What is Freedom?

I remember as a kid you could camp on the beach , but because liberals left all their trash and feces where ever they went it had to be shut down and regulated . From that point on I hated liberals.
You would have thought that all the problems the liberals created that society would have dealt with them but in stead they nurtured the incompetence .

 

how do you know they were liberals? seriously how do you know? If you let yourself get locked into 'us vs. them' thinking as in 'liberal vs conservative' you miss the whole point of @enloopious post. Be an adult, pick up after yourself, stop calling other people names, be responsible. Being able to respond (aka being responsible) vs react is one of the basic tenants of adulthood.

John Perry Barlow's (look him up you will be surprised about who he was and what he accomplished)
25 principles of adult behavior

1. Be patient. No matter what.
2. Don’t badmouth: Assign responsibility, not blame. Say nothing of another you wouldn’t say to him.
3. Never assume the motives of others are, to them, less noble than yours are to you.
4. Expand your sense of the possible.
5. Don’t trouble yourself with matters you truly cannot change.
6. Expect no more of anyone than you can deliver yourself.
7. Tolerate ambiguity.
8. Laugh at yourself frequently.
9. Concern yourself with what is right rather than who is right.
10. Never forget that, no matter how certain, you might be wrong.
11. Give up blood sports.
12. Remember that your life belongs to others as well. Don’t risk it frivolously.
13. Never lie to anyone for any reason. (Lies of omission are sometimes exempt.)
14. Learn the needs of those around you and respect them.
15. Avoid the pursuit of happiness. Seek to define your mission and pursue that.
16. Reduce your use of the first personal pronoun.
17. Praise at least as often as you disparage.
18. Admit your errors freely and soon.
19. Become less suspicious of joy.
20. Understand humility.
21. Remember that love forgives everything.
22. Foster dignity.
23. Live memorably.
24. Love yourself.
25. Endure.

 

That and weed,Every state that legalizes weed the people loose their rights slowly.

 

Yes there are billions of dollars if not trillions being spent on mind control via alcohol, drugs, sports, shopping, us v them bs. Keeping us in line is of paramount importance. The amount of people out there could easily wake up and STOMP the few clowns in office. They know this so they NEED us to need them. Fear. People seem to be afraid of some unidentified monster hiding out there. Is it cops? Is it the military? Is big bro? China, Russia, terrorists? Let me answer it for you, people are afraid of the unknown. That's all they need to keep you in line. Break free. Fear nothing. Use reason and logic, not fear and passion. We all die. Will you have a good death or the death of a coward.

The good news is that this is all needed to evolve. People either evolve or die. they grow past their fears or mind control or what ever or it kills them. You don't have to grow past it but there ARE people who will. Doesn't have to be you. Find the strength in yourself when all else fails.

 

@enloopious not sure we will ever get rid of fear but people certainly need to distinguish between fear that is built into us to keep us physically save, keep the animal body alive. AKA fear of an oncoming bus or fear of dying so we don't pretend to be Superman and step in front of speeding bullets. I don't think fear is a bad thing in the right context.

However fear of 'the unknown' or fear of 'what if', fear of a made up political side..... that is the kind of fear we can evolve from but it does take practice. I get practice every day when I hear people spouting political beliefs (and religious) those ideas are made up. When they give comfort that is a fine thing but when made up ideaolgy has you want to fight with your neighbor because it makes you afraid. Afraid that your way of life isn't valid, and believe me when you think you have to defend your belief, you are afraid. When you know who you are and what you believe you don't have to defend it. It's part of who you are. 'What you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say.' I cannot remember where that quote is from.

It's why I post derogatory comments on the political posts. Many of the so called 'wolves' on here spend way too much time getting sucked into 'sheep' behavior by giving into the fear that the bipartisan media tries to produce. There are sheep on both sides of that illusion 'democrat vs republican', 'us vs them' political divide.

Freedom is being able to distinguish between right and wrong, truth vs bs and not getting sucked into a made up argument and knowing who you are. Discussion is helpful for figuring out who you are and what you believe when you are young but as we age we get clear about who we are and what is important to us. And if we allow ourselves we can also calcify into a static set of beliefs that does not allow other people the freedom to believe what they believe. Freedom is a line. It gets narrower with time if you are truly committed to freedom then you can't be too judge mental about other people's weird beliefs.

 

The religion v science arguments are a great example of us being divided. Its like Republicans v Dems or rich v poor. The original post shows that science and religion are much closer than people think. How have we been put at odds against each other? You are either science or religion? That's just kinda dumb if you actually think on it. Its a great way to ensure that none of us ever get to the truth. Any time you make an absolute rule you stop thinking and growing. Its a wall preventing you from going forward in any way.

 

This is the story, a true story of an early ancestor of mine. He came to Quebec City in the late 16th Century. When he was released from the French Kings Military service, he became a Cour de Bois. He travelled from Quebec City to what is now Detroit by canoe and lived with the Indians, trading furs. He made and lost fortunes. He had 4 or 5 Indian wives and 1 French wife in Quebec City. His offspring spread across America. In my genealogy, some of them fought against Custer at the Little Big Horn. One of his offspring who went to South Dakota as a trapper and fur trader, returned the Buffalo to the west. He is memorialized in South Dakota for this, when he saw the great herds disappearing he had the foresight, to go with his sons, and a few Indian friends and catch some calves and young buffalo and he penned them and kept them until they numbered in the hundreds. And when he was an old man before he died he sold them to the government to be protected. Louis Dupuis Coureur De Bois here is Fredrick Dupuis who saved the buffalo. First Duprees In South Dakota | The Truth of the Cannunpa This was Freedom. Quote from Louis Dupuis. "We Were Caeser's Then, There Being No One To Contradict Us."

 

My hunting buddy's think I'm nuts for walking in the woods after dark or before sunrise because I dont use a light.
Good for them Haha!

 

I have a buddy as well that seems to have the vision to walk at night ,even feel thing just ahead of him and capable of dodging low branches others have missed .
I would not say it's a super power ,since he too is fascinated by it as well.
He had a freedom few if any have any thing similar to this gift, but I believe it is a bit like the blind that are more sensitive in other areas and use sound and vibrations that detect what the world is around them. With study and practice I think that people can be more than they are ,but it depends on the amount of devotion one is willing to invest, much like learning the amateur radio tests . you can learn it to pass the test or learn it to practice it literally.
Choosing to be one that makes a difference , either being the one being ridiculed or the unsung hero making the difference in small ways .
Some men leave their mark in construction , roads, buildings, and monuments, some influence philosophy, religion, science.
Some folk only fill space like a worker drone , and that is their crowning achievement.
Some seek fame and fortune or the power over others ,some good some bad a self serving ego or a noble warrior .
Whether a man sees him self one way or another he is free to think what he wants and work toward that end.
I like my life to count for something even if it is small things, helping others along the way .