Freedom

How do you guys understand word 'Freedom'
?

 

That's pretty tough to put into words. When I'm able to gas up my truck without it being rationed, I feel free. When I can take my AR to the range with whatever capacity magazine I want, I feel free. But there's really more to it I feel. If we elect a person to tell us what to do, are we free? You might say yes, because its our choice, when in reality, it isn't. I think our survival as a species depends on us to not be completely free. Why? Because naturally we look for someone to guide us as a whole. We name somebody our 'President' or our 'Chief' or whatever because we feel the instinctual need to be told what to do. We built our society on a ranking structure of on person or group of people being told what to do by the next higher up. Even when it hits the highest level, they then look sideways for instruction. When we have a leader that we don't like, we find the most suitable person next in line to take their place, instead of ousting them and considering ourselves "free".

The definition of a 'Dictator' is a ruler who wields absolute authority, so does having a dictator make us not free? What if said Dictator does, in fact, control all aspects of society, but in the sense that it makes us better for us. Say Makose ousts the US Government as a whole and pronounces himself the sole ruler of the entire nation and all of its assets, however the quality of life drastically improves. You can live where you want, you can eat, speak, worship, work however you want, but you have to accept him as a leader with no question. Do you consider yourself free?

Freedom is too much of a relative term to really define it. So I guess my understanding of the word 'Freedom' is just what I said before. I get off of work from the job that I chose, fill up the truck that I chose to buy, with the only limit on the amount of fuel that I can buy being how much I can give for it, and how much the station has in supply. I come home, kiss my wife, load some ammunition in my AR and pop some shells at the range. For now, I'm happy, and I think a lot of that has to do with my understanding of 'Freedom'. Whether or not my phone calls are being monitored, whether or not my mail is being searched for explosives, bio/chemical weapons, drugs, whatever it may be, I know that if I be a general good person, I'm free.