Freedom as Mirage
There's only so much freedom you are allowed in life; democracy, (pseudo)secularism, racial integration and multi-ethnic society, notwithstanding.
When it comes to the moment of reckoning these supposed niceties come a cropper . Hand on heart, are the majority truly living the lives they wanted? How many of us in a modern democracy(with its attendant script and familiar story-lines) will truly succeed living the life of their choosing; even one that might embrace only a marginally different way of living, thinking, feeling or belonging to the degree that their present lives begin to seem so far away?! Jamais vu, no?
Far be it for me to suggest what's bad and/ or different is actually good for you but even so, makes you wonder why such a cascade of obstruction, deceit and dissent to going against the grain?! Your life, in its myriad piece meal parts, is largely pre-ordained depending upon what part of the world you were born, the race you were born into never mind what your racial phenotype; the status and education your parents had ( your mum especially), and just how wholesome have your formative years been.
Be that as it may, you'd think it should no longer strike as odd having your gay lover over at the office party, or for women to openly admit to taking people half their age as lovers, or adopting mentally challenged children and marrying into HIV/AIDS or even, befriending the homeless and socializing with people who live rough, right? Wrong, all that is still pushing the envelope too far in today's world which is every bit as much about keeping appearances as was society in the 40s and 50s. At least, back then they were less pretentious.
Do let's say however; for the most part,freedom is a boon. But that in itself, does not mean that having a constitutional democracy with a free media can guarantee independent views and elasticity of thought and purpose, when it comes to taking on change and/or difference.
Putting a slightly different spin on things - how many of us have the liberty of saying to our partner's face that we'd previously imagined them to be far more interesting and nicer people to live with than they really are, without it stirring the hornet's nest in some way or form, or to our parents that they may have royally messed us up both on the inside and on the outside. These are no-go areas;always have been.
And spare a thought to that unfortunate identical twin, of a person in need of a renal transplant, who although he loves his sibling to death is unable to get round to the idea of kidney donation, even if it is to one of his own.
Is this the sort of freedom we most want to lap up, for ourselves and for others - Freedom which oftentimes, is stifling and can be just a tad conceited?! Today, we are mostly a free people, and yet are exiled within some dark abyss of our mind. And that is only the half of it when we stop to think of why it is we, generally, find it so difficult to celebrate and live down the differences that exist between us.
No wonder they say too much of a good thing can be bad for you. I had better be careful what I wish for; my wish might come true.
Absolute freedom can devastate also?
posted by Men Who Do Cleavages at 8:11 pm
8 Comments:
The premise of attaining absolute freedom itself is shaky; it is at best utopia.
Reading your entry it's not entirely clear to me whether you believe such a state to be possible or not. And if you do, whether you think it is a good thing to happen or bad.
Given the pickle we are in today, it will not be remiss to point to meditation and yoga as a means of deliverance from bondage and a 'PC' that's run amok.
It's a scary thing to imagine persecution for unconventional albeit, benign thought and ideas when you look around to find there being more people interested at any given time in tracking down your IP address and policing you than there are people interested in getting themselves soaking wet in your contrarian point of view.
I cannot tell, if we are debating the merits and demerits of 360 degrees of freedom here, or simply hollering at political correctness which has made life dreary for most of us. The crux of the discussion, in my view, is just how far has PC gone awry and to what extent it is responsible for stillborn aspirationsand desire.
Living where we do,we pride ourselves theluxury afforded us of civil liberties and yet are only too happy to deny some their right to hatred; to gay men their right to court and/or to romanticize straight men; for husbands & wives their right to choose not to procreate with their legal partners for whatever reason,
besides many other fundamental rights which have conveniently been swept under the carpet.
On absolute freedom I do not think our conditioning will ever permit us to enjoy the fruit of unabashed freedom. That can only come from a spiritual plane which is certainly not an easy task for all and sundry to attain.
I agree, too much freedom can also devastate the innards of what it is that makes us human; our feelings, the ego and emotions which we hold so dear.
In a convoluted way, absolute freedom for all can even lead to anarchy akin to that seen with authoritarian regimes.
So yes, we are definitely on to something here in wanting just the right mix of freedom and curbs to making Life less complicated than it already is .
I will only say this much - we are not capable of sustaining absolute freedom because as a species, our conditioning is such that we cannot practise freedom to the letter even if it comes to us on a silver platter.
While the majority are contented with paperless ticketing and low cost travel many among them would still be squeamish about allowing paperless travel read visa/passport less travel FOR OTHERS i.e., travel anywhere anytime at your volition. You can't both have your cake and eat it too.
Something's amiss in the way we are in that we have unconsciously come to prize our double standards far more than we do the principles of liberty, fair play or even the spirit of laissez faire.
Hmmn...freedom. We can never seem to tire(sic) of it, these days. :)
On the flip side of the coin, however;how many of us feel encumbered to verbalise our TRUE feelings about mixed race relationships, gays in public office or the plain drumming up support for making theology a popular career option?!
What use is the freedom to blog (in real terms) when the majority still have issues with what monicker to take in order to post their comments??
Or, imagine arguing the case that you find yourself drawn to white men more, because in your book they tended to be physically more attractive than blacks or brownies.
I doubt, if anyone can get away saying such a thing in a public forum(other than those hosted by the BNP & their partners in crime; the KKK) since basically, we are all of us huge on pretending to 'not upset others feelings' while in the same breath callously crushing, varying points of view and the freedom of opinion.
Now tell me, how true is that??
Tell us of a place where freedom can be found for the sons & daughters of super-achievers who are left to just be; under- achievment, a 'no big deal' for them.
And of a place where we can freely and openly challenge some of the basic tenets of religion that we find to be disagreeable to us, or more importantly, to hold to task religious scholars & pundits who have taken it upon themselves to police the rest of us for non compliance to their rigid diktats.
Sadly, however; in all of this debate there's meagre attention going out to the need for freedom with a corpus of responsiblity on it.
Everywhere you look today celebration of a carefree, irresponsible lifestyle appears to be the subtext in bold. An entire generation of gay gents was lost to HIV/AIDS and yet we are none the wiser for it. Sleeping around, splurging on the so-called "drugs for recreational use," and binge drinking continue to enamour us as if the sole purpose of our lives is to live life in the fast lane and to keep having a good time
Some freedoms are more palatable for us than others - the freedom to holding of fair trials for the persecuted, is a case in point.
We are informed every dog must have his day but what about the odd dog that has strayed??
As people go; we are all of us most eager to act 'judge and jury,' in any given situation except; we seem to feign convenient amnesia when it comes to the rights' and civil liberties of the (alleged) prosecutor.
What right have we to trash American foreign policy, when at some level, we ourselves are a willing party to playing our cards in this justice of convenience?!
To the extent that freedom can provide us with a better chance in life, is all good but freedom to manipulate the externality of a situation; to be exact, goes beyond the pale.
Take religion and devotional service as an example. In a way this just is all a self-fulfilling exercise; what many on the inside regard as "selflessness", others on the outside construe it to be the ultimate act of selfishness through appeasement and earning of good karma.
Where in the world is there freedom to get away with saying such a thing??
Going by the drift of things in the present, very soon our freedom to think our own thoughts will face the axe, turning us into robotic humans with vestigeal minds left.
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