The idea of freedom is something so important for man that without which life would be unlivable and meaningless. Men have fought wars, risked their lives and done what not to achieve this thing called freedom. What is freedom? Why is it so essential? These questions may seem simple but they do not have as easy answers as one might immediately think. Almost everyone has a good idea as to what freedom is, but very few people know in exact terms what it actually means and entails in the fullest sense. This article is about the meaning of freedom in all of its essential and valid context and its various far-reaching implications, which remain mostly hidden from the immediate common perception.
What is freedom? Dictionary defines freedom as, ‘the condition of being free; the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints.’ This is quite accurate definition but it is important for each person to understand it because the idea of freedom is so very necessary for living life. The key to fully understanding this idea lies in two essential things i.e. first, comprehending its meaning and, second, understanding its implications in different contexts.
Freedom and Its Possibility and Impossibility : Consider this, a hypothetical situation in which there is just only one human being living on earth all alone, then in such a situation, the idea of freedom cannot be applicable. The reason being that in this situation, no one else is present there who can threaten or affect his existence or violate his privacy in any way. Hence, that lonely human being is left free to live, act and think as he chooses and has no threat to face, at least not from another human being. So, it follows from this that the idea of freedom can be considered valid only when two or more humans are living in such a way that they have to interact with one another on various levels to coexist peacefully.
The world is like this i.e. there are not one or two but many of us trying to live and exist together peacefully, but, there are some among us who like to interfere deliberately in various ways and make life miserable for others. It is a human tendency to interfere often into other’s business forcefully, hence, this can become a cause of misery for many. One does not want any such uncalled interference, therefore, to avert this and keep each one free of such intrusions, freedom and other related ideas are needed and ought to be enforced accordingly. It is this need to live peacefully that makes the idea of freedom possible and necessary.
Freedom and Happiness : One reason as to why freedom is important is, because, it is connected with happiness. ‘The final commodity sought by everyone in life is happiness.’ All humans activities, be it thinking, doing art, writing literature, climbing mountains or even fighting wars etc., are all ultimately aimed, directly or indirectly towards achieving happiness. Freedom and happiness are inseparable because happiness depends upon freedom. When force and restraint are imposed on someone in an unjustified way, it acts as a killer of freedom and hence of happiness too. Hence, it is very vital for men to be free in order to live a worthy life and to achieve their true potentials.
Freedom and Slavery : Another way to understand the idea of freedom and its importance is by understanding the idea of slavery because understanding this provides a valid and easily comprehensible context for understanding the idea of freedom. The fundamental characteristic of humans is that they cannot work under any kind compulsion of which they do not approve. Slavery is coercing one to act or think in a way one does not want and hence it always leads to misery and unhappiness. Freedom on the other hand allows men to act as they choose, think as they choose and enables men to live a life which is free from outside coercion.
Freedom and Its Source : Almost all the countries of the world grant a number of basic freedoms to their people in form of rights, among them the most important are, the right to freedom of speech, right to equality before law, freedom to practice one’s choice of religion etc. But the important thing to note is that all these rights are an outcome of one single right which is the ’right to live’. It is by recognizing and establishing this right to ‘live’, we can understand all other rights relating to freedom, which are in place to maintain our peaceful coexistence. So what does this ‘right to live’ mean? It simply means that that one has a right to live and do with one’s own life as one wishes and that no one else must be allowed to violate this right in any way. To ensure that this right remains intact and do not get violated, all the other rights as mentioned above are put in place and are enforced by law.
Freedom and The Need for Restrictions and Prohibitions : The world, has always been overrun by restrictions and prohibitions. There is a reason for this. When so many numbers of people live together on a place like earth then to ensure peaceful coexistence of all, certain restrictions are required. Restrictions are put in place to safeguard wellbeing of an individual or group from another individual or group. Restrictions and prohibitions are good if they are justifiable and can be proven and demonstrated to be necessary. For example, murdering another person is prohibited by law and it is deemed as punishable offence. This is a justified prohibition because it is necessary for safeguarding lives of an individual. This kind of prohibition restricts the abuse of freedom of others. Hence, only those restrictions are justified and must be observed which uphold freedom and save men from any unwarranted outside coercion.
Freedom and The Need For Removing Unjustifiable Prohibitions : There are so many other restrictions, which are unjustified and they violate our freedom directly or indirectly. Many of these restrictions are hard to see for what they actually are because they remain mostly hidden beneath layers of uncertain and hazy ideas. The most important thing to note is that many of such restrictions are put in to place by deliberate intentions and not by natural default.
Like for example, let us consider the prohibition on alcohol sale and consumption as is currently imposed by the government in the state of Gujarat. This prohibition, is currently imposed using various false and unjustifiable pretexts such as that of saving people from the harmful effects of alcohol, also on the pretext of maintaining women’s safety and that of Gujarat being the land of Gandhi etc. What it means for the people of Gujarat is that the government can now decide what grown and intelligent men ought to consume and what they ought not to consume and if any one defies this then they become liable to get forcibly punished. This is, in essential terms a direct violation of the right to life as I have stated above in this article. This prohibition threatens and undermines our basic freedom. Today, the government has taken this much liberty and if nothing is done then the government may also start assuming more powers and lay down even more such restrictions. The government may then begin to decide what one should wear, whom one should interact with or with whom one should not interact. In short the government may become like an unbearable Nanny who is out to slowly take away all of your freedoms. This is not a fantastical situation which I am constructing here, but a very possible one, it has happened in the past. ‘When the powers of the government go unchecked by the people then the government tends to slowly increase in size and become dictatorial in nature.’
Freedom and Mental Slavery : Even though human slavery, as we know of it, was abolished long before, like in Britain and in America it was abolished around one and a half century ago but today a different kind of slavery exists in the world and this too threatens and undermines our freedom in a very profound way. It is the slavery of the mind, i.e. mental slavery. This undermines our freedom because it shackles our growth in many ways. In simple terms, this kind of slavery means an unconditional support by an individual or a group for wrong ideas. Let me illuminate using some examples, the best one is the idea of adhering to a religion without questioning its validity in a proper critical manner. Most of the religions on earth have roots deep in the past and are built mostly on assumptions many of which are usually unproved and taken to be true on mere faith. When seen through a lens of reason, the inherent contradictions within any religious system become easily visible and those who follow such religion blindly are no more free than prisoners of war in an actual prison.
Sports, sex and screen : Three things continually keep the minds of the younger generation engaged all the time which is not all good and the media makes all believe that things will perpetually remain rosy and we are progressing with ease and no one must be much concerned about all this and about the future. The younger generation need to understand this and must learn think right and do right in order to be safe and ensure a better future.
Freedom to think definitely exists but real freedom of thought is not possible until one becomes capable to think in a critical and rational way. Brainwashing of mind by wrong ideas, either deliberately or innocently stands to threaten this in an enormous way. Hence, one must examine ideas very critically before accepting them to be true.
Freedom and The Threat From The Government : One of the biggest threats to freedom usually comes from big oversized governments. Our country India too, like most of other countries in the world has big oversized government. Our government perpetrates policies in economics and politics, which indirectly affect our freedom in various ways.Henry Ford, The great entrepreneur, engineer and car manufacturer said, “It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.”
Henry Ford said this about America, but I think the same is true for India as well. Our monetary system is flawed and it is flawed to the core. I will not go into details here and will tackle it in another article but as for now the truth of the matter is that our monetary system is designed to get the wealth in the hands of few by deceit. The banks and the government work together in collusion and people are continually being robbed of their hard-earned wealth via the greatest robbing mechanism in the world called INFLATION. The poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer and an imbalance is in the making that cannot good in the long run for any country and its people.
Not many are aware but our Indian government has managed to clock a Debt to GDP ratio of 90% at present and still going ahead unfazed. What this means is that the government has overspent its reserves and is in debt up to 90% of our gross domestic product. So who will pay for all this? Of course the answer is simple, it is we the gullible people who will pay! How will we pay? By higher taxes and inflation! Our freedom is threatened because we have to face the ravages of losing our wealth due to lost buying power. A child somewhere needed books to study to secure his future but parents can no more afford because with their 2000 rupees now they can only buy things worth 1500 and hence they must forfeit the books to accommodate for other pressing needs. Someone needed urgent medical care somewhere but now their money in the bank savings account is worth less than what it was worth before and hence they can no more manage the required medical care etc. etc. etc…
Here I have presented with only a couple of examples of government threat but in truth to cover everything appropriately, a hundred articles will not suffice.
Conclusion : To be really free in the fullest context, I believe, that one must be free from any outside physical coercion and one must have the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints of any sort. But adding to this I also think that at the same time one must also strive to be free from all sorts of wrong ideas which can easily corrupt one's thinking.
Today is 15th of August as I finish writing this article, It is our Independence Day. But this 'Independence Day' means nothing more than getting free of the British rule and coming under the hood of Indian rule while the rules of the game remain unchanged. I think that this ‘Independence Day’ in truth does not signify our independence in the real sense. We are in fact, interdependent and enslaved in a big way and with no end in sight. Things need to be changed in a drastic and fundamental way to pave the way for a valid future. This is the time for us to awaken and to bring about a revolution in spirit and in mind and fight the wrongs that have pervaded within our nation and within us.
Swatantrata Ki Jai Ho!
Thank You.
