Yesterday I made a post on Facebook about government and freedom and got an interesting response so I just posted a flurry of status updates in response to that response on Facebook about freedom and government and figured I might as well share here as well.
I'm sorry to inform you all that I guess it seems I am part of the propaganda...
I made a post yesterday asking people to pick between freedom or government and one of the people said this.
"Government.
Freedoms an illusion anyway. Way to be part of the propaganda, Paul. 😒"
There were 14 comments all together and this person was the only one who picked government over freedom.
I did offer a middle ground and there were a few others who I think picked a minarchist/libertarian/limited/constitutional government sort of middle ground.
But the vast majority picked freedom.
So... I'd say it was probably around 10-1 with freedom winning overwhelming and while I do have a decent amount of similar minded friends I think the majority of people on my friends list probably still vote and believe in government.
What I'm trying to say is I don't think my page is an echo chamber in that sense.
And... It's kind of telling that only 1 person was brave enough to say they pick government over freedom when government is an institution which dominates most of the whole world and which most people operate under and are beholden to.
Why aren't there more people willing to stand up and defend government? Maybe because it's really difficult to justify and defend when you get deep down into the details...?
It won't be long before we can point to examples like what the Nazi's did in WW2 with the concentration camps, OR... Any other number of governments throughout history who have done similar.
Then I'm sure some will be like, well not that government! Or those governments! My government isn't like that! Though... It might be actually and it might only be a matter of time as government seems to breed corruption and immorality.
I asked this person to clarify what they meant, but they have not responded yet and I doubt they will.
It also looks like I was unfriended by her, I don't remember talking with this person before, but her profile pic/name looks kind of familiar and I'm pretty sure she unfriended me because we have a lot of mutual friends.
So... I guess just asking people whether they prefer freedom or government (or something in between) is tantamount to being part of the "propaganda" and deserving of being possibly unfriended and possibly ignored as well?
Wow... Who knew that just asking a simple genuine question was propaganda and something to get so perturbed over.
I wonder who is behind this anarchist propaganda that I am unwittingly spreading?
To be fair, I do believe in freedom myself so I do admit some degree of bias there, however I do feel like I am decently open minded to new information and... I don't see how genuinely asking a question of people is propaganda.
That person also said they think that freedom is an illusion... Which is possible, I don't know the whole truth of the universe... Yet... I wonder what kind of world it must be like to live in where you believe the inherent human right of freedom which is etymologically linked to "love" is an illusion, but somehow the manipulative violent force and control of government is not or is more preferable...?
I dunno, I'm at a lack of words here which doesn't happen that often, and I've only met a few people in my life who believe in government so strongly.
I'm not trying to be mean to this person, but how do you get so detached from your own intrinsic spirit that you think other people have more a claim to your own life than you do?
How do you become so faithful and loyal to an external group of people who based on all the available evidence don't care about you and are preying on you and using you like a tool to enrich themselves?
And then on top of all that, you slander someone who is trying to ask philosophical questions about the root of so much corruption and injustice in the world?
sigh...
I'ma leave you all with a quote from someone who survived the concentration camps in Nazi Germany, what do you think he thinks about government and freedom...?
I think he would rather be free than put in concentration camps by government. I think most people would...?
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
I don't own this image and I don't know who does, I'm using it in a fair use educational sense.
This made me cry...
"...the story of the young woman whose death I witnessed in a concentration camp. It is a simple story. There is little to tell and it may sound as if I had invented it; but to me it seems like a poem. This young woman knew that she would die in the next few days. But when I talked to her she was cheerful in spite of this knowledge. "I am grateful that fate has hit me so hard," she told me. "In my former life I was spoiled and did not take spiritual accomplishments seriously." Pointing through the window of the hut, she said, "This tree here is the only friend I have in my loneliness." Through that window she could see just one branch of a chestnut tree, and on the branch were two blossoms. "I often talk to this tree," she said to me. I was startled and didn't quite know how to take her words. Was she delirious? Did she have occasional hallucinations? Anxiously I asked her if the tree replied. "Yes." What did it say to her? She answered, "It said to me, 'I am here — I am here — I am life, eternal life.'"
What if the Nazi's never lost the war, they just had to move?
What if there are still concentration camps today in this day and age, yet they just look different now?
What if... Our governments are not much different?
What if a similar amount of innocent people in the Middle East have been murdered by our current governments as Hitler and the Nazi's have killed of the Jews in WW2?
What if so many people look back in horror, yet fail to see their own political leaders as doing the same kinds of or very similar things today?
What if support of government, is the soil and breeding ground so to speak for incredible suffering and misery to grow?
What if.... You do see and notice all this, but also see and notice that so few others seem to see and notice or care about these same things...?
If you believe in and support government, are you not sort of essentially saying that you think your way of looking at the world is better than others and that it should be forced upon others by violence?
Facebook is for sheeple and energy vampires/narcercists, I cant believe people still use it and spend so much energy on it. Recently I made an account just to advertise something and in the end i just deleted it all because of the pure retardedness on comments etc 😝
As to the question.. I see that the masses are under the illusion of wanting freedom, but when they get it, they miss the security and stokholm syndrome of governments. We have been so manipulated that freedom is a fairytale and none of us now what it means anymore to be free. We also have different understandings of freedom depending on where we were born.
People in England for example used to tell me things like "for example, we are free to drive around in a car" - when in reality thats not true and we need to pay (driving lessons) to get permission (licence) to drive.
For me, freedom is my private keys, metals, no registering myself and oweing nor paying noone to live. And also being able to close my eyes and remember its all just thoughts 🤣
There's still some good people on other social media like Facebook, but I agree that I wish people had moved onto other sites like steemit by now cause it's superior in my opinion, though the masses tend to be a bit complacent at times and hopefully they come around at some point. :)
It's true that some people have different ideas of freedom for sure, though I think we can come to some kind of general agreement based on accepted definitions and such. It's true many want security, however maybe in time people will evolve more to see things in a more honorable way. I can dream at least.
Those are some good freedoms! To me, freedom is the ability to act, move, think and to chose to perceive how I'm going to look at things.
Thanks for sharing your detail thoughts! I appreciate the feedback.
Sorry, 8days ago you replyed and i just see it now 🤣 have a great new year!
We are as free as our governments allow us to be. I wouldn't necessarily say freedom is an illusion because it is something you can see and feel in most occidental countries. However it is not something we are given by default when we are born, it's something that can always change and, unfortunately, the regular person cannot dictate what direction the boat will take.
What you said makes a lot of sense to me, however... I think we all have a degree of freedom at least in regard to how we perceive or react or act. Yet there is clearly an illusion there to a degree when the government controls so much. It's weird. Anyways.. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Hi @apolymask ,This is a subject to discern, human beings always see how to take advantage , and then complain.
Here in COLOMBIA, for example, corruption reigns, people give their vote in exchange for tiles for their homes, sell their vote for money, etc., they don't know what the candidate is proposing, better not to talk about it.
Blessings for you and yours :(
That is unfortunate, and in a sense it's similar here as well. For many it's about money and our elections are based around money as opposed to genuinely addressing issues for the best of everyone. It's a mess. I hope someday things improve and on my end at least I do think talking about it is helpful but to each their own, I respect that.