Defining Freedom
[thoughts from ~burning woman~ by Sha’Tara]
What is freedom? Here’s another concept that’s spoken by adherents of the status quo even more often than the other famously undefined terms like faith, hope and love. Feel good, emotionally loaded words, which in practical terms mean absolutely nothing unless they be defined against some sort of life-affirming process – as opposed to consensus reality which is a reality based on emotional interaction.
Consensus: agreement in judgment and/or opinion reached by a group. From experience, how could we say Earthians reach consensus? Isn’t it a rule that the bully group, the most powerful in terms of arrogant religious affiliation, overweening political adherence or monetary influence, determines consensus reality for all of those under such domination? We can say than that people do not determine their reality, but that their leaders, or those they choose or allow to be such, are the ones who impose the accepted consensus.
So we can say that Earthians do not possess the wisdom, as a species, to express themselves within a unified global consensus reality. What we have is an ever-changing tenuous web of consensus realities based on religious, political and economic powers, influences and needs and in some cases, though much reduced of late, consensus realities based on race or ethnic power.
Can freedom be lived in such a miasma of disparate beliefs and forces? Well, first we’d have to decide what freedom is. If you have the freedom to live your life unencumbered by the impositions of your local consensus reality makers, that could be construe d as a kind of freedom, but is it true freedom? Let’s see, how far off the beaten track of imposed reality will the group let you wander, even if your wanderings do not violate its basic laws of morality?
Let’s take, for example, the vaunted freedoms of Americans. Were they free under McCarthyism? Was the fact that Joe McCarthy’s witch hunts and scare tactics (which landed many in jail and caused others to commit suicide) were unconstitutional, any deterrent to the madness of a consensus reality created as a psy-op to promote the very lucrative “cold war” with the Soviet Union? How much “American” freedom is being eroded day by day with the current “anti-terrorist” psy-op, with, in the absence of a real war outside the nation, an anti-terrorist (also very lucrative) war being waged against the very people who believe themselves being protected against non-existent terrorists?
There is nothing sadder than the slave who believes himself to be free and sees his captors as benefactors. It is a sadder fact that most Earthians neatly fall into that category. Why? Because they have no idea what the term “freedom” entails. By simple comparison, Canadians are much more “free” than are Americans. That’s probably why they don’t have to shout it from the rooftops or wrap themselves in Canadian flags, flag bumper stickers or underwear. At least not yet, though the trend is growing, if often they get confused and wear the stars and stripes instead. But does that mean Canadians are a free people? No. They are being buried alive under a growing parasitic political and fiscal bureaucracy as surely as the rest of the planet’s nations. This is the realm of the Matrix and under Matrix dominance there can be no “liberty” or freedom as it is called.
What is freedom? It’s a matter of the mind, or mind over matter. To be free, one has to eschew all aspects of the Matrix. One has to “believe all things, believe in nothing.” Some will say that is a contradiction, but only if it isn’t understood. By “believing all things” I prove to myself that no matter what others believe, I am not concerned, nor do I feel threatened by such beliefs. You can believe in God, the Liberal party or the Canadian Dollar. That does not affect me as long as I do not believe in those things. I am aware that they exist; I am aware of the power they exert upon the polis by living within it, but by not taking sides, I let it slide off me as water off a duck’s back. I am free from the necessary emotional connection. Even were I forced to attend some religious organization; forced to vote, forced to give some sort of allegiance to some monetary system, I could do those things and remain completely free as long as I did not get emotionally entrapped in the bigoted knee jerk good-evil aspects of such beliefs.
Of course, there is much more to freedom than that. To be free an individual has to take complete responsibility for his life. No one who is dependent upon an aspect or other of the system, and “worries” about that dependence, can ever be free. True, one cannot be physically free from some sort of dependence on material interactions. One must eat and if the food supplies stops, one will die. Responsible or not, that will not change. Freedom means not being unduly concerned about such eventuality and moving on to an “other-centered” reality as opposed to consensus reality which really boils down to: “What’s in it for me?”
In other words, freedom is found only in servanthood. Not in working for an indentured wage under Matrix bureaucracies, but in taking responsibility for one’s resources and skills and “pushing” those things forward, towards those in need. It is making oneself available to others, whatever the demand. This is not the same as taking responsibility for others for that is violating a sacred trust: that as individuals they too much take responsibility for themselves. The trick as I discovered it, is to always be “available” in one’s own mind. It is to become a servant. It is to have that avatar mindset that controls emotional reaction. It means cancelling out the aspect of personal choice as regards serving.
Here’s an interesting apparent contradiction. Freedom means having no longer any choice! As long as choice exists, there is conflict. Where there is conflict, as shown above relating to the confused state of global consensus reality, no freedom can exist. If “freedom” needs to be defended or protected, you can be sure that such is not freedom, but the empty claims of slaves to the System. You will undoubtedly notice the apparent similarity between the slave who claims to be free, and the servant who makes the same claim. Yet they are diametrical opposites. The slave desires to be free but cannot be, so turns to faith to find his freedom. In his faith he is “free” to exercise his basic selfish Earthian nature. He hopes that his leaders will protect and guarantee his “freedom” to chose to live his life as he pleases and he will accept the imposed restrictions necessary to “guarantee” such freedom.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the servant makes the choice, once, to be a servant. It is not imposed but a chosen Weltanschauung. Thus, the servant need never look over his shoulder, nor wonder “if” this or that would have been a better choice: he is always in the right place at the right time, regardless of “environmental” conditions.
Love ya!
Jane
Right now, president Obama is in the, “right place at the right time.” He is exploring the options and regardless of the path that he takes, he will be dammed for doing it.
My question is, “What in the hell does Assad think he's doing?” I seem to recall that recent history shows that all controlling despots have been severely dealt with after their fall.
Ron
I would be so bold as to state that True Freedom is merely a "State of Mind" ...
Nelson Mandella, although physically imprisioned for 20+ years...
not only survived, but also maintained his same goals, values, and standards.
His Mind was always Free... regardless of his body's location!
Tha kind
In Ronald Regan's speech to the United Nations, he said, (paraphrase) "How quickly our petty differences would vanish if we were faced with a threat from outside our world."
Mikael Gorbachev said the same thing many times.
They were contemporaries. I'm wondering if they didn't know something they couldn't, or wouldn't tell.
As Earthians we should realize the great strides we could make together as a whole race. Lest we digress into stupidity. Which we seem to be headed headlong.
You can cure ignorance with education. But you can not erase stupidity.
Walt
L
Never had that thought cross my mind, and even as I nodded my head at the sentence, you completely destroyed the concept in the remaining paragraph. I suppose my concept of freedom and I have to believe that most Americans believe it so. Freedom means the ability to choose where to go, how to get there, ride, walk ot fly, what to wear, what to speak and, whether to choose to be an atheist or a religious person. I realize I have condensed my thoughts on freedom, but I also believe that overanalyzing something causes much consternation and confusion. Nice article. Rived up my thinking process, that is always a good thing unless you are shouting, "Allahu Akbar.