Freedom, control and you.

Freedom, an idea that has driven humans to rebel against their masters since the earliest days of our sentience if not before. Whether you believe in an evolutionary past or a biblical one it is difficult to deny the intoxicating allure of freedom, especially when complete freedom seems just a step away out of reach. Control could be thought to be the antithesis of freedom, at least when directed towards the party which wishes to be free, when used by ones own self however control could even be argued to contribute to freedom through the provision of structure and guidelines to anarchy and chaos. If the aforementioned belief is followed is it therefore reasonable to hypothesize that ones freedom is only realized by the control of other factors? Practically yes, given the structures and guidelines that people believe they must live and act within. Our freedoms are provided as a byproduct of our financial and social successes, our friends and social status. Lack of freedom is usually the result of not conforming to the social guidelines put in place, a situation resulting in social censure or in the most severe circumstances, incarceration. Our freedoms begin to look very much like treats given to a well-trained dog. A humbling thought Theoretically however; freedom should not be reliant on the subjugation of others at all but instead should be the direct result of the application of freewill in a way that relieve an individual of those social structures and guidelines which we are expected to live by. Right now, you are reading this flow of thoughts mostly because you are expected to. You conform to doing so because you hope it will lead you to being rewarded. If you were told that when you finish reading this you will be punched in the face you would probably recoil and immediately hesitate in continuing to read. Only two things will cause you to continue reading, fear of greater consequences or curiosity to continue as you do not believe the control is genuine or that it is rationally possible. Well done, you made it! Which brings up the next point, can the momentary confused triumph you feel right now merely be another form of control, a goad that entraps those that have the tenacity to pass beyond fear and those with the good natured loyalty to persevere through trust? We really cannot know for sure can we? A simple truth for your persistence. Adults have difficulty dealing with adolescents because for some reason they refuse to conform to the rules and guidelines that have been set up for a safe and prosperous society, a stable society. A society that does not change beyond what it is. By conventionalizing the Rightness of law, of conformity we are placed in a perpetual loop that seemingly rewards our blind loyalty to established values and entrenched power groups. Teenagers, their brains awash with a heady mix of hormones and rapidly re-wiring nerve connections have a window of opportunity to be disconnected from the pervasive controls of conventional actions. Even the most good natured of adolescents seems to find some solace

in music, art or other creative outlet that allows them to satisfy a kernel of self which is not to mean it is selfish. They rebel against rules that seem to adults logical but to teenagers seem unkind, unfair and draconian. Often the reasoning behind these rules is not provided, simply that rules are rules and must be followed. Even though you are probably thinking Rules are meant to be broken. For most, the kernel of unblemished ingenuity, defiance and determination will be ground away with the onset of their adulthood and the continuing years, shaped by regulated experiences, numerous coming of age expections and the threat of sagging flesh and wrinkles that identifies the youth as being young. Of those few that continue to clutch at life played by their own rules many will be removed from society through the use of labels, laws and institutions that categorize them as anti-social, non-conformist, trouble makers and laya-bouts. Ironically, even many of our renegade, rebellious adolescents eventually become subject to control at the hands of populist trends that whisper to disaffected youth with a coolness factor. Every generation has two or three of these trends which are quickly seized upon by the control groups which then exploit the vulnerability of half formed ideas and eventually leash the non-conformists with downloadable apps and slogans thought up in board rooms. Maintaining profit margins and eventually ending with the next new fad that is often a polarized opposite of its predecessor. So, you have no freedom, regardless of whether you think you do or not. Im lying to you, but freedom comes at a price. It is not a price you pay with money, with a credit card, it is not paid with long hours in an office or factory. The price is the burden of knowledge that most people are unaware of the situation, that their freedoms, their rights, their forever unfulfilled dreams are just a system of control, perfected over the years of human civilization and honed to a razor edge so keen it is invisible. Your freedom comes from knowing the control is there, from seeing through the froth and bubble, from cutting through the viscous fat of rules, regulations and realizing that while you can conform willingly, and probably will, the decisions you make in life place your feet on a path of your choosing, not one chosen by others. That your happiness depends entirely on yourself, not on others or from things you buy. When you understand this one thing, then you will always be free. B.Groot