Having been pondering my existence lately I couldn’t help but contemplate exactly what freedom is and how it effects who I am.

I guess the question is what is freedom?

Spending all day in just yer undercrackers.

Step away from the bong….. 🙂

The feeling that I know I have the power to do what I want with my life. I’m really the only one who ever stops me doing anything. Was talking about this earlier as we were talking about the girl from Saudi who ran in the lympics completely covered. Big step forward yet still so much oppression. I think I’d kill myself of I had so little choice in my how I live my life

none of us are free, we’re all part of the machine, every thought you have has been “modified” by advertising and subliminal messages to make you into good little consumerist sheeple. It’s all a fix man, That david ikke was spot on.

emancipate yourself from mental slavery… none but ourselves can free our minds

(I find that strong booze, understanding friends and no moral compass also help immensely)

as above non of us are free, we are all controled by big companies, the governmnet and families, about what we can do and say and how we behave,if we had real freedom we would descend into anarchy as everyone of us has different morals and ideals we conform to, some feel free to let dogs crap where they like, and let their sprogs run out of control, others feel this is wrong, but there atre rules and laws restricting those fredoms.

emancipate yourself from mental slavery

isn’t that bit like in the 80’s with howard jones singing “throw off your mental chains” with his “interpretive dancer” wiggling around on top of the pops with some plastic chains looking all stifled and stuff?

wiggling around on top of the pops with some plastic chains

I thought it was a bit more like this..

For Scottists it looks like this:

Getting a house out in the sticks so I don’t have to live in the stinking charver ranch that is the centre of Consett.

Consett, I’ve heard things about Consett

Consett, I’ve heard things about Consett

nice airport.. there’s a song about it

Consett, I’ve heard things about Consett

The less you hear about the place the better.

Freedom is the individuals right too choose in any given situation, circumstance or decision that affects their life!

Getting back to Spain after visiting the UK, unbelievable how constrained and monitored you all are.

Freedom is the individuals right too choose in any given situation, circumstance or decision that affects their life!

And as infant genital mutilation is tolerated even in those countries purporting to be the world’s most advanced and/or civilised, it is plain that ‘freedom’ is but a distant dream.

Freedom is the individuals right too choose in any given situation, circumstance or decision that affects their life!

I choose to kill you. Fair enough, right?

Freedom imo means ripping it up in my big single motorbike at 3am round back country lanes.
Oh and having the luxury of marmite and cucumber sarnies when I run out of fuel 😛

let their sprogs run out of control, others feel this is wrong, but there atre rules and laws restricting those fredoms.

Yes, it,s called social services the public sectors greatest achievement so far 😮

Freedom is being able to protest against the government about freedoms in hunting and farming and not being beaten up.

Nice one the Met. I still remember their televised over reaction to law abiding country folk.

To me, freedom means one thing.

Never buy a soupdragons record.

Freedom is being able to protest against the government about freedoms in hunting and farming and not being beaten up.

in the UK freedom is having to ask permission of the government if they would mind awfully if you could maybe have a demonstration, at an allotted time, in a place of their choosing, and still get kicked in by the police.

Remember hearing Hazel Blears on the radio saying” the great thing about the British public is that they don’t mind loosing civil liberties in the name of security” the terrorist bogey man is such a gift to whichever government is in power as they can pretty much stampede the gullible into whichever direction they want as long as they put the face of the agreed bad guys on it.

We now have more surveillance of the general public in the UK than most dictatorships. Given that UK surveillance technology was sold and used against the protesters in syria we have no “freedom” it just a Dictatorship with pretence that your vote will change anything

I agree

I loved how ‘we’ rehabilitated Gadaffi then distanced ourselves again

Freedom is having the self confidence and confidence in others to do the right thing.
Oppression is having so little confidence in yourself that you have to control with threats and rules.

Freedom – that’s setting out on your bike with no constraints on time and distance. You just set off, and when it’s done it’s done. 🙂

SB

‘Freedom’ is an illusion.

We are all constrained by our genetics and childhood experiences (and lack of cash!).

I’m with yunki and Bob on this one. Freedom is a state of mind.
There is nothing to constrain you but yourself.

There is nothing to constrain you but yourself.

and these if you ever think for yourself 😆

The freedom I want to attain is freedom from desire.

^^^^ timely reminder there Siddh?rtha Gautama

I loved how ‘we’ rehabilitated Gadaffi then distanced ourselves again

Thankfully we have always stood side by side with Saudis….no hypocrisy there
I would also extent the right to protest to more than “country” folk and i can remember many others having their rights curtailed far more whilst protesting.
Its a mental state but you also need to live in state that allows this as opposed to a totalitarian one. Most live somewhere in the middle as basically folk dont agree so we have laws that you agree with so they dont restrict you and laws which you disagree with which do restrict you.

One could say you only become free once you’re dead.
As that’s really morbid, freedom is having the ability to live without thinking about.

and these if you ever think for yourself

hmmm.. if you’re truly thinking for yourself though, it’s unlikely that you’ll be rucking with the rozztafarians unless you actually want a ruck with the rozztafarians, innit..!

I believe that it is as i stated above but also this

It is our right to be treated fairly and evenly, as in equality.

For example if I go into a situation and someone decided to treat me unfairly, or to cause me to have to deal with extra problems, do extra work or basically acts in a way that is detrimental to my quality of life.

We can then say that I am a slave to their desires or selfish needs. Or if I am paid far less than I should be for something or when doing something, then again I become a slave to the will of others.

So the limits of individual freedom can be measured in the amount of choice we have but also in how I am treated and how that treatment by others affects my quality of life and mental state!

We now have more surveillance of the general public in the UK than most dictatorships.

Banging on about surveillance is a red herring. Looking at people in public is not a bad thing. Gathering information on them and using it to stop them doing lawful things, that’s bad. Is that what they are doing to you?

Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose, and nothing ain’t worth nothing if it ain’t free.

Let me tell you about freedom lifer, it is not a set thing, it is relative to each of us.

However freedom is something we can respect and give to others, simply by allowing them to be themselves, without having any expectations or bias, towards them!

That’s good enough for me…..