"The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world." - George Bush
September 11th 2001, a day that truly did change the world. The consequences of this tragedy have been disscussed many times over.
To summarise briefly, a "war on terrorism" was declared and subsequently the western world waged war on two nations, Iraq and Afghanistan. From the
ashes of one catastrophe of humanity emerged two more, equally, if not more destructive than the first.
To justify this human suffering our leaders told us they were "Protecting" and later "Spreading" freedom and democracy to the world. What nice
guys they are, fighting for such a noble cause.
Yet when you actually analyze these concepts and look for them in the societies we actually live in you begin to see that we can't really grasp
"freedom" in our own land, let alone export it to others.
Of course we're free, some of you might say. Well, yes to a certain extent we are. Okay we have freedom of speach and freedom of expression, which of
course we're supposed to be eternally grateful for. But thats as far as it goes really.
In many ways the opposite is true. When you boil it all down, it becomes apparent that we are all slaves of the 'system'. From the age of about 3-4
our slavery begins, and we are placed on what i shall call "life's conveyer belt".
It is at this age that school usually begins for a child. We must get up every morning at 8 o'clock and toddle off to school, making sure we reach
the school gates by 9. From 9 o'clock onwards our day is entirely scheduled, and we're required to be certain places at certain times up until the
end of the school day.
All this time our minds are fed garbage. School work is never inspiring and the entire country follows the same curriculum, one designed to condition
us for our future of office cubicles, paper shuffling and computer screens.
We then go home, sit in front of the telly which feeds us yet more conditioning garbage. It is ever moulding our minds into that of a modern day
consumer, "programming" us to always want more and more products. Enticing us to nag our parents to buy us the latest toys, clothes and junk
food.
This schedule never stops. Year in, year out we adhere to it. Even when we've finnished our education we then begin the next stage of the "conveyer
belt" - our careers. We must work tirelessly from 9 till 5 every day so we can pay our mortgages and satisfy all our programmed consumer desires.
It never stops until we retire at around 60-65 (soon to be 70 in the UK). All our best years are behind us. We no longer have the energy to do
anything too active. We've never had the chance to fully explore ourselves, or find out our true desires and interests. There's nothing left to do
but waste the hours away, reading the paper in front of the fire, wondering where all the time went. Wondering what the # we just did with our
lives.
And then we die.
How many people sitting on their deathbead will look back and ask, was it all worth it? was there any point in it? Was I really free?
So yeah you can go on listening to Bush and his cronies talk about freedom and democracy, perhaps you'll turn the TV a little louder, or go out and
buy a bigger one, with widescreen and surround sound. and pretend you arent living one big pointless lie.
Or, like many people on this website, you can choose the path of enlightenment. Read more than just your school textbook. There are more interesting
things out there.
Search for the truth in this world. You probably wont find it but you'll lead a much more interesting life.
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You hit the mark with the conveyor belt metaphor. I too question what freedom has morphed into over the past decades. Yes, we are free to say what we
want and think what we want--which are precious-- but isn't freedom about doing what you want? When you want? Debt controls a majority of us from
donig just so. It is as if we get sucked into a roiling current, and by the time we realize we've piled on a mountain of debt (mortgage, credit
cards, etc. etc.) we are fastened to what seems a life-long commitment to paying it off, at the expense of real freedom. Some people would say it
takes discipline to control spending, which in some cases is true, but as the cost of necessities rise, and wages remain stagnant(for the blue-collar
worker anyways) all it takes is a slight bump in the fiscal road before the plastic comes out, especially when it comes to home and auto repairs!
[edit on 7-4-2005 by nightbreid]
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There is no freedom on this planet - only dictatorship/fascism.
There are two types of dictatorship.
- Outright overt dictatorship. The thirst for freedom will prevail in the hearts of those under an overt dicta.
- Covert dictatorship masqurading as democracy - people dont rebel against being free when they thing they are. This is the most potent and effective
form of dictatorship.
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Are we really free?
Free to buy a pizza?
Free to drive around?
Free to buy some beer?
Maybe.
But no we're not free. Not just because we have some form of ultra totalitarian legislation that enslaves us(not yet, soon?).
No the biggest enslavement tool used against us is society.
Through societal conditioning and social conformity we are indeed enslaved.
Stay the same.
Submit and conform or risk being an "outsider" around the work watercooler.
Dare not speak in any manner deemed "politically incorrect"!
What would people think!?!?
Not free, but not all bonds are ones we can see right away.
X
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I, too, have pondered this question several times. The one answer I can come up with is that "natural freedom", freedom to do act within the bounds
of the physics and biology(Like gravity, people can't fly or live under water) is only achieveable through anarchy. This would remove all social
restrictions. The other being "Sociological freedom", which is similar to the bounds setup within the constitution, but varie from culture to
culture.
To me the frredom people talk about in the american way of life is the ability to choose and impact our destiny and the direction of society. However,
with laws such as ones against vagrancy, you are loosing control of your destiny. There is also the fact that matters deemed unconstitutional or are
unsettled in lower courts get taken to higher courts where the people have no say in the judges. This also takes away from the people choosing the
destiny of the nation. As far as a lot of things we call freedoms are actually controlled rights.
Personally, I do think the term freedom has been used more and more as a propaganda tool by major media.
[edit on 8-4-2005 by silentlonewolf]
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To me the frredom people talk about in the american way of life is the ability to choose and impact our destiny and the direction of society. However,
with laws such as ones against vagrancy, you are loosing control of your destiny. There is also the fact that matters deemed unconstitutional or are
unsettled in lower courts get taken to higher courts where the people have no say in the judges. This also takes away from the people choosing the
destiny of the nation. As far as a lot of things we call freedoms are actually controlled rights.
Personally, I do think the term freedom has been used more and more as a propaganda tool by major media.
[edit on 8-4-2005 by silentlonewolf] 
I agree in part. The freedom that is portrayed is really an illusion. That freedom that once was, has been eroding for quite sometime now.
Curiously, it is our own apathy that allows this to occur. It has come upon us as a thief in the night. Gradually and persistantly, little by
little.
One day we will wake up to find that it is so far gone, there's no way to bring it back.
Even now, what is lost is lost. Just like the banks of a river that erode away.
Maybe it is to far gone now, already. Even now our efforts may be an exercise in windmill tilting.
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 Originally posted by freddieb
Curiously, it is our own apathy that allows this to occur. It has come upon us as a thief in the night. Gradually and persistantly, little by
little.
One day we will wake up to find that it is so far gone, there's no way to bring it back.
Even now, what is lost is lost. Just like the banks of a river that erode away.
Maybe it is to far gone now, already. Even now our efforts may be an exercise in windmill tilting.
I agree. True freedom vanished long ago and any hope of redemption is fading along with it.
How many people are entirely dissolusioned with the way our world is run?
How many people get angry with deceitful politicians, corporate greed, media hype, misinformation, mass consumerism and all the death, destruction and
waste that is a direct result of our western way of life??
But who here would actually stand up for humanity and tell the world how all this is wrong? Who has the courage to walk out into the street and preach
dissent to all the mindless droids/consumers that populate this world?
We wont. No matter how much of it is wrong. We dont have the courage. We are afraid of being seen as "weirdo's", "loosers", "freaks" or in some
cases even "terrorists".
We live in an age of mass-paranoia and mass-sedation. On a daily basis we hear about atrocities committed in our name yet do nothing about it. It is
far easier to pretend it's not happening. Passively dissmiss or accept it and return to our lives.
We are not free We are bound forever with invisible chains to the status quo.
Will we ever be free? Well thats down to us.....
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Sorry for the short post here but I thought this link might be an interesting read for you all..
New American Slavery
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