is a lack of consequences for financial elites only. What's the value of a word or an idea if it's not attainable?"
"You're right. Let's give up on peace, love and equality while we're at it."
"I'm not saying let's give up. I'm saying let's work with a better definition. Problems are not going away. Everyone has them. Not being able to identify or solve a problem is the cause of crime and injustice. We should be working to spread this kind of freedom not the drunk on the beach kind of freedom. That type of freedom is an illusion."
Do you have your own definition of freedom? What do you have to add to this debate?
