at this point, we should perhaps understand or engage with the
concept of freedom…
it is often said that human beings are free, but are we?
it is understood that we cannot shout fire in a crowded theater,
we have a limited notion of being free, but have failed to completely
understand freedom if we leave it here…
we are free to act, yes, but there are clear limits to our actions…
as much as I want to, I am limited by my nature to act freely…
in other words, we are not free to engage in certain actions because
we are limited by our nature… we must eat and we must sleep
and we must engage in certain actions if we are to continue to exist…
we have no freedom in this regard…we are not free when we cannot
make a free choice and we must have food and water and air… we have no choice…
we are not free in this aspect…
we know of people who have addictions, they must have certain
things, they are addicted to food, sex, gambling, drugs…
they become so addicted they have no choice and that means
they are not free either… freedom requires choice…
if we can choose to eat food then walk away, if we can gamble or not,
if we can do drugs or not, we are free, we are making choices and thus
we are free…the man who cannot control his addictions is not free…
what about the man who cannot control his passions… he hates
and cannot do anything else, he is not free. his passions control him
and he cannot make a choice, he is not free… this is the stoics
idea and Spinoza’s idea… that to be free, truly free, we must be
in control of our choices… we can act or not act and by freely choosing
we are free…is hate a choice? if you can freely choose to hate or not,
then you are free… so those who hate and have anger and they cannot control
that hate or anger, they are not free because they cannot freely choose some
other action… they must hate, they can do no other… they must have anger,
they can do no other… they are not free…
so we are free or not free by internal actions… we can decide within us,
to act freely or we can be controlled to act and not be free…
much of ancient philosophy and those like Spinoza are aspects
of this type of philosophy…
we also have external actions that we can or cannot control…
if we can choose, we are free and if we cannot, we are not free…
I mentioned one aspect, environmental aspects like air, food, water
that we must have to survive, we have no choice… one aspect of this
choice is the choice of clean drinkable water and healthy food and clean air…
these choices are choices that help us live better, longer lives… I don’t
necessarily want to live a long life but I do want a quality life and clean
air and clean water and healthy food will allow me to do that and because
I live where I do, in a modern industrial country, I can have clean air and clean
water and healthy food… I have a choice… but those who don’t have a choice
in clean air and clean water and healthy food, they aren’t free because they
must exist with dirty water and air and unhealthy food, they have no choice…
they are not free… external options force them without choices…
must I live in a capitalist society… yes, I have no choice, I am not free…
every single corporation I can work at, exist within the capitalist
society and they must, without a choice, exploit their workers for
the capitalist society must operate in a certain way and that means
you must create profits for without profits, a corporation cannot exist…
I have no choice but to exist within the capitalist society… I am not free
and neither are you… if we have no choices, we are not free… simple as that…
so to call America the freest country on earth, is to say, we are free within
very confined limits… we have very limited choices both personally and
in regards to the work we can choose… we must choose the capitalism system,
we have no other choice…as we must choose to eat and we must drink water
and have air, we have no choice…and we exists within very limited parameters
as given by our own bodies and by our economic system…is this freedom?
Kropotkin