by Jesse Davidson
Many people think freedom is just a seven-letter word for trying to find the edge just before you fall off. Sometimes it’s taking the leap over the edge. It’s been being bold enough to not be a mouthpiece for anyone else’s vision but your own. It could be a search to find the light or settle into darkness. For some, freedom is just a seven-letter word. There has never been a more contentious, dangerous and beautiful idea in the history of civilization than freedom. Freedom, by this nature is a walking contradiction that can be both beautiful and dangerous. It seems ever since we could think critically; we’ve been on a search to be free. Through all kinds and all times, we’ve generally wanted the freedom to expand our lives in various ways. Freedom to explore, create, to express yourself without limitations, believe in God (or not) without fear of reprisal, freedom to be curious, to love one another, or any other aspect of society where some force could keep someone else from these things. Now since the world is such a diverse place, this article must be written from my perspective; a twenty three year old American male from a middle class background. I don’t believe this is a hindrance in writing this article but it certainly is only one side of the coin. How in the world would I know what an aboriginal tribesman in Papua New Gunea or a peasant in India feels about the concept of freedom? There’s no way I can represent that view. However, I can provide an objective outlook on freedom, with my perspective, to the best of my ability.
To begin this examination of freedom, we must look at its roots. I’m not speaking of historical roots, as important as they may be. In this case, I’m speaking of personal freedom. This is the crux of the argument as personal freedom as it’s the most subjective aspect listed above. Everyone will have a different idea of what it means to be free. Especially in America, ideas of freedom will clash in eventful and non-eventful ways. Everyday, clashes will go by without being documented or published. Maybe an eighteen year old who just graduated is arguing with his parents about his future. Perhaps a woman was called to Pastor a church but members of her congregation don’t see that as an appropriate option. This is where a large portion of this conflict lies. Who is to say what’s right when no one is wrong? As a society, we’ve determined what people are and aren’t allowed to do with their personal freedom. But socially, on a person-to-person basis, conflict will still arise. When society reinforces a specific behavior or though patterns, it makes it exponentially difficult for personal freedom to take root. As an example, it’s a perfectly acceptable activity, in Middle America, to go to a party on a Friday night and drink a whirlwind of alcohol and smoke a forest of marijuana until you pass out. But not until enough iPhone photos and future YouTube videos are taken to ruin future employment. It is also perfectly acceptable to become acquainted with women that after a few hellos, two bowls of frozen yogurt, and one movie night in a house where no one is home, you can have sex with them as much and frequently as the two parties wish to do so. Now this begs the question, is that freedom? The answer is yes, for now. Is it real freedom? No. Freedom should be able to let a person expand himself or herself and grow over time. As fun as this lifestyle is and is reinforced by the ad space on t-shirts across the country, this not real freedom. When a young person thinks outside the box and takes a stand against this ethos, they can be met with a cater wall of insults and about a million different ways to express how “lame” you truly are. For merely thinking outside the box and what booze wants my generation to do, this mentality can be met with much ridicule, depending on who your friends are. Now is going against the status quo represent freedom? Absolutely. The difference between the two is driving on an open road and cul-de-sac. With the party lifestyle, friends will be made and good times will be had right now. But then what? If you want to drive anywhere else on that street, it’s a dead end. On the other side, if the status quo is rejected and individual values and attitudes are formed, it’s like an open road. It might be less exciting at times but it can take you anywhere you want to go.
When I first attended Antelope Valley College, I didn’t know what I wanted to major in. After taking several classes in the program, I decided to major in Commercial Music. Although I was met with support, there was an equal amount of weird looks, changing of discussion about how great the Science program is, and overall subconscious message of “Good luck starving to death”. Since my high school years, it seems like America has had a stalled car in our streets called science and we’re trying to recruit all the help we can get to push it to the side of the road. Unless someone has a clear vision for what for what the future should be, it seems dramatically unfair to influence people this way. As more funding to the arts is cut across America and more focus is placed solely on math and science, it appears we’re doing nothing more than breeding a generation who will be very intelligent but won’t be able to think creatively to solve complex problems. Or challenge a society that expects people to follow certain paths.
As stated previously, freedom is a walking contradiction that is going to naturally conflict with other people and their ideas of what freedom means. In the sixties, hippies believed free love was their idea of what freedom meant. Their parents believed having a nuclear family with a white picket fence was the pinnacle of freedom. In modern day society, the gay couple that will finally be able to get married will feel very free at this moment while members of certain groups may feel as they are being oppressed by the very idea of gay marriage. Especially in America, freedom is like bebop jazz. Sometimes it will be beautiful and sometimes it seems like a chaotic mess. This is okay. That’s part of the beauty of our society that most people don’t understand. America is like a giant social experiment that has been happening 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and for hundreds of years now. As people become more afraid of each other and themselves, maybe we’ll move toward a society like futuristic London in Brave New World. Everyone gets all the pleasure and the comfort of a free society but in reality, they aren’t free at all. As soon as the mold is broken or the status quo is shattered, people will reject you and throw you aside. If freedom is allowed to develop uninhibited, in a non-harmful way to others, it can be a beautiful thing. In reality, freedom is just a tool that allows individuals to be themselves. This is nothing to be afraid of. Maybe if we can learn to let go of our fear of real freedom, we can have a real brave new world.
