Apology

continuing thoughts

One thing is obvious: it’s clearly not any kind of biological entity. It doesn’t have four legs and wag a tail. It doesn’t swim in any ocean, no matter how vast. And since ‘freedom’ has no physical properties, it exists only as an abstraction. An idea, or concept that has been suited with a noun which has ever since teased our mind.

Pertaining to this sense of what freedom is comes the idea of liberty, or of being experientially unrestricted. But it is an idea only and, like any idea, can be formed in any number of ways. That is to say, there is wide potential to construe  many versions of ‘freedom’. As there are, perhaps, many versions of love...

The question remains, however: what is it in actuality?

 

Certainly the desire for ‘freedom’ is not freedom. For desire itself is its own kind of captivity. Just as certain; ‘freedom’ may not be apparent where ever anxiety is active, either. Or fear. And who is not without these in their life: fear of sickness, or death?.. Fear of loss?.. Of hunger, or cold; or shame and isolation?.. Fear of being unloved, or rejected?.. Many are the ways that fear manifests in us. It grows up inside our minds like a tall picket fence; and atop each communal picket sits a different face, a gargoyle glaring into its own corner of the world: you.

Would it not be in the absence of this picket fence that ‘freedom’ - in actuality - is found?

 

Ironically, the very prospect of this has the power to inspire still more fear. There arises the concern that a lack of internal constraint may be taken as licence for the abuse of ‘freedom’. We can become anxious that others would be too much at liberty to carry out acts of violence, and the exploitation of power. However, such negative expressions in human behaviour are not so much the fruits of ‘freedom’ as they are the unsavoury blooms of fear, yet again. Perceived threats, or long nurtured insecurities that feed the prospect of imagined loss, shame, oppression, isolation, etc... can - and do - often inspire actions drenched (by their very nature) in fear. These, in turn, have a tendency to spawn entire climates of ideology, where schools of (proverbial) fish are born into phenomenological realities beyond dispute. Ultimately, these arrive at some version of conflict... As such, ‘freedom’ becomes the culprit framed. The falsely accused.

 

A comparison can be  drawn by looking at the issue of pollution. Every material thing made manifest through human endeavour lends its very existence to the Earth’s own resources. It is from the Earth that raw materials are drawn which are then refashioned to suit the will and design of human thought. Be it steel, oil, uranium, plastic, or what have you... The fact that articles and particles of our own throw-away lifestyle culminate in pollution is no more the fault of a resourceful Earth than violence or tyranny is of ‘freedom’.

 

For ‘freedom’ to be known - in actuality, and not merely an idea - it seems apparent that it is ‘fear’ which must first be nullified. And until that happens, our knowledge of ‘freedom’, beyond the abstraction, might amount to little more than throwing darts in the dark at nothing... 

Author's Note

Still pondering out loud... I invite readers to consider this subject for themselves. I continue to welcome any thoughts shared, also, if you like.

Reviews

[Dara]

This is most thought provoking and uppermost in my mind lately. With the lack of sound leadership at the wheel and turmoil and division rampant in the US, one starts to worry just how long the idea of "the land of the free" will truly exist. As Bob Marley once wrote, "Only ourselves can free our minds" yet how long can we hold out escaping to some form of Nirvana mentally and spiritually and still feel that we are free? I love your comparison to pollution. As you state, also, in your last paragraph, until we remove aspects of fear, we will not experience true freedom. You make your point eloquently and with deep thought. An excellent write to be sure!

[charlie]

Thank you for taking time here, Dara, and for your thoughts, as well.

[Beccy]

The rule of law accepted and put aside for now, perhaps freedom really is no more than a notion.

Certainly there are many different perspectives on what it is. In any event, at least in my view, freedom can become quite irksome without certain imposed limits; I mean, how many apples can you pick from a tree before you have taken your fill.

We are, despite our seeming lack of a cohesive narrative at times, a fairly disciplined species; and in the same way as the child needs, indeed, desires boundaries, there is safety in restriction. Though where to draw the line is a vex, and has so far escaped me; perhaps a meeting of the championed ideologies betwixt dictatorship and democracy is the answer, with just a pinch of communism thrown into the pot for good measure?

Power to the people and all that Charlie. :))

Beccy.

[Gaia Octavia]

This is a well-thought-out rumination, my friend. Your thoughts speak to a quiet, deep consideration of the concept of freedom. I wholly agree with your assessment and offer that it is a much more lofty endeavor to try and define freedom than it is to define the lack of it. There are so many experiences and circumstances that readily alert us as to the absence of freedom. In fact, they're endless. But as to the elusive definition of freedom, only each individual can seek to find it through the lense of their own life experiences.

Well done, professor!

[charlie]

Perhaps... if that were possible without the dubious deal of relativism. Thank you for visiting here, G.

[Lorry]

I concur. We are free to move without constraint, but we cant leave this pebble we are standing on, yet.But as you said, are we really free or just free within the rules?
If you are stuck in a bad relationship, freedom is escape, dreamt and longed for, but if they escape from this, then it would most likely be constrained within laws and rules, where dreams of freedom from one is replaced by another.
I have on ocassion stated that we see love as attraction, but could it be infection? Who is to say that freedom is amything other than a delusion we are fed, believing we have the choice to believe.
Or maybe we are all just fictional characters trapped in what we think is what we have chosen.
Interesting write Charlie, you prodded my brain into working....On a sunday! I dont get overtime for that, do I?

[charlie]

Hah..Sorry, no overtime, Lorry. But I think all the enquiries you mentioned are pertinent. And maybe we don't spend enough time with them. I like the idea of love being an infection. It's reminiscent of that quote "To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides" ... and what is both sides if not the inside and outside?

[Dave Brown]

Well, as usual, most of this is beyond me, but I wonder what value is in the abstract consideration of freedom.
To me, freedom is more in kin with the lack of concern humankind has displayed to'ard the planet. We have felt free to do as we please and the fruits of that misdirection are taking effect.
Fear! Yes fear of the unknown and that lack of internal restraint which has fueled this condition
I don't think this is where you were going, but it is where you have taken me.
From this point forward 'freedom' should be tethered by conscious restraint

[charlie]

Thanks for taking time, Dave.

[Dave Brown]

Oh, and one other thing
Certain wish I had your vocabulary