Am I free?
What is freedom?
I’m lucky enough to live in a country with a stable government, welfare system, education system and health system. So my definition of freedom always going to be different to those in worse off countries. I have grown up with the expectation of food and shelter, free from persecution.
For me freedom is having the opportunity to earn enough money to cover my bills and the possibility to follow whatever path I choose in life.
Others are not so lucky. Even my country not so long ago was war torn and dangerous. Its people persecuted by a foreign government and regular terrorist attacks. While there are still many divides at least it is being fought in the government buildings now rather than on the streets.
Freedom depends on your perspective. If you grow up in a war zone freedom will mean peace. If you grow up in peace, freedom will mean choice.
Choices.
Choices are huge. Without choices we are not free to live our lives the way that we want to. The ability to choose a college, a job, a partner. Things that an easily be taken for granted but are not there for a lot of people in this life. As a person I have the right to vote and choose who represents me and my views in government. We make thousands of choices everyday for better or worse but at least we are the ones who do it.
I would hate to have a life where a lot of my choices were restricted either by religion or government. As long as a person is not harming anybody else then I don't have a problem with how they live their life.
A life where you had to follow an exact path through it without the option to do what you want to do. I think that it must be a terrible way to live. We have laws to protect people and keep things in check so as long as that is what they are accomplishing that's fine. Where they are just there for no purpose other than restricting the population is where I take issue with it.
Control
While some of the choices might be restricted by the laws of our countries we can still decide to break them and do what we like. Although there might be consequences to this it is up to the individual whether they can abide by the laws or not. I disagree with a lot of our laws and policies and do break quite a few of the minor ones on a daily basis but that is the choice I make and will take the punishment if I get caught.
The government will always try to exert control over the population but we are the ones who place them in power. They are massively corrupt and look after their friends and big companies first so when they try to speak on the laws it is hard to take them too seriously. Unfortunately they all turn out the same. No matter how good they seem pre-election, once they get there it's only a matter of time before the fall into line with the rest.
So am I free?
Realistically no. I have freedom’s which I can use and choose to go down a different path but for the most part I am tied to the system. Earn a wage, pay the bills and repeat. To be truly free money would not be a concern and I could make each day into whatever I chose. Hopefully that day will arrive at some stage and I do have a lot of advantages to get me there. (Also STEEM)
The solution. Well I could take on the hippie life and life off the land and the state welfare but that wouldn't suit me. Option B is to earn money now and set myself up for later on so that I can take a better path in the future. Hopefully if I work hard and invest well that I will be able to have a passive income to cover my bills and then I will have full freedom of choice.
Another interesting read @niallon11 Loads of food for thought. This idea of working now and setting yourself up for later life is a really good one. For me, though, I think without work, I'd likely become bored after a while.. Although, there are always voluntary pursuits you could follow to keep your mind focused. And come to think of it, I could spend the free time learning about all those things that I would like to know or "get to" some day... Not working would allow me to spend more time doing these things.. Like I said food for thought 👍
Well if i won the lotto today i would not continue my job but i would have to work. I need to be doing something and just relaxing wouldn't suit me. But I could start my own business that i care about or work in the animal shelter that I help out in. Thats where i could do something that i actually love rather than going in for a check.
That would be my plan in the long term once I can get myself set up.
Sounds like a plan 👍 It's good to have a long term plan of where you want to get, otherwise, you can just end up floating along..
The system is meant to keep us in check and docile but in a more passive aggressive way than previous regimes in human history! We do have a sense of more freedom though and you do have a choice to say no the system if you can feee yourself the desire for all the material possessions!
Some people do, i meet people who live outside the main system and it really suits them. I don't think its for me though. I'm not hugely materialistic and don't care about brands but I do still love my things. My phone, my car and my comforts. I don't think that i would like to go without.
So option B, do the work and set yourself up for later.
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