How Free Are You?

How Free are You?

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How Free Are You? Introduction (What exactly do I mean by Freedom?):

What does freedom mean to you? My thesaurus lists these synonyms: autonomy; lack of

restriction; self-determination; independence; choice; free will; sovereignty are listed under

liberty (n.) restriction is an antonym. Freedom also has another meaning, perhaps a less

desirable one: openness; inventiveness; nonconformity; frankness; abandon; candor; free

expression; rough are listed under looseness (n) conformity is an antonym.

We enjoy all of these freedoms here in India. No one tells us how many children we can have.

No one tells us if our child is a boy he can live, but if it is a girl she must die. We are allowed

to own our own home and/or business, work where we wish, get an education, worship the

God of our choice in the way that we choose, and in the mandirs/masjids of our liking, or not

at all, if we so desire. We are free to travel, or to stay at home. No one puts up walls to keep

us contained within any boundaries. We are free to live in the location of our choice, but we

are also free to move from state to state with no restrictions, if that is our desire. We are

free to raise our children in the way that we wish them to be brought up.

We are the fortunate few. We can choose the size of our family; the size of our home is

limited only by our capacity and willingness to earn our living. We are free to bargain with

our employer about the amount our skills and expertise are worth; and the conditions under

which we are expected to work. We receive fair compensation for our labors and we are free

to spend it in the way we choose, and free to invest and save for our retirement years.

A phrase said by a military man, "I may not agree with what you say, but I'll fight until my

death for your right to say it." Who can give more than that? Shouldn't we give as much back

to them? They don't ask for much. Just a simple thanks and a pat on the back for a job well

done.

Let's work, each in our own way, to make our country a better place. Showing the rest of the

world any disrespect for our politicians is not the way to do that. If we want them to be able

to do a good job, and I'm sure we all do, then we must put away our individual selfishness and

work for the good of all. Our continued freedom from oppression depends on all of us working

together as a team. One man cannot do it alone.

Derived Terms of Freedom:

Personal Freedom

Economic Freedom

Political Freedom

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How Free Are You?

True Wealth – Personal Freedom Freedom Isn't Just Financial, and True Wealth Is More Than Just Money

The only worthwhile reason to build wealth is for a happy and fulfilling life. However, the illusion of building wealth is the "more, better, different" lifestyle you can afford. The sooner you overcome the illusion so you can live the reality the sooner you will experience true wealth and personal freedom.

True wealth is about experiences – not stuff. For example, if playing guitar and raising your children is important to you, and attaining financial freedom allows you to spend more time doing those things then you are heading toward fulfillment and true wealth. If financial freedom allows you to exercise more frequently and eat better then you are on track to true wealth because your desires and the financial means to attain them are congruent.

However, most people confuse wealth and happiness. They falsely believe "more-better- different" stuff will make them happier. The truth is once your income rises above abject poverty research study after research study has proven little or no relationship between having more money and experiencing greater happiness. You only need one bed to lay in, one chair to sit in, and neither of those cost a lot of money. Wealth and happiness simply aren't related once you rise above poverty level. So why waste your time pursuing the illusion?

Economic Freedom

Economic freedom is a term used in economic and policy debates. As with freedom generally, there are various definitions, but no universally accepted concept of economic freedom. One major approach to economic freedom comes from classical liberal and libertarian traditions emphasizing free markets and private property, while another extends the welfare economics study of individual choice, with greater economic freedom coming from a "larger" (in some technical sense) set of possible choices. Another more philosophical perspective emphasizes its context in distributive justice and basic freedoms of all individuals. Other conceptions of economic freedom include freedom from want and the freedom to engage in collective bargaining.

Political Freedom

Political freedom, or political agency, is a central concept in Western history and political thought, and one of the most important (real or ideal) features of democratic societies. It has been described as a relationship free of oppression or coercion; the absence of disabling conditions for a particular group or individual and the fulfillment of enabling conditions; or the absence of economic compulsion. Although political freedom is often interpreted negatively as the freedom from unreasonable external constraints on action, it can also refer to the positive exercise of rights, capacities and possibilities for action, and the exercise of social or group rights (e.g. collective bargaining). The concept can also include

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How Free Are You?

freedom from "internal" constraints on political action or speech, such as social conformity, consistency, and "inauthentic" behavior.

Relation between Economic Freedom and Political Freedom

It is widely believed that politics and economics are separate and largely unconnected; that individual freedom is a political problem and material welfare an economic problem; and that any kind of political arrangements can be combined with any kind of economic arrangements. The chief contemporary manifestation of this idea is the advocacy of "democratic socialism" by many who condemn out of hand the restrictions on individual freedom imposed by "totalitarian socialism" in Russia, and who are persuaded that it is possible for a country to adopt the essential features of Russian economic arrangements and yet to ensure individual freedom through political arrangements.

Economic arrangements play a dual role in the promotion of a free society. On the one hand, freedom in economic arrangements is itself a component of freedom broadly understood, so economic freedom is an end in itself. In the second place, economic freedom is also an indispensable means toward the achievement of political freedom.

Freedom vs. Democracy

Whatever its virtues, democracy is not freedom. As the 19th Century French philosopher Alexis d'Toqueville said “A democracy can be just as tyrannical as a dictatorship once the voters decide to vote themselves money from the treasury.”

Democracy is a method of deciding who shall rule. It does not determine the morality of

the resulting government. At best, democracy means that government has popular support. But popular support is no guarantee that government will protect your freedom.

In a democracy, if most voters support freedom of speech, press, religion, association and

enterprise, their elected government will probably respect such freedoms.

But if voters prefer that governments impose a welfare state and confiscatory taxes, ban unapproved drugs, impose censorship, imprison critics, seize the property of unpopular groups, torture prisoners, and draft the young, a democratic government will likely grant those wishes also.

Is Democracy Necessary For Freedom?

While democracy doesn't guarantee either freedom or peace, there are many historical

examples of societies that didn't have either elections or legislatures, but in which people's rights were strongly protected.

Examples include the American colonies before the Revolutionary War ... the American

west in the 19th Century, where violence was 1/10th of what it is in large U.S. cities today ...

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How Free Are You? many cantons in Switzerland today which have little government ... and the nations of

Andorra and Monaco.

In fact, for centuries much of the world had law and order without legislatures or elected rulers. Instead they had what might be called "free market justice" provided by traveling judges adjudicating disputes, with decisions enforced by local communities and sheriffs.

This non-electoral legal system (explained in the book The Enterprise of Law) created

what is today known as "the common law" – thousands of collected decisions, which provides the basis for law in America, Europe and much of the free world.

The Final Conclusion: How free are we?

At first glance you may say we have a free will in some areas but no other. For example, we can usually have some free choice in what we eat. But we have no choice in choosing the weather we are experiencing each day. Or, you may saw we are free to believe what we want but we are not able to freely act on what we believe. You may say “I do not believe one should discriminate based on race, sex, age, disability, sexual preference or anything else, but I am not allow to act in a full nondiscriminatory manner because....” giving whatever reason you give. For example, in the past people were segregated based on the color of their skin and laws were passed to enforce the segregation. Individual could then say, “I don’t believe in segregation but the laws says,,,,

If you explore creativity and your own creative power you will being to see how an awake and aware consciousness can become the cause for an experience. One finds they no longer need to respond to many situations. Rather they have a choice. If you explore the power that arises in awareness, you will have to come face to face with the issue you either have a fee will to create the experiences you have - all of them. Or, you are a puppet on a string and simply at the mercy of external influence beyond your control or of a Creative Power larger than your mind can conceive. In this latter situation you become a victim and are at the control and mercy of the outside influences or of this Creative Power even if you have been given, or think you have been given, the latitude in what you choose.

Consider a simple example. You are driving in your car and there is no speed limit posted. The question is, “Does a speed limit exist or are you free to travel however fast you wish?” If there is a speed limit, you can expect to be stopped by a law enforcement officer. If there is no speed limit, you will never be stopped by a law enforcement officer but you may suffer the consequences of driving too fast for your car and/or the road conditions. However, if you were not stopped, that does not mean so speed limit exists. It only means the law enforcement officer was not present, not aware, chose not to act, or did not care to stop you. But, in any case, you have the freedom of choice. You are free to drive fast or slow. So the question it, “Are you willing to be responsible and accept the consequences of keeping yourself within what you think are the limits and never learn what is possible to create or challenge the limits and accept the consequences

Consider the possibility you are an infinite creator who creates all you experience. You have only intentionally limited your power and intentionally forgot how you created what you did for the sake of having an experience of your creation. For example, suppose you wish to have the experience of being lost. Unless you truly get lost with no hope of finding your way out, you will not experience being lost. Knowing you have a way out will not give you the

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How Free Are You? experience of being lost. You have to lose yourself to experience being lost. So, to experience Creation, you had to lose yourself and forget who you are to experience what you create. Otherwise you will remember you are the creator, how you created what you are experiencing and change it whenever you experience something you do like. So in the end, you would deny yourself the very experienced you created to have

How much freedom does one have in life?

As long as you are breathing, you are essentially alive. A good part of your brain can be dead, but you will be alive as long as you continue to breathe. You are alive for a reason. This minimum sustaining energy carries the information as to why you are alive and why it continues to sustain you. So it only makes sense to learn to communicate with it to understand both why you are here and what it would like you to do in any moment. This is the main underlying reason why so many esoteric traditions recommend you focus on your breathing. To create a calmness in your being is one reason, but another is there is a wisdom within that creative spirit, that flow of energy which is animating your breathing.

The energy we have available above this minimum energy is ours to control and direct as we chose. However, this minimum energy sustains us for a purpose. It has its objectives as to what it would like us to do. It is said here, “would like us to do” because we have a free will. How we use our life and the energy that is given to us is our choice. This choice does include the minimum energy that is necessary to sustain us for we can end our own life it we choose.

This creative life energy gives us the ability and potential to change and transform any aspect of our life or our reality. For us to work with this energy, it is essential that we are free to choose to respond to whatever occurs in life. It is essential that we do not live our life solely to please another individual or because someone wants, or requires, us to live a certain way. One who you may live to please include our employer, a spouse, significant other, society or any other collection of “other” individuals. However, most of us have learned and been programmed from our earliest age to please and meet the standards of others. These habits we have learned run very deep within our being.

References:

1) http://www.isil.org/resources/lit/democracy-vs-freedom.html 2) http://www.smalladdictions.com/Skateboard/works/works-lavonne-17.htm

3) http://ryuc.info/common/free_will/how_free_are_we.htm

4) Wikipedia

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