What is freedom? What does it mean to be free? To me, its the right to my own body. The right to my own future. The right to live without worrying about money, bullshit elections, government restrictions of my choices. Freedom is a beautiful thing. And i dont plan to see my freedom stained with the blood of those who thought they were fighting for it. Freedom, to me, lies in no flag. No constitution. No nation. No religion. No god. No goddamn amount of money. No war. No military. No boarder. Thoughts?
Actually, though I hadn't quite put it into words, you pretty much summed it up. Honestly, if it all boiled down, I wouldn't give a shit which country I was a citizen of, whether or not we had a bill or rights or any other thing. I am fighting this war for one reason alone. I want the right to my life. I just escaped 25 years of no life thanks to religion and family. Hell if I'm going to go straight back to that black hole by handing it all over to a new master of my fate.
Then you really should look into anarchism. Not trying to sound preachy, but seriously, it can work. People like you and me who want to be free and govern ourselves can live together in peace. The only flag being the black. The only army being the army of the peaceful. The only government being yourself.
And what about those out there who don't care to govern themselves...? I take it you have put a good deal of thought into this particular idea?
After due consideration of your response and a consultation with my cousin, we have decided it could actually work. She wants a t-shirt. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
You forgot the freedom to say whatever you want in a democracy- something you are clearly taking advantage of.
Freedom is a state of mind. It is the spontaneous love of existence that arises when the heart and brain no longer speak the enemies propaganda. To be free is to withdraw projection from the world. To transcend the psychological straitjacket of denial. To take full responsibility for ones own existence, not because of obligation, but out of the lucid and humble understanding that "I exist, and I am glad". If you don't own your own body than you are a slave. If you don't own your own future than you are already dead. In contemporary America, the Hegelian sinkhole of left-right politics has long been a game of Russian roulette with the smoking barrel forever pointing at the sovereign individual. The technology of human ownership has long advanced to its most productive and lucrative phase in history all the while escaping notice as the masses go about their daily distractions. I think it is right to reject this paradigm in the strongest possible terms. With that said, I'd be very suspicious of anybody who tried to relieve me of the condition of worrying about money. You have described the idols of the tribe that keep humanity enslaved. Perhaps one day, if enough people stop calling the naked man "emperor" our species will escape its rocky adolescence. It is the obedience-denial-idealization mechanism grafted onto the figureheads of state, religion, and media that make it very difficult to see the man behind the curtain, because the man behind the curtain is us. We are only controlled to the extent that we offer our consent or tacit approval. It is time to withdraw that consent and no longer be collaborators in our own destruction.
Complete freedom is a myth. Actually any freedom is a myth because it requires freewill which no More exists for humans than it does for microbes and planets. Freewill is what it feels like to be an human part of an emergent complex system
freedom does have to be fought for unfortunately. but everybody dies in this world, you might as well die for something good. blood reminds me of jesus. you know i think you're wrong about "no god". i've found freedom in god personally and i think that collectively we all will. i think what the bible calls sin keeps us from being free. greed, gluttony, lust, pride, envy, sloth, and wrath. would you agree that those things keep us from being free? i think it's ironic that communion is the way to freedom. typically when you think about freedom you think about "me, me, me". but when you come to understand that we have a communal existence, you realize that everything you think, and do, and say affects everyone and everything else. your freedom depends on me. and my freedom depends on you. and here's a song that sums that all up very nicely. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YqJOZOUncA Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
In my opinion there is complete freedom if you really want. But you do not want to leave the society that it offers some comfort to you. If you live in a society then you must obey the rules of this society. But if you really want then you can live in Alaska, in the jungle or in an island where, because there is no society, you can do and live how you want.
Semantics. It's just amazing that free nations give rise to people such as yourself with your fringe ideas while third world nations struggle to feed themselves. Or as Gandhi put it- "There are people who are so poor that to them, God can only appear as a handful of rice." Enjoy the freedom you have to tear apart the freedom you were born with-
Irrelevant, if you run away and hide in the bush that's still not a "free" choice, its the inevitable conclusion of the set of conditions of the system. Why can't this be predicted in advance? Because its a complex emergent system.
If so, then we can take to philosophize endlessly. According to Descartes we might not even physically exist but only we dream. So we dream what we want.
Its not philosophy, its physics. Look at the weather, look at the solor system, its the chaos theory which says this is deterministic
i've rarely met an american who truly valued or respected freedom. the discrepancy is glaring because of this: most people only usually respect their own freedom but no one else's. they will try to oppress, exploit, or control others. it is all smoke and mirrors. this 'free america' mantra by americans, at least.