On Freedom and Wax Musuems by MarySusan Williams-Migneault (c) 2008

A Story by RHP

On Freedom and Wax Musuems by MarySusan Williams-Migneault© 2008
A Post by RHP

In a forum for Poets, a writer posted a poem that was a belligerent and bellicose rant, lots of F-U’s in each line, about the guidelines of the particular post requirements. Now the forum by nature of its composition is not against any forms of free speech, but what struck me about this particular poem was that the poet confused his rights with those of the collective forum. And isn’t that exactly what happens in all of society? Individuals and groups everywhere impose their values, their systems on others with some threat attached? Some that are implied and some that are in your face, but all meant to impose their will or else.

Social order requires some semblance of respective compliance to social structures and yet, we must allow for freedom of expression, freedom of speech, or there is no FREEDOM. And there lies the crux of the problem. Was it infringement of his freedom to have guidelines? Were the guidelines infringing on Freedom as an IDEAL? All important concepts to discuss and consider.

My reply to the Post is included here, but let me qualify this post with a word about the audience. The majority of readers in this forum are Biker Poets, Scribes, Artists, mostly Christian, mostly sober, but not necessarily so, yet they are all lovers of Freedom, the Road, the Ride, the Spirit of Fellowship and Brother or Sister-hood. They are brilliant writers, thinkers and activists for the community, even the one who posted the off-the-score-board poem. Regardless of my distaste for the piece that was posted, it sparked the ignition of my own brain generator and made me think about some cherished issues of my own:

My Reply: Freedom … good topic for a post.. especially since the Freedom of the Press is compromised every day and protection is thinning. Sources are not protected and journalists are being jailed more and more frequently. Freedom of the Press is the third leg of our checks and balances that make us a Free Country. I picked up a great book the other day “We’re All Journalists Now: The Transformation of the Press and Re-Shaping of the Law in the Internet Age, ” by Scott Gant, Free Press: New York, London, Toronto, Sydney. (c) 2007

We have come a long way from Easy Rider, Hunter S. Thompson, Kerouac, and Freedom of Expression. Sure we can be bombastic, bellicose, belligerent, down right offensive and think that is Freedom but in truth it is just a lot of noise that reaches the ears that are hidden in the wall, but do nothing to foster Freedom for anyone. In fact, it just causes more restrictions for everyone.

I think the face of Freedom changed long before events that brought about the covert Marshall Law we live under, in what were once Free standing countries, including our own. I think the Face of Freedom changed when the Iron Curtain was no longer a wall but an electronic belt that could be stretched and twisted in nooks and crannies of the world without anyone realizing they are behind surveillance. So I think acting out is not Freedom, it is an illusion. Freedom exists in a dimension that very few can find the door to.

Many of our sons would probably be classified under “angry white men” category of this generation, but they do not act out in any kind of rage against the machine that they listened to growing up; what they do is detach and live in a world with a code that is unlike that of any generation before them. And they are the sons of the Flower Children, a generation that they mock.

They are sons who have no rights of passage, no Freedom of Speech, no place to escape to, no real God to deny. Their passion is contained, restrained and diverted into video games and cell phone technology that tracks their conversations, their whereabouts, any time of the day or night. They are witnesses for the State, against themselves. They don’t expect anything more than debt. Their children are on their own to make sense of a world that has betrayed their manhood, their instinctual drives, their Freedom to Create a life, a world, a vision that is outside the realm of Keno. They are free to Decline.

On another front, I have watched the gates go up at Laconia Bike Week slowly over the years. I have watched the rent-a-bike citizens multiply to gawk at the long-haired riders of the storm as if they are apparitions that haunt the boardwalk. Laconia Bike Week is now akin to the Cowboys and Indians and Bikers … Wax Musuem. Guess I’m Free to buy a ticket and step right up to see the Show.

Now see what happens when you Blast Freedom in my ear.. I start thinking.