Freedom! (Part 1 of ??)

free·dom
/ˈfridəm/ Show Spelled[free-duhm] Show IPA
–noun
1.the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: He won his freedom after a retrial.
2.exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
3.the power to determine action without restraint.
4.political or national independence.
5.personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery: a slave who bought his freedom.
6.exemption from the presence of anything specified (usually followed by from ): freedom from fear.
7.the absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc.
8.ease or facility of movement or action: to enjoy the freedom of living in the country.
9.frankness of manner or speech.
10.general exemption or immunity: freedom from taxation.
11.the absence of ceremony or reserve.
12.a liberty taken.
13.a particular immunity or privilege enjoyed, as by a city or corporation: freedom to levy taxes.
14.civil liberty, as opposed to subjection to an arbitrary or despotic government.
15.the right to enjoy all the privileges or special rights of citizenship, membership, etc., in a community or the like.
16.the right to frequent, enjoy, or use at will: to have the freedom of a friend's library.
17.Philosophy . the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-determination. Compare necessity ( def. 7 ) .

Freedom, blessed freedom, what greater desire dwells within a Man than to be free. Is the taste of food more satisfying than the freedom by which one savors it? Does a drink do more for the soul than the freedom to obtain it and partake? Is a song more delightful than the freedom to sing it when it pleases you? No, freedom must be a poison to the soul. We spit it out and desire others feed us. We spew it from our lips and forbid each other drink. We silence the song for it offends our ears. We cherish freedom not! And worship our own oppression. For what is it to be free if we do not allow all to be free? What is it to be free when we chain ourselves to societies, possessions, and ideologies? Have we forgotten the sweet joy of freedom having never known it in our life times?

How does one obtain freedom? All we have ever known is servitude to a system under the guise of freedom. We accept rules which restrict freedom while proclaiming that they are to protect freedom. How can freedom be protected by being limited? Protect freedom by limiting freedom. This is an impossibility. One can not protect something by cutting it to pieces. Freedom is not whole when parts are removed. Freedom can only be protected by encouraging it, growing it, and defending it with your very life. Freedom should be more valued than ones life to one who is free, for anything less is to be enslaved by your life. Such is the nature of fear, the truest enemy of freedom.

There are many snares in this world that trap Mankind into giving up their freedom. Chiefly among these snares is fear. When one is fearful of losing something of value, they are willing to sacrifice freedom to protect that thing by instituting laws. Laws do not protect freedom, they limit freedom. If one is fearful of losing his property, he institutes laws with others who are fearful of losing their property. To enforce these laws he then hires a law enforcer. Now the person is chained to his property, the society he created to make laws to protect his property, and the law enforcer. This person valued his property more than he valued his freedom.

In time the mere protection of property is not enough. The society has grown and new members desire property of their own. Man is not willing to give up his property for it has become more valuable than his own freedom. So he makes the member exchange his own freedom for property. The society enacts more laws to govern conduct in exchange for property. The new members of the society desiring a slice of the property pie, not realising what they are giving up, make the trade, property for freedom.

Over time the society grows in great numbers. Each member never knowing what they lost so long ago obtains property, complies with the societies laws, and does that which society demands. Having been born into this state, the poor bastards know no better. In time the society grows so large and unmanageable, that to officiate the rules and distribute property, they delegate men among them for this specific task. They select the oldest among them, the first to sacrifice their freedom for property, to set the rules, manage property distribution, and enforce the laws. Freedom becomes a forgotten concept as each new generation is born into the system.

After many generations of growth and prosperity, the society has spread out across the land and eventually collides with another society. While fundamentally the same (being attached to land, having laws, and a system of enforcement), the two societies have different cultures, different social norms. They have created different rules for managing their land distribution and laws which guide the society. Each society having known nothing of freedom and believing that their rules are best for these purposes, wars with the other for dominion of the world. Society itself is the oppressor of freedom, the maker of war, the great beast of iniquity. Each head thinking it knows best how to divide up the land, how to deem it's members behave, how to grow and nurture mankind. They cannot live in peace with other societies for each society has something the others societies want more than FREEDOM. That is property. The never ending acquisition of property.

Whether by gold or oil, land or water rights, by growing field or grazing pasture, mankind has enslaved himself long long ago to this world. He has sacrificed freedom, that he may possess the world. His desire is his slave master. His society his gleaming sword of righteousness. His destiny is death, for he was dead before he was born. Freedom is life, for what does it matter to have a heartbeat if you are not free to pursue the hearts desires?



In 1776 a tree of Liberty was planted in a Nation. Had it been properly cared for, the tree should have blossomed into the finest example of a free society the world has ever known. Unfortunately, what started as the tree of liberty, has been turned into the thorny vine of oppression whereby Man is more enslaved than at any other time in history. The slavery is subtle and many do not even see their shackles. This thread will hopefully blossom into a process of rediscovering what it is to be free, and what freedom costs.

With Love,

Your Brother

S/F

Excellent post and it should cause everyone who reads it to ponder where we are versus where we should be based on the tenets upon which the US was founded by those who gave everything they had to give us the freedom we were supposed to have.

Originally posted by bozzchem
S/F

Excellent post and it should cause everyone who reads it to ponder where we are versus where we should be based on the tenets upon which the US was founded by those who gave everything they had to give us the freedom we were supposed to have.

Thanks for the consideration my friend. I may have to rethink my strategy here. It seems writing a letter of rage with no clear definition of freedom or what it actually costs is more effective at garnering a crowd than the realisation of what it is and the price for it. Maybe the cost is too frightening? Maybe the concept of freedom is too broad? Maybe the comforts of the home fire are too great to care?

I do not know. I'll think on this and see if there is perhaps another angle to attack this thread.

Thanks again for giving it a read.

With Love,

Your Brother

Originally posted by IAMIAM
Thanks for the consideration my friend. I may have to rethink my strategy here. It seems writing a letter of rage with no clear definition of freedom or what it actually costs is more effective at garnering a crowd than the realisation of what it is and the price for it. Maybe the cost is too frightening? Maybe the concept of freedom is too broad? Maybe the comforts of the home fire are too great to care?

I do not know. I'll think on this and see if there is perhaps another angle to attack this thread.

Thanks again for giving it a read.

With Love,

Your Brother

edit on 14-4-2011 by IAMIAM because: (no reason given)

All one can do is present the information/topic. The old saying "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink" rings true here.

I've long since given up on trying to convince people regarding their serfdom. It is up to them to realize it and act accordingly.

Freedom is a VERY scary thing since it requires the individual to be responsible for themselves without the safety net of the nanny state to catch one should they fall. Unfortunately most today prefer the safety net rather than freedom. What they fail to realize is that the safety net is a set of chains to keep them docile and subservient to the state.

Sam Adams put things quite a bit more succinctly than could I:

“Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say 'what should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!”

Sam Adams Quotes

If only individuals such as Sam still existed...

Great post, my friend! You wrote the words I wanted to, but can't. Whether from a lack of intellect, or otherwise. I've always enjoyed your threads and have always kept tabs on them. You have words of great wisdom, and I thought I'd thank you for them.