A Sense of Freedom

[WildGoose]

Where do we get it from?

Given that, from the moment we exist to the moment we expire, we are bombarded (and often overwhelmed) with rules, regulations, and orders to follow, both moral and legal. It would seem sensible that we would adapt naturally to just following the path laid out and doing as we are told without kicking up a fuss.

Is it hard wired into us to want to be in control of our own lives? Is it instilled by our parents or environment? Is it simply a natural reaction to somebody trying to exert a level of control over us?

It seems life would be a lot simpler - though not necessarily happier, though maybe - if we could just get on with it and not question, and thus become stressed by, every little thing. The ignorance is bliss line.

What is freedom to you? Are you ever likely to find it?

Are you free now?

More importantly perhaps, do you care? Does it even matter?

I'm not going all Che Guevara on you, was just idly pondering (as I have ample time to do) after some shit about arranged marriages and social pressures on the radio, the usual drivel.
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[hellkat]

Freedom comes when you realise the social pressures are not all you've been led to believe, and that you don't actually have to adhere to them all.

Many of the mores and values we have drummed into us, often "innocently" as tiny children by parents telling us stories in which things end "happily ever after" ... only to discover, to our dismay, that usually they don't end that way very often at all.

It takes a lot of self-knowledge and confidence to actually tell yourself that you don't have to adhere to those social pressures, and suddenly ... you start to find freedom.

And often a surprising amount of peace of mind.
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[J0Al1]

Jimmy Boyle seems to be the man to talk too

[Nai]

My missus took me to a Buddhist thing years ago. Although I am not very spiritual, the woman teaching was very good at teaching the philosophies in a way anyone could learn and accept them. One thing that always stuck with me is the concept that theres a lot of things in life we cannot do a darned thing about. You just missed the bus by a secound, the bus driver shut the door on you and drove off.

Now theres nothing you can do there is there? You shout and stamp and scream but it makes no difference to life. So what is the point in doing? Calmly sit down and wait for the next bus. It is a rather simple thought, but it does give you a lot more... Peace?

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

I've freed myself from alot of crap i thought i had to be..If yer get me.

Still got to keep myself incheck tho.
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Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[Mac_Black]

[DrDonnyBrago]

There are always rules engineered by others to prevent you being free. We are just tax raising entities; if we disobey we are fined, kidnapped, robbed and assaulted mentally and physically, if we obey we pay taxes and are permitted to have a sense of freedom.

None of us are free, we are just currency in a world market where money and man hours are the same thing.

[colin1]

In general terms, I'd say freedom allows you to make choices.

Sometimes taking on responsibilities limits those choices, sometimes it brings new choices.

Society creates responsibilities that serve it, but they often serve the individual aswell.

To be part of a group, you need to conform to the group's values. Some of those values may seem daft, but it can be worth conforming to gain the benefits of being in the group.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[ThoughtContro...]

[thegubner]

[thegubner]

[Chalky.]

Having a wank in public gives me a sense of freedom.

[G]

Freedom is finding an environment in which you do not wish to break the rules.

Any other freedom, I would suggest, is an illusion.

[Kickstart]

Hi

Virtually nobody can ever be free as peoples free choices will impact on others free choices.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[tvchimp]

I'd say my sense of freedom, I'd have the choice to do or not do something comes the time without consequences, if the ability to make my own decisions is taken away from me, I'm not free.

Until I can do that, I'll keep chasing the dream
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Bike: Currently Bikeless... Gahh

[thegubner]

[dogbot]

"Freedom is free of the need to be free..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiqmEibSY0I

[Kickstart]

[thegubner]

[ThoughtContro...]

[killa]

I’m not free, yet. That’s how I feel.
At 27 years old now I know where I sit in the world, I know how I’ve got here and if I dwell on it, it could make me unhappy. If anything I feel I’ve studied it too much, sometimes I wish I’d never caught onto it all, never bothered to analyse all things around me. It’s makes me feel more and more trapped, the more and more I learn about the people who have made a great deal of effort to enforce this.
I never had much choice in life up until my teens…I went to school, I was taught what was deemed necessary, any natural abilities or growing interests ignored. Later in secondary school I started to take a much different route, finally giving up on much of the education and learning for myself. I had no interest in UNI or further education.
Financially I’ve been with ball and chain since my early days of biking (16 years old). Bikes stolen, bikes breaking, buying bikes…all of which I needed but now I’m paying for it, in more ways than one. I’ve tried and tried but sadly I’ve ended up working as a skilled engineer for a diesel generator company, coming to work, paying off my debts. I’m pretty fuc*ing far from free.
But the ‘Buddhist’ part of me keeps me from becoming incredibly angered by this because, as said above, what can I do about it?? The dice rolls, the game is played, I am here and where I’m going is unknowable.
With what I have to hand, both physically and mentally, I try to carve my ideal path. I believe that yes, you can make it happen, and so I continue to work on it.

Learning what I have about the world and having no faith in any religion, my mind has become defensive in some ways which hinders creativity. This is the one and only reason I’d have kids of my own, so I could maybe watch them change the world in a significant way, or that they are remembered for something great.

I feel most free when I am hosting at Drum & Bass events. I travel to the event I’m booked for, I do my thing and leave. In that hour slot I have, I know that everything that I’m doing is mine and mine only, no one can take that away from me. It’s been over 10 years of practicing, and then getting out there in front of hundreds of people and doing it. We’re all there for the same reason, the music, and the music is made by people like me and you…the world over. I love that feeling
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Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
Bike:- Yamaha TRX850 | Killas Biking History | Killas Gaming History | Killas autmotive history

[Nai]

[Kickstart]

[ThoughtContro...]

[MarJay]

I don't think anyone can truly be free. In my mind, true freedom is what Alastor Crowley once described with his famous expression: "Do what thou willt!"

I don't think that really works in any kind of society, therefore true freedom is never possible to achieve without destroying the freedoms of others. Which is why when 'Dubya' and Tony Blair talk about restoring 'Freedom' to a country, they are talking nonsense.

However, that doesn't mean we shouldn't strive for individual freedoms. Despite never being able to achieve 'true freedom' we can improve our level of freedom from where it is now without impacting on other people too much. As you say, there are a lot of rules and laws that we must follow, and many of them do not impact on 'the person' but on 'the state'.

I disagree with bringing in new laws unless:

It can be proven that the new law will help to reduce crimes or inconvenience to 'the person' without adversely affecting another person or group of people

A new or unprecedented thing happens which means a definite requirement for the law is necessary to prevent crimes against 'the person'. For example if a new technology is invented or implemented. I'm thinking about internet fraud here as an example.

It can be proven that the situation that is covered by the legislation is not already covered by existing legislation, and bringing it in will not adversely affect the common law.

However, our lovely recently departed nanny state government seems to have not been too worried about this, and brought in whatever suits them, enables them to grip on to power, and gets them more money without increasing existing taxes. The new government has promised to repeal a load of laws that the incumbent brought in, although this hasn't happened on a large scale... yet. The issue is that once a law is on the statute books, it is terrifically hard to repeal. Many pointless laws have never actually been repealed, and are indeed just no longer enforced.

It also seems there is a tradition of being pulled with the tide, in the sense that a new government does not instigate a huge sea change in the opposite direction, despite standing for those principles when previously in power. This government seems fairly happy with the status quo, and has not made huge strides towards civil liberties, although they have made *some* strides which is more than some could have dreamed of.

If you travel to the US, you notice a very different attitude towards these things than in Europe. Europe in general is very 'nanny state' orientated which I do not think suits the British sensibilities. The US on the other hand has a population which (on the whole) mistrusts government, dislikes new legislation to control or ban things and ultimately just wants to get on with their lives. This is how I'd like to see it over here in the UK. The downside of the US attitude though is that the dollar is king, much more so than the pound is king over here in the UK. The free market economy (which seems to be synonymous with freedom in the US) means that you see commercials on TV for drugs and hospitals as well as burgers and cars and air fresheners and what have you. That made me feel just a little uncomfortable...

The NHS in the UK can be used as an excuse to curtail individual freedoms by saying "You must wear leathers on your bike, otherwise it might cost the NHS lots of money!" And so the US system, although flawed, does not encounter this issue in the same form. Luckily the NHS is rarely used in this manner, and as such tends to work quite well compared to the insurance system in the US.

Still, it seems that many europeans and by extension British people want to be told what to do. They want the state to provide and they want to consume. They don't want to decide, they don't want to think they just want to exist. I disagree with this. I am happy to make decisions which I am responsible for. Not the state, but me. It is nice to have the NHS as a safety net for example, but I don't want to be told how I can live my life.

These rantings are illustrated by something I find myself saying to people a lot, and that is "I disagree with banning things".

I believe that banning objects (or the posession of certain objects more specifically) is futile and wrong. Why should we ban handguns, fake samurai swords, locking knives etc? There are already laws which mean it is illegal for me to use any of those items to harm another, so why must it be illegal for me to posess them? If I want to own a firearm why can't I be responsible enough to make sure that I use it correctly? Well, here's the rub... more and more people have become more and more reliant on the state to tell them what they can and can't do. So much so that some people are *unable* to make sensible decisions or take responsibility for them. Its a slippery slope, and unless we prevent it now, the decline will continue until the government must do everything for everybody. I cannot think of anything worse.

These beliefs put me in the category which is known as 'libertarian'. On the whole libertarians believe in small government and individual freedoms. They believe that the government should be so small that you barely know what it does, let alone have it encroach on your daily life. You can have right wing and left wing libertarians and so it is not a party political issue in that sense.

All of the most infamous leaders in history were the opposite of libertarian. They were Authoritarian. There are obviously degrees of libertarian and authoritarianism, and as such our previous Blair/Brown government was in fact significantly on the Authoritarian side of the scale. This means that they had similar beliefs on the remit of the state to people like Stalin and Hitler!

Libertarian government is the way forward. I firmly believe it is the only way to get as close as possible to 'true freedom' as described above.

Trouble is, when people seek power, they can only wield it if they are authoritarian which makes most MP's shy away from the libertarian side of the spectrum. Particularly if libertarianism stands for small government, and might actually have them out of a job!

So what am I saying with this little essay on Libertarianism? Well, what I'm saying is that we should ALL strive for more freedom until we've got a libertarian government in place. Particularly as the rational arguments for motorcycling are weak and if the government want to do things 'for our own good' then banning motorcycles is going to be one of the first things it chooses. Why else do you think that the motorcycle test is getting harder, there are more rules on taxation, insurance and SORN?

We must ALL strive for more freedom now, no matter how comfortable our lives are. Abraham Lincoln once said:

"Those who trade their liberty for security deserve neither."

And I wholly agree.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.