| The Acquisition of Freedom Man’s volition for freedom has been extant for quite some time. Yes, the populace always wished to acquire freedom but it lacked understanding of the concept. And now as leaders of supposedly great nations seek to liberate the oppressed from tyranny they remain to the true meaning of freedom and are oblivious to the means to acquire it. To devise a means of its acquisition one must first define freedom. Naturally, when one thinks of freedom one usually envisions the various rights granted by the government and the natural rights Locke proposed. Of course, the government is solely an entity entrusted with the prescription of limitations for the good of the people. Hence, the government does grants rights it limits them; it does not grant freedom but limits it as well. Also, the government is entrusted with this task by the denizens of its society in hopes of gaining security. Therefore, society is ultimately the one that limits. “How,” you ask “does this pertain to freedom?” Well, is freedom not the ability to act upon one’s whim? Does not society disallow this? Indeed, but many have come to believe that they, as part of a society, are free. Undoubtedly, they are mistaken for it is certain that they cannot act on their every whim; societal impositions are placed upon them. Verily, knowing now what freedom one must know that no man is free. Now, exactly how would one go about attaining this freedom? There are a few rather simple ways to go about this, one of which is through the use of state altering tools (I assume you understand what I mean). Wishing not to brazenly propone such devices I suppose an explanation is necessary. First, I must state that such devices provide only limited freedom, which is accomplished by detaching one from civilization for the duration of its effects. Additionally, the tools may cause various unwanted effects such as dependence and atrophy of cognitive abilities. Aside from the few negative aspects however, the tools will allow one wary of obtaining true freedom to experience its splendor without parting permanently with security. Another, more permanent, way of acquiring freedom is to embark on a non-religious hermitage. The Hermitage must be non-religious because through religion one indoctrinates oneself, and there is no doctrine under which one can truly be free. Anyway, only in this way can one be forever uninhibited by societal impositions, therefore attaining true freedom. However, it is undeniable that there are those that put forth the proposition that one can free oneself through death, which is obviously a fallacy. Those who claim oblivion grants freedom neglect that when one no longer exists one cannot “be” anything; hence one cannot possibly be free. And those who claim that divine recompense liberates an individual neglect that while in the deity’s plane one must obey the deity’s canons. Verily, such a proposition is fallacy, thereby leaving a departure from society as the sole method of acquiring freedom. The only notion that now remains is whether humans truly deserve freedom. One may think that all deserve this great entity, but that would be incorrect. Why should those who wish for security have freedom? An individual who decides to enter a social contract deserves solely the rights that establishment does not disallow for any others would be a hindrance to the general well-being. And anyone who willfully submits oneself, sacrificing freedom for security, has no right to argue such limitations. Also, the universal rights of man, life, liberty, and property, are not, in fact, obligatory and need not be protected. In actuality any social structure by definition inherently strips on of true liberty, limits the extent to which one can own property, and makes one’s life no longer one’s own but communal real estate. And then what of the liberators who wish to emancipate the world? These individuals wish to insure a free world through various policies such as containment but are oblivious to the fact that they too impose limits on those they liberate from a regime (or maybe they know this all along and simply wish to feign benevolence). There may be more of fewer impositions as a result of their liberation, but the fact remains that they still exist. You see, limitations can be removed, but freedom can never be granted; individuals must procure it themselves. Hence, seekers of security and liberators do not deserve freedom. Unfortunately, many exist who wish to liberate and all humanity seeks security. Verily, there is no man who deserves freedom but who can withstand the arduousness of liberation can now attain it. |