This ecotrain QOTW asked us, "Bearing in mind the health of our western culture, do you think We have too much freedom?"
This has me thinking... I've come to the conclusion that NO we don't have enough freedom and here's why:
I'm writing from a place of privilege in an able white cis hetero male body from a middle class family. I was raised in a well vegetated urban environment in Canada and currently live the MidWest USA. I fit into the culture I was raised in (on the surface) and have more doors open than any other demographic. I was born into incredible privilege and opportunity. I was blessed to grow up with access to health care (thank you Canadian taxpayers), public education in a second language, abundant food, exposure to art and culture and opportunities for extra curricular activity like scouts and sports. I had the freedom to feel taken care of and provided for. It may appear that I have all the freedom in the world, and in some ways this is true. BUT... underpinning all of this is a hidden pervasive paradigm that is shaping my reality.
Our ideas are shaped by our history and culture and under the guise of freedom we are continuing on business as usual.
One side of the story is that this country (USA) is founded on tenants of freedom and the rest of the world idealizes the "land of the free". Reality gets a little more nuanced if we look into what that freedom costs. It costs the loss of an intact eco-culture where humans and landscape were in deep relationship. It cost the lives of millions, it cost the loss of diversity, the near of total extinction of people groups and species.
Since colonial contact, humans across the globe have been perpetrating heinous acts in an effect to create a semblance of freedom for some.
True freedom is not creating freedom for some by denying it for others.
We have seen the atrocities of what slavery has done to people and cultures. This system created a sense of freedom for the elite who had human slaves to do their biddings, thereby freeing them for leisurely or other cultural pursuits (polo anyone?).
Today we are enslaving petroleum (and destabilizing the places and people where we get it from) to prop up our notion of freedom and it is costing future generations more than we can imagine. To free ourselves from labor, we often use non renewable resources like petroleum, natural gas, propane or coal. This is the energy slave that runs our dishwashers, fridges, lights, cooking stoves, washing machines, transportation, food production etc...
The list goes on, but the reality remains that we are "free" from having to do theses things, but at what cost?
We continue to believe that we live with freedom because we live in a supposed democracy, are able to make career and consumption choices and have a capitalistic free market.
We can turn on the AC and grab a cold beer or kombucha or bubbly water and enjoy the freedom to watch whatever TV program we fancy. What we are not addressing are the ways in which we are living in an illusion.
How free are we really? Try to not pay taxes or even a parking ticket. Are you free then? What about being a human on the Earth, pure and simple.
Could you exist without human manufactured clothes in a public place without your freedom being compromised?
What about borders, are we still free with politically created artificial boundaries? The kids and families at the border certainly aren’t free.
What if you are different than the white bread definition of America, can you fully execute and live in freedom?
Our concept of freedom is not based on our humanness, but on our participation in a cultural paradigm
We are free to make choices and no matter what physical constraints are placed on us, we are in control of our minds- although this gets fuzzy when cruel and intentional mind controlling tactics are employed. Manipulation aside, we are in the driver's seat of our consciousness. We are free to choose our thoughts, words and actions.
But what is guiding or motivating these thoughts and actions?
If we all drink the Kool-Aid and believe that we're free, how then is anyone able to question the nature of freedom? If a cultural norm like wearing clothes or maintaining a lawn or going to church keep us acting "in line" then how can we truly be free if the mores dictate our choices and expressions?
We must become our truest and fullest selves if we are to claim freedom
Part of the issue of freedom is a culture that does not allow true and full expressions of self.
When an action is inline, it goes unquestioned. Take for example a man wearing a tie (talk about a noose) or a woman in heels (how uncomfortable!). We accept or even expect them. Being compelled to dress a certain way is small example of lack of freedom of expression.
On the more serious side, woman are still not safe to simply exist in some areas or situations for threat of unwanted attention (which can range from uncomfortable to exceptionally harmful violation). The same could be said for minority groups, many folks don't feel safe in their bodies, let alone free. This reality certainly does NOT express freedom. The views or ideas that other people hold on to about us not only affect how we choose to show up, but also may pose a serious threat to our health and wellness.
The idea of fitting in keeps the majority of the population in a situation that looks like freedom from a distance, but upon closer inspection starts to look less and less free.
What you talk like, how you choose to provide food, shelter and transportation for you and your family are related to how free you are. Are you able to truly step outside your current beliefs and perspectives to truly make a choice from a place of freedom?
"A solid sense of self comes from developing an accurate identity, intrinsic self-worth, and lasting values and goals (ones that don't arise from other people validating you)." - Dr. David Schnarch
To live in freedom is to fully be yourself and not need others to approve of your expression. As in the previous quote, this self expression in not reliant outside factors.
We believe we're free, but instead live in an illusory reality where we buy into the pre-packaged notion of freedom.
We buy into the notion of freedom because it appeals to something inside of us. If you think you're free try growing a widely used medicinal plant (such as cannabis) and be open about it (assuming you live in an area where this is still illegal). Incarceration is perhaps the most commonly seen threat to freedom and we can't even grow a certain plant without fear of being locked up!
Imagine all the ways in which human expression doesn't fit into the neat categories we have created, how free are the various aspects that don't conform to show up? Consider all the layers of gender identity and sexuality. We have a very narrow and cloistered concept of these topics. How free are we in the wider culture to discuss of express anything other than the heteronormative binary model?
The American dream of a white picket fence and a happily-ever-after nuclear family is a lie
The myth of a happily-ever-after is a constructed idea that IS NOT based on freedom.
This "American Dream Goal" proposes a narrow scope of human expression.
If the entire world lived this way, we’d be way beyond our “carrying capacity” as humans living on the earth.
Consider the process of building shelter for oneself or family. Often one must own land, participate in the banking system, get plans approved by officials and then relegate the construction to professionals. This does't apply to many areas, but much of the world's population has forsaken the ability to provide their own shelter needs. Permits and codes and laws all create a scenario where the human is really not free to fulfill their need for shelter on their own. Some places even put up laws regarding rainwater harvesting!
The message I'm sitting with is that there are always more ways to express and execute our freedom and there's always a way to express yourself freely (even if it's stifled). I'm choosing the freedom I have to co-create a thriving perennial ecosystem that highlights and showcases so many of the wonderful aspects of living connected to Earth. I do this because I can and I believe creating a holistic homestead, a center for Earth connection and being in continual relationship to the Earth and her cycles is what I came to this life to do.
What are you doing with your freedom?
And is your freedom taking freedom away from something or someone else?
