To democracy, freedom of the individual is a basic human right. In communism, freedom of the individual is subordinate to the security of the state. But for most of us, individual freedom is simply something that we take for granted. Today’s topic is a frightening and potentially destructive one. Then again, the truth is often bitter and almost always stranger than fiction.
In today’s world as never before, freedom of the individual is a myth that perpetuates throughout all of society and worst of all, it is seldom realised as such. To understand why freedom is a myth, we must first question our definition of freedom. What does it mean to be free? What do we think, what do we understand and feel when we hear or speak the word ‘free’? Philosophers through this history have debated this question, but as science has often proved, the most difficult questions have the simplest answers. Shorn of esoteric ideas and long words, freedom is simply the right to do what we want, when we want, how we want.
Certainly, in today’s world, in democratic India of all places, we can do what we want, right? Wrong!! The freedom of the individual, as it is so eloquently put, is no more than one of the half-truths by which we humans are convinced to do ‘what is expected of us’. Just think about it. All your lives you have been told what is right, what is wrong, what you can do and what you can’t. It’s all right to be a doctor or a lawyer and graduate from a good college, but if you want to be a globetrotter and freelance photographer and have no more degrees than a school certificate, something is loose in your head. And yet the individual is free to do as she or he chooses. The truth is that freedom of the individual is only a well-crafted illusion. We are at the mercy of society and those who control it. It is people on top and people around us who decide what is acceptable and what is not. We ourselves only walk paths already laid out for us. Right from our childhood, we are bombarded with images, sights and sounds, all designed to teach us what we can and cannot do. More emphasis is put on what we cannot do, than on what we can do. Is this freedom? Are we truly free if we have to think every time we do something whether that action is suitable or not?
No we are not bound in chains. We are not made to work for hours on end for no pay. And yet we are not free. We are controlled, subtly and shrewdly, without even realizing it. Our chains are invisible, they enslave not our bodies, but our minds. All the glaring advertisements on television, newspapers and billboards, push us at a subconscious level to accept what is forced on us by the large companies. Corporate and political propaganda floods our senses. Scientific research has proven that if we are told the same thing over and over, we believe it. Even if didn’t initially. It’s called brainwashing, we can call it slavery. After all, it amounts to the same thing.
Another example. Today over 95% of the world’s computers run some version of Microsoft Windows. Even though Windows is the target for almost all the viruses in the world, people still use it. Why? Because they don’t know about anything else. Windows comes pre-installed on practically every computer and so no one looks for anything else. They are all slaves to Microsoft’s dominant market position and advertising and are fooled into believing that other options like Linux are for “geeks” or hackers, even when that’s not true.
All our textbooks teach us what is right and what is wrong, what is acceptable what is not. The message we are given is clear. While we stay within the boundaries of society, everything is accepted, but to cross those boundaries is the ultimate sin. But shouldn’t freedom be unlimited and boundless? The boundaries may be invisible, or maybe we are simply blind to them,. but they are there none the less, and while they are, we are not free.
What is worse, we are told by the powers that be, that such limits are for our own benefit, to protect us from the ravages of the outside, whatever they may be. How different is this from the British telling the Indians, “We rule you because you can’t rule yourselves.” We didn’t accept that. Then why do we accept this? We are told that taking up a stable profession, and not to experiment, is the way to go. As students we are encouraged to stay on a narrow path of entrance exams, colleges, degrees and mundane day jobs. Any student, even my opponents will agree that is not freedom. If we were free, we would be encouraged to leave the path and find our own way. If we were free, we would explore, if we were free, we would roam. We would get lost and find our way back. But we don’t do that, do we? No we don’t. And those few that do, are shunned by the rest of society and are termed mavericks, or misfits.
People of the house let me say this clearly, we are not free. We are caged, we are captive. Why don’t we realise this? Because we were born and bred in captivity. Most of us don’t understand and cannot think of anything else. The few that do, are generally condemned as rebels or non-conformists or anti-socials. Most of us have seen The Matrix. Unfortunately, we live in a matrix of our own creation, which is far worse than anything machines could make.