freedOm is an illusiOn maintained by cOnfOrmity
mOOn platOOn
Copyright © 2009 Steve Games First serial rights released to SoulCast. Photos, graphics, contents and characters may not be replicated for use outside SoulCast or commercial use in the open market or on other websites without express permission of the author. All rights reserved
Don’t let me disturb the illusion. This ripple in your pond will settle out soon.
But when a cop pulls up behind you, do you sweat? Does your pulse quicken? Are you sure the lights are going to start flashing?
And that’s even if you’re completely innocent of anything you can think of!
Why do the police wear black? Why do they have scary-looking black cars that resemble Battle Cruisers from the Evil Empire?
Keep your clothes on, your penis in, and your excuse handy when you must defend yourself against vindictive false charges.
You are free to not drive and not pay taxes and not have credit. But if you use society – if you want to live “normally” among us – Rulemakers will find ways to make you conform. Tickets, more taxes and threats, for example.
Look around the world. Oh yes, there are different political “systems” in place. But look closely. See the roads? The buildings? The cars? The lighting? The toys? The food chains? The surface of the civilized world? Strikingly similar. Everywhere.
Our heroic ancestors fought against tyranny. They stood against injustice. They peeled back the layers of dead skin grown over much of Freedom. But Freedom has not yet been fully revealed.
Yet the roads roll on. And the music plays on. And you will be fined. And taxed. And charged. And no one seems to notice that our economic system simply does not work. That it is all one massive, glorified, gilded pyramid scheme.
How “free” are we?
In the West we are particularly susceptible to freedom, liberty and rights. Other societies respond to other key words or phrases, but those are the ones we like. Yet do any of those concepts mean anything except that conformity is the rule?
In America’s case: You must grant others their freedoms. You must grant others their rights. Conform to the Norm.
Freedom is a flag waved boldly, but what exactly does it mean? Freedom to choose our leaders?
Once chosen, are our leaders free?
Freedom is then defined by “rights.”
The jargon of our lives that we take for granted. “Freedom.” “Rights.”
Any freedoms called Rights come as releases from societal restrictions already in place. A natural sense of freedom, like our natural intimacy with our own identity, is snatched away from us individually at very early ages. We spend our lifetimes trying to get them back.
And what have we, collectively, after centuries of struggle, won back? The freedom – or Right - to change each others’ minds, or try. The freedom to argue openly with someone who could easily pay to have you killed – and expect not to be killed.
The freedom to seduce your daughter without getting killed.
The freedom to steal from you unless I get caught.
The freedom to change my mind and cost you dearly by withdrawal.
Politicians have used these words to manipulate the public for centuries. “Freedom.” “Liberty.” “Rights.” The freedom to be used OUR way instead of THEIRS is your choice. The freedom to choose between limited, self-serving systems.
If we do not live in a police state, why does everyone fear the police?
Without rules, and enforcers, you’ll argue, there is chaos.
But even WITH rules there is chaos. Rules never prevent chaos. Rules try to fix it. You’ll notice that even in the absence of rules there is ORDER. You may not like the order, but order prevails with or without rules.
Rules are tools. Weapons. Devices. The political orthodoxy of today would have us believing that rules are the very reason that Freedom exists. As if you could use a hammer and nails to create the atoms composing them. Freedom already exists. Everyone possesses it. You are free to walk away at any time. But the consequences have been structured severely to restrain your independence.
While I know the reality of bad policing is rampant, my own encounters with cops have almost always been good or fair. This, despite my minority status in most jurisdictions. Go figure. In fact, I downright enjoyed one such recent interaction that you can read about in a post of mine called "my car went boom!!!!!!!" posted on Feb 18, 2009. wherein my car burst into flames and I skidded to a spinaround stop on the I-5.
.Good guys in a bad system. We’re convinced that we’re free.
The prisoners have been convinced that they are free.
