No man is an Island: The self-imposed limitations on Liberty

"No man is an Island" - John Donne

There are a lot of people who like to talk about freedom and the quest for liberty. They spout about self-governance, independence, voluntarism and freedom from oppression from the big bad governments or the tax offices within.

There is no freedom, there is no liberty, there is no entitlement.

What I find is that those who are complaining the most about their oppression are often the ones who have benefited the heaviest from the rules that the evil government has imposed or, the tax breaks granted their businesses. They are also the first to call the police when their house is burgled or car stolen.

Everyone is already free.

You are free, walk away. Find a little corner of the world and do your best to survive. No? This is the problem with those making claims and drives for freedom. They want to be free on their terms and with all of the luxuries the world has to offer. Don't they see, that is the cage.

You cannot be free and drive a Lamborghini as the more you own, the more you are tied to the world you claim to want to break away from. Will you make your own tires, mine and refine your own fuel? What about all of the underpaid workers in those far off lands who risk life and limb under torturous conditions to bring you your flat screen TV? What happened to the do no harm motto of the voluntarists? Does your self-proclaimed freedom depend on the enslavement of others?

This is the problem with the narrow view of what people call free as it is largely only centered around financial freedom but again, don't they see? That financial freedom is still bound by the shackles of those who make the rules, the same governments, the same conglomerates. Financial freedom is just another form of enslavement, where one gets to buy better curtains to cover the iron bars on the cell window.

Those fighting for freedom and liberty are fighting a losing battle for they are fighting for the individual, themselves. But, if one is caged, we are all caged and no one can ever be truly free. We have a massive amount of reliance on each other and unless you were born alone, raised yourself, fended for yourself, taught yourself, took responsibility for yourself entirely, you have a debt. You can never be free with a debt.

The debt is not financial, it is a debt to the community and to the future communities who will in habit the ground on which you walk now. We will be gone, it will be theirs yet, how do we treat it? How do you plan on becoming debt free?

How will you repay those that have slaved in the past to grant you your current position? How will you repay that government and all of those many taxpayers who made the decisions necessary to fund your education? How will you repay the family, friend and the stranger who showed you grace and gave you their hand in your many times of need? Are you still debt free?

There is no freedom but what exists is always the same, responsibility.

Searching for freedom always leads back to this very point. We are only free to do one thing and that is take the responsibility for ourselves to act the best we can, to improve the best we can or, like many, pretend we are an island and maximize ourselves the best we can. There are many maximizers claiming to be freedom makers who in their quest for personal freedom, oppress others.

What lies do you have to tell that makes your treatment of others fit into your world view of freedom? What propaganda do you deliver to your audience to manipulate them into thinking your work is for them, that is in their best interest? What conspiracies do you play a role in, what crimes do you commit, what secrets do you bury to look into the mirror and say, I am an island and I do no harm? How different are you from the government conspirators you claim to uncover?

Those who are working toward their freedom, if it isn't toward a global freedom, you cannot achieve it. But, you can justify your actions, you can limit your concept of freedom and instead say, freedom for me or perhaps my group and leave it at that....

Limit the concept of Freedom? Really? How can that be freedom if the very definition we choose has limitations imposed upon it?

I wonder how all of those people who are justifying the harm they do to others as a means to an end feel, when they step back and see how far down the slope they have slid? Are they sure that end is justified? How much suffering of others will it require to achieve their goals? How much of their goals are tied to a financial position? When will they have enough to be free? They will consume it all, no different to any other corporation or power hungry politician except, on a much smaller, petty, uninspired level.

Take that big step back and think about your ideals, take a look in that mirror and see how well your actions match them and then take another look at your personal definition of liberty. Will you change the meaning to fit your current behaviors, or take personal responsibility and work toward being truly debt free.

To be free of the monetary system requires more than a blockchain and a new form of currency, it requires a community. A community is not made up of lone islands, it is made up of the network of bridges that join them.

Free write over. You are free to go.

Taraz
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