Progshim's new member essay.

[Progshim]

There are precious few places left where a person can experience real freedom. I've watched my world slowly get smaller and darker as each generation surrenders a bit more freedom than the one before. They do it with little thought because their freedoms were given to them. By people who understood that freedoms are worth fighting for, and even dying for. Privacy has become a quaint notion of times past. When people talk about privacy now, they say things like "That would be nice, but.." and they don't seem to realize that THIS IS the choice they made, they could have privacy if only they made it a priority. The men and women that sacrificed in order to ensure my freedoms knew how easily they could be lost, and the danger of complacence. Purely by chance, I was born in a place where I am free to explore my thoughts and discover my beliefs, to like what I like, and to say the words behind my eyes just because they're true. But I'm a bit ashamed now because I've lost some of the freedoms that were given to me at birth, and privacy is only the latest. I enjoyed walking without fear all night down dark streets, trusting candy from strangers, or dragging a neighbor's misbehaving child home to his grateful parents. Those freedoms are all but gone and I'm aware of the part I've played in losing them. I don't remember who said that "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance", but I get it now.

 

[Progshim]

BTW

The questionnaire is waaaay too long. In case the mods are taking the questionnaire seriously, my blood sugar was low after the first couple of hours and I was pretty flippant with my answers. So I hereby request a Mulligan.

 

[Spiralout]

You might want to put break up your original post a bit to make it more readable.

Questionnaire stuff isn't a huge deal; becoming a full member is based more on what you're contributing and the attitude you have ....

Welcome. :thumb_up:

 

[Johnsonptd]

Your questionairre answers were a nice comic relief! Sounded like you were mocking it. I got sucked in too

You reminded me that when I was a youngster my siblings and other kids on the street would all go to mr. brown’s house through the back in order to get a free piece of candy. Sounds weird now but didn’t back then. We liked getting to know neighbors, not so much anymore

 

[DmnStr8]

It's all a mind set. You can be free anytime, anyplace. Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose, as the song goes. At times in my life I feel like I have woken up on a prison planet. Looking around and seeing all the negative decisions of people that came before me. Then I look at the history to figure out where we went wrong. All the way down the line a story plays out.

The plot thickens. Drama unfolds. Betrayal. Murder. A love affair. Conspiracy. Revolution. Etc... The story line plays itself out with all the characters. It can be very enjoyable to watch if you're not invested in the show too much. History has repeated itself many times. I see the show. I look for the parts that appeal to me and chalk the rest up to character build up, drama and the rest.

Do you have any solutions to the loss of freedom you're talking about? I hear a lot of people talking the way you are now. They don't talk to their neighbors. They don't trust candy from strangers. I don't know anything about dragging kids back to their parents. lol The thing is that they could do this. They could go talk to their neighbors, I do, I want to know who lives around me. I chit chat. Candy, well, I think I am old enough to know which stranger I should accept candy from. My daughter and I went trick or treating and not one candy was suspicious, every single piece coming from strangers. These are also my neighbors.

We have freedom. You have to create it. You have to be the trustworthy neighbor. You have to be the stranger that gives out badass candy on halloween. Everywhere I go I see beauty in the world. We will do what we have always done. Play out a drama. Remove yourself from the drama as much as you can and you may find that you are much more free than you thought. As far as I see it, that is the only way to make true positve change in this world. As above, so below.

Yes, you have to remain vigilant. What is wrong with that? We all look both ways when crossing the street. We walk carefully along side a steep cliff. We don't go near dangerous animals. Inspect candy. Avoid the dirtbag neighbor four doors down. We have to look for dangers in this world. We always have to remain vigilant. Seems like an obvious statement to me. This vigilance does not have to be all encompassing. There it a choice in how we navigate this world.

 

[Progshim]

It's all a mind set. You can be free anytime, anyplace. Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose, as the song goes.

I think I get what you mean about mindset. The limits placed on us by others (age for example) have no power over us except the power WE give them. That's a type of freedom, sure. I'd say it's an important one. As far as the song lyrics, that's a truly sad definition of freedom, which is why they make a strong emotional imprint when you hear them, they're just not accurate. Freedoms are real possessions, even abstract ones. The freedom to love who you choose for example; this freedom can be taken from you. There are still places and communities where same sex love is punished. Things have been getting better though. ☺

Do you have any solutions to the loss of freedom you're talking about? I hear a lot of people talking the way you are now. They don't talk to their neighbors. They don't trust candy from strangers. I don't know anything about dragging kids back to their parents. lol The thing is that they could do this. They could go talk to their neighbors, I do, I want to know who lives around me. I chit chat. Candy, well, I think I am old enough to know which stranger I should accept candy from. My daughter and I went trick or treating and not one candy was suspicious, every single piece coming from strangers. These are also my neighbors.

We have freedom. You have to create it. You have to be the trustworthy neighbor.

I may have misspoken. It happens sometimes when I try to get all the words out of my head but they're bouncing around too fast for me to keep them ordered. My bad.

Feelings of isolation and distrust among members of a community isn't a loss of freedom so much as a result of shifts in perception of personal responsibilities. Maybe it's a loss of values? I agree with you DmnStr8, in situations like that we have to BE the change we'd like to see in the world. For me that means encouraging open discussion and education regardless of the topic.

Yes, you have to remain vigilant. What is wrong with that?

Nothing at all.