Is freedom losing

a reply to: Ghostsinthefog

You are quite correct in the sense that freedom of expresssion has been severely curtailed. You are however still free to keep your mouth shut, which considering the fact that no one has ever changed anyone elses mind , is probably the smartest thing any way.

But we are still free to walk away; live where we want, etc. As long as we have freedom of movement and travel, we are still pretty free.

a reply to: Ghostsinthefog

The short answer, sadly, is yes, we are in a cycle of history where freedom is losing. And it is very close to being too late to resolve it in any kind of civilized manner. It could still be done, but in the US for example, it would take the election of approx 600 people of real honor and integrity, all in one election, to even have a chance. The best we can do here in any one election is 435 + ~33 + 2. That may or may not be enough, but it would be a start.

But the political arena has become such a joke in the US that it is hard to find 6 people of honor and integrity that still want to get involved, let alone 600. Or 470.

As has been mentioned, the corporate-driven propaganda machine has succeeded in convincing far too many people that government IS the problem (there is no doubt that government CAN be the problem. We are seeing that right now). And given that, we have a nearly endless succession of clowns and worse, being put into positions of power, when the average moral character of most of them would, in a decent society, mean they would make their livings cleaning up after horses in a parade. Under supervision. It is a source of wonder to me that so many people whine about government having too much power, yet they will turn around and genuflect at the feet of corporations having the same or even more such power. I've asked why before and not one time has anybody provided a reason that even approaches coherency.

Wealth continues to be concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer, to the detriment of more and more. The really frustrating part is that it DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY. There is wealth aplenty on this planet, and more on other planets, moons, etc. to support as many people as exist in comfortable, meaningful lives.

But that small percentage of assholes that can't stand the population as a whole having such dignified and productive lives are the ones who scramble after political and wealth power at any cost. And far too often, they succeed.

The US (the place I am most familiar with, but not the only place so affected) is repeating the same damned pattern as has been repeated over and over in history... concentrate wealth in the hands of a few, the fewer the better. Spend massive amounts of said wealth on a military and police system that is little more than an enforcement arm for policies that benefit only those few (note this is not an attack on the military or police, it is an attack on those that control those organizations). Make multiple unnecessary enemies. Eventually said enemies, without regard to how poor, disorganized and out-gunned they are, will topple the power structure, followed by several years/decades/centuries of barbarism, then the whole damned cycle starts again, dominated by the same sort of assholes that always seem to dominate.

They are not smarter than the general populace, they are more greedy and less honorable. Which seems to work in the short term but never in the long term.

Rant over.

a reply to: Ghostsinthefog

It's possible that anarchy is unavoidable at least for a while. My reasoning is that centralization, collectivization requires exponentially increasing complexity, which also requires exponentially increasing energy. Primarily because we're all different each one of us yet we do have some things in common with others like race (eek that racism word yah) religion, culture etc.

For further collectivization to occur the commonalities between groups (race, creed, religion) have to be destroyed and the alternative offered by the collectivist state, that is what requires the energy. But we live in a finite world with finite resources so eventually we'll hit the wall.

So this maddening collectivism will end and since it's worked so hard to push everyone into this NWO of averages humanity will return to it's mean, which is tribalism basically. Unfortunately a lot of people will die in the process but perhaps the earth can heal a bit before we start the whole insanity over again.

I just would like to know how we are all measuring freedom here. Under what metric exactly is our liberty to do near anything we want within reason still residing in delusion, as an example? Like, I don't wallow in the pessimistic big picture, which I am not very certain even is right now. Could somebody clarify to me who is holding guns to everyone's heads and keeping them in cages??

What exactly are we not free to do?? I guess the freedom to claim unclaimed land without paying for it is gone. Thats been gone nearly everywhere in the world though since the invention of electricity, so not many, if any people alive today even knew that freedom. Am I missing something?? What am I personally missing out on that I am not aware of?? I have the right to walk around in public freely carrying weapons. Thats a pretty big one that a majority of Americans still have.

We can download every form of entertainment media for free, so thats still free .... I guess I am delusional. I just not seeing what we are missing. Am I being a downer for seeing all the positive that still exists in the world??

a reply to: Ghostsinthefog

Uh, yes, all the time.

So what else is new?

a reply to: worldstarcountry

One example, briefly.

The freedom to get a good education has been curtailed drastically. Even a good basic education is hard to come by in the US unless one lives in an affluent area (concentration of wealth to the few).

This means that even smart kids who want to learn something are not free to do so because of their economic basis. So they grow up not able to read or write well, or educated in ways of critical thinking (that ability makes them more resistant to propaganda).

So they lack the basic educational groundwork to be able to extend their education. But let's say they do manage to get accepted to a college. Costs of post-basic education have become astronomical. So they are not free to pursue such education, meaning they will not be able to contribute freely to the society, they stand a higher chance of becoming another burden on society. Only the wealthy are able to get a good post-basic education.

But let's say they do stay in college and get a degree with good grades and all that in a field that has a future. But they owe tens of thousands of dollars at least, to a corporation. More than their first house will probably cost. Definitely more than their first means of transportation will cost. So they spend a sizable period of their working life paying these loans back, with interest. They are therefore less free to save money for taking care of themselves when they do retire, if they even can retire before they are worked to death. They are also less free to contribute to the society with disposable income; their income is already bookmarked for decades.

This curtails their freedom on where they might choose to live, how many children they might choose to have, contributions they might choose to make to the religious or other charitable organization of their choice. Less freedom.

Sure, they can download as many videos of a hamster on a piano as they want. There are degrees of freedom. I for one would much prefer being free to pursue a good education (note I am not calling for a "free" education) that gives me the freedom to pursue a meaningful path in life without being beholden to a corporation for most of it. This sort of freedom, I submit, means more to more people than hamsters on a piano.

a reply to: Open_Minded Skeptic
And yet, millions and millions of people get their education in America as they see fit every single year. The path and the means are still there. Just too many kids growing up not prioritizing. Freedom, and a free education are not equivocal.
There are many who skip college and go straight to entrepreneur.

Affordability is there for the right profession. It is getting absurdly expensive though. However, one must not underestimate the benefit of community colleges in getting a jump start. Obviously things will be expensive if a kid wants to go to an out of state university for a degree in the arts because it hosts his favorite college football team.

Engineering, IT, Medical degrees can be started at a reasonable rate though in community colleges and then progress from there. Everybody still has that freedom. Many can get it subsidized as long as they excel in grade school.

I get it though, an education is certainly getting expensive. But it is not out of reach or restricted as a right.

Ghostsinthefog:

...I can't help but thinking we as a people (the human race) are slowly losing our freedom bit by bit.

All depends on what you mean by the word 'freedom'? No one has ever truly been free, because the word freedom has a wide spectrum of interpretations. However, from your post you seem to be alluding to social freedom as an individual, and from that perspective, you are right to intuit a more narrow version that has become defined by political and corporate agenda.

The poster Revolution9 makes some pertinent points as in...

Our rights are being eroded to suit globalism...there is less opportunity and choice in housing, in employment...They are RISK MANAGING their wealth and power, to keep it that way.

Politicians in collusion with corporations are seeking to turn the world into a homogeneous hive of worker drones, all of whom utter the same responses, because rules and regulations at work and through out society do not allow for individualistic freedom...everyone is to be on the same page, everyone singing the same song, everyone acting the same way. A world of Stepford people. For this to occur, individualism has to be snuffed out and discouraged at all levels.

Firstly as an individual nation, then as a community or tribe, then as an individual person. The more a nation is stripped of its sovereignty and of its communal or tribal social adhesion, the less latitude the individual person can act within their own ideology. Most of the general populace don't care, they will let the wider freedoms their ancestors fought for and obtained at great cost dwindle away, just as long as they can be left alone in their blinkered apathy. Apathy to the elitists is profit and wealth and control. So, they are not just taking it, they are being handed it, too, by the people.

Yet, the one thing they truly fear is the breakdown of society, because it brings everyone down to the same level of destruction and pretty much a 'survival-of-the-fittest' scenario. The elitists want to be served hand and foot, they want to be worshipped or perceived as being people more special and meritorious of what they achieve, even though most of them couldn't boil an egg, or put on their own shoe without a servant doing it for them.

If you want freedom, you have to halt their agendas, and that means tearing down society and resetting it. The elitists will never ever change things to a more equal opportunity.

a reply to: Ghostsinthefog

The only real freedom there is is the ability to pay.

That's why the best things in life are for free.

a reply to: Ghostsinthefog

Human farming friend...
It's the oldest profession in the planet next to prostitution. In old times we were physically bonded and chained. But slaves make a horrible workforce. Requiring lots of resources and slow working.

Now chained by taxes and minds controlled by toxic substances and propaganda. The media is the whip of the establishment. Used with great effect to control us and keep us subservient to our respective masters/farmers. Freedom is more a figment of the imagination. You can choose where to work and live. What to eat and wear is our choice. So is who we associate with. But outside that we have no control of our Destiny as a species as we are not fully in control.

Another member posted this video a month back and found it very representative of our lives.