So what is freedom? We talk about freedom of speech, freedom of information, freedom of movement and so on. But what are we really talking about. Many people believe that you can do or say anything as long as it doesn’t harm anybody. That brings in the aspect of what do you mean by harm. There is the freedom to choose and this varies with different people. It brings in obeying safety rules when working. Some of these are important as choosing not to obey them can bring danger and even death.
But despite the fact we do have a lot of what we call freedom, in our lives, this freedom is slowly being eroded. If you disagree with the main line of thought then you can be denied access to social media and other forums. Toeing the line is getting far too important and we risk being turned into the serfs of long ago. Independent thinking is very important and so far nobody can stop you from thinking so we need to keep that freedom. If there were no disagreements in science for example then we would not be where we are today. One scientist testing something can come up with different results than another scientist. Even science results are open to interpretation like statistics.
So going back to freedom to choose. We do this every day many times. We choose what to eat and drink, what time to go out and what to do when out. That is a lot of freedom. We also choose what to wear unless we have to wear a uniform for work. These freedoms have been restricted over the last year but we are now getting some of them back.
We have freedom to just be, to be ourselves even if we dress differently from many others and we have the freedom to be who we choose to be. As an older person I choose not to dress like many others my age but dress in the way that I prefer. I don’t want to look like the others or act like them. Getting older is not about conforming to what is expected but is about doing what you feel is right for you.
Over the centuries there have been wars in our world, wars to protect countries from being taken over by tyrants. There have been wars over beliefs as one country tries to convert another country to a particular belief. We should have freedom to choose our own religion if we think we need one. We should have the freedom to be true to ourselves, to think and speak our truth and to do things that we wish to do if we are able to do so without hurting others or ourselves.
Freedom of information is very important but we have to ask for it in a particular way and then we do not always get the true information we ask for. There are many different ways of interpreting things and we should be able to have the freedom to choose which way.
Freedom of movement has been severely restricted recently but has never really been there in the first place. Passports and visas can restrict freedom of movement. There is much that can be said about freedom. I am sure you will find much more to add to my blog.