This planet we live on, is for us all. Or it should be, and we should be able to travel anywhere on it; that's what I believe, and that's what I believe it would mean to be free in principle. I say "in principle" because we're not alone, and it's only logical that we take into consideration each other, not only when traveling but in all our undertakings.
source: Wikimedia Commons
If you agree with this little introduction, and I can't imagine why you wouldn't, then you should understand that we can only be as free as we allow each other to be, that "freedom" can never be understood as an individual, only as a society. Freedom is almost always associated with happiness, as it is seen as an essential prerequisite for freedom. But both, freedom as well as happiness can't be achieved on one's own; they're both found in the society of fellow men and women. Therefore it's meaningless to talk about those concepts as individual rights, individual needs or individual goals to strife for. As outdated as this might sound, happiness and freedom start with a sense of belonging. However unfree this might sound, happiness start with a sense of attachment, with the greatest happiness found alongside the greatest attachment; love is what we call that.
Now, we don't have to all love one another, but the least we can do to promote in our societies a general sense of belonging and happiness, is to try and maximize the awareness of the reality that we're all in this life together, that we're not islands in the sea, that all of us together ARE the sea. Do you know when I, and countless others, am most happy? When I lose myself, when I forget myself, when I'm in a "flow", like right now, or when I drown in the eyes of the woman I've loved for 35 years now. The self, an unhealthy focus on that self is happiness's greatest impediment. And in my relationship with the woman I love, I'm not free, just like in my relationship with all other people I love, work with or travel with; I, as well as they, check my self in order to not infringe on their sense of happiness and freedom; happiness and freedom are always co-productions, created together and enjoyed together. And like I said before, even when we're all by ourselves, we're most happy when we forget our selves.
But... We live in the age of the self. Is it any wonder that anti-depressants are sold like never before? Does it surprise you that suicides are at an all time high? It shouldn't. These past decades of hyper-capitalism, ego-fundamentalism and the downright assassination of anything even resembling "community" or "shared responsibility", have eroded any sense of belonging, any sense of togetherness. The "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" mentality has droves of people blaming themselves for their miserable lot in life, when in fact they've let the few individuals who have achieved individual freedom make them believe that freedom is indeed something that's gained or lost individually. The internet has spawned people who are even further separated from other humans and who lack the human interaction needed for a true sense of belonging. Instead they substitute that true belonging with enclosure in several "bubbles" where they distantly interact with like-minded souls they'll never truly get to know.
Incels (/ˈɪnsɛlz/ IN-selz), a portmanteau of "involuntary celibates", are members of an online subculture who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one. Discussions in incel forums are often characterized by resentment, misogyny, misanthropy, self-pity and self-loathing, racism, a sense of entitlement to sex, and the endorsement of violence against sexually active people.
source: Wikipedia
We're headed toward an abyss of individual misery my friends; we need to change course and we need to do so sooner rather than later. Medicare for all would be a good start; the mere idea that the medical care you get is the exact same as the medicare the nation's wealthiest people get is a strong move toward a society that promotes that sense of belonging we now so severely lack. But why stop there? What about a living wage for all? Equal justice for all? Enough food and housing for all? Wouldn't that make all of us feel like we for a change live in a society where we've abandoned us all? Wouldn't that create that sense of freedom we now only see among the rich and famous? Wouldn't that make us collectively a whole lot happier? You decide for yourself.
Oh, today's video isn't directly related, but indirectly it is. Also I share this one to hopefully take away some of the fear for socialism and communism, and to remind us of the fact that the disastrous road we're on now is paved with capitalism. I know, it's a bit of leap, but in complete concordance with the message of this post and educational to boot... ;-)
Debunking Every Anti-Communist Argument Ever
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