Freedom

Freedom.

I don’t really understand what freedom is. I have always thought I’ve had it so my understanding is one sided. It is a word with yes no connotations but in truth it is another of those grey words that are sprayed around willy nilly as solid and tangible.

To me freedom is defined by the ability to choose. I will always have that to some degree. I will always be free. I think the measure of freedom is the cost of the choice. I feel it is a common misconception to equate freedom with the lack of consequences for your actions. Freedom always has cost.

The most fundamental freedom is what you think but do not act on. While you are conscious it is very difficult to mess with that one and it has no cost. From there on each freedom extracts a price that is set by your situation and society. As the freedom scale escalates the number of people able to exercise a particular freedom, choice or whim reduces. The cost of each freedom option exercised, by nature, will restrict other freedoms.

Others will mess with your freedom; meddle with the choices you make. The simple method used is to adjust the perceived cost of a choice. The carrot or the stick. Drink Coke, be beautiful, drink Coke, be unhealthy, the choice is yours.

I often hear the term “they are taking away my freedom”. No, the anonymous They, are just making it more costly to exercise. You can still do what ever you want as long as you can pay the price.

Bobby McGee said that freedom’s just another word for nothing left to loose, or was that Kris Kristofferson? But really that just isn’t right. Having nothing certainly gives you the freedom to do stupid things but not great things. As a rule the more you have (money, education, status ect) the greater choices you have, bigger choices, higher cost choices, more freedom. The cost may be higher but that is the sliding scale of freedom at work.

In the end there is no true freedom, or lack of it, just degrees.