Week 9 Day 2: True Freedom

Freedom is one of the ideals that us Americans strive for in our daily lives.  Part of this stems from our rebellion against the Britains, another part of it stems from our rebellion against the confines of religion.  And I believe part of it is inherent in human nature.  What does a human desire more than his own freedom?  To decide for himself what he or she should do with their own existence?  To feel that they are more than just a Pinnochio puppet that is tied down with strings and wire.  However, what is real freedom?  Many people brought up during class that true freedom has never been realized.  We work within the confines of our social structure.  It was writer John Locke who examined what life was like before civilized societies, and he posited that we as a people had gone from a state of nature to a state of civilization.  And by doing so, we give up certain civil liberties to protect that civilization.  For example, a puma may kill another puma who is hunting for food if he chooses, and he will not be ostracized by any other puma for doing so.  However, if a man kills another man in modern society, we as a society shun him, punish him, and sometimes kill him ourselves in order to maintain the peace and existence of the society.  So what is true freedom then if we cannot attain it within society?  Can we leave society?   Mr. Locke mentions that we cannot go from a state of civilization to state of nature again, and therefore we are stuck within the bounds society gives to us.  And even if we did break from the laws of society, would we then be free?  No, because our mortal bodies and the restrictions of the universe bind us and keep us here on Earth.  So what if there were no limits?  What if we were in a white space, with no walls or floors or ceiling, and given the power of God himself.  Creation, destruction, transformation.  All the powers of the world were ours to command.  That would be true freedom.  But what would we do?  Again we find ourselves limited by the one thing that we cannot change.  Our imagination.  No matter how hard we try, we cannot invent a new color, or come up with more ideas than that which we are capable of creating.  By being human, we are bound to never be truly free.

But does this mean we should not strive for freedom?  Of course not.  We strive not for true freedom but for relative freedom.  Freedom to do as we wish within our society, and freedom to challenge society if we see it does not fit the duties it was assigned.  We crave freedom to control our destiny and to not have any force, be it fate, God, or supernatural entity decide what we do.  We want the freedom to have chocolate ice cream, to hold the ones we love, and to say what we want and to strive to make that dream come true.  That is freedom.