The Dude's thoughts - Freedom and Anarchy
by
, May 12, 2020 at 06:07 AM (1445 Views)
When I started to write this series of the Dude's thoughts, it was more for my own comfort than for anything else (the first chapter "To fall in love vs to love" was mostly me talking to myself and trying to clarify my thoughts around my own personal struggles.. the same is probably true as well for the second chapter, "Memento Mori!"), while subsequent chapters are more about me sharing my believes about life.. why am I telling you this? Because I don't want to look like I'm trying to teach anyone a lesson, that is never my intent, though I'm not afraid at all when it comes to share what my experience is and tell what my position is.
However, yesterday I was chatting with my daughter and even if she's only 5 and a half, she is capable of deep thinking already, and while watching a cartoon, she asked me what "freedom" means.. the first answer that came to my mind was, simply put, "responsibility". Needless to say that my daughter mocked me when I tried to convince her of my acumen, but well such is the fate of a dad with a smart girl as daughter, you know?
In any case, I remember having tailored around this idea of freedom=responsibility for long; I mean, I'm not really the first one who put the two words together, and I even remember reading a novel ages ago which mentioned that duo (though it never really went into details), so what? Let me ask before, what is freedom, precisely? How can one tell that they are free?
I guess this question has bothered philosophers and thinkers for long, and it's easy, too easy actually, to mix freedom with anarchy, the latter being the lack of any consequences.. this' where the word "responsibility" kicks in:
Freedom does not mean "doing whatever you want", but rather choosing to do something, in the full understanding of what will be the consequences of your choices.
For extension, refusing to consider the consequences, or simply being unable to, is, so to say, childish or in any case a sign of immaturity.. I'd venture as far as telling that, considering that one actually needs to understand the possible consequences of their actions in order to "choose in freedom", one cannot do so if they can't or don't know the consequences.. in other words freedom needs a certain degree of maturity, and, experience of life. Just like anything else in life, it's something you need to gain for yourself, and becoming a free person is one of the steps towards maturity and adult life.
And one thing more: being a free person is in no way limited by the degree of personal freedom granted to one by the society they live in.. yes I know that sounds illogical, but bear with me.. to a slave driver, any slaves that want to free themselves are anarchists, because they want to break the "order of things".. but a slave can still be a freeman if they decide to go against the slave drivers and break the order of things.. as long as they decide to do so in the full understanding of the consequences, they acted as freemen! Would that choice cost them their lives? Quite certainly yes, but this in no way changes the fact that they acted as freemen, because they exercised their right to decide to sacrifice their lives in exchange of having the possibility to overthrow their slavers. Sometimes, the consequences of a free choice are very demanding, but still.. one has to cope with what they have, and make the most out of it:
Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours.
- Marcus Aurelius