Thoughts on Power versus Freedom

Which Does Your Soul Desire More?

Some Thoughts on the Issue of Power Versus Freedom

I would often ask friends and co-workers this question; “Which would you prefer, a 100 dollar per month increase in your take-home pay, or a 100 dollar a month decrease in your cost of living”. I would make it clear that the the decrease in cost of living required no changes on his part. This would usually get the response that there wouldn't seem to be a difference, then the discussion could begin. My view was that an increase in ones take home pay would slightly increase ones power, while a decrease in the cost of living slightly increase ones freedom. The less income it takes to live the easier it is to change jobs, live where you want or say no to your boss. An increase in income tends to do the opposite, and usually it would come with more responsibility. Think of the limiting cases; in one case you can live where you want and do what you want, in the other you might be CEO of a major corporation. You would have a lot of money and influence, but you have little freedom to change.

This was to try to highlight an aspect of someones character; do you desire freedom more than power, or power more than freedom? Of course, people generally desire both, so it is a matter of relative importance. To be sure, part of the desire for power comes from the freedom that the power gives, as well as the fact that an increase in freedom provides a type of power in itself, but still it is a basic character facet. This part of ones character induces a subtle bias on many decisions a person makes through life. Do you prefer living in the country or the city? Would you take a high paying job over the chance to start your own business? What would you do to obtain or maintain power? At work, would you only associate with those who can enhance your power?

A country is of course made up of many people, and the nature of the culture flows from the nature of her people. If the people desire freedom over power the culture, the laws and the nature of life itself will differ from that in a country where the individual people desire power more than freedom. If we want to live on a free country it may be that the issue is not only things like the Bill of Rights, but what do the people really want regarding freedom. I would posit that many Americans don't actually want freedom, at least not as much they want security, so if you asked them the freedom vs. power question they would be perplexed.

Is the freedom vs power ratio an inbred function in the individual, or is it inculcated by the culture? The nature vs. nurture question. People in different cultures see things in different lights, and will react differently in given situations.

Many of us wish to live in a free country, my country being the United States of America. Although our land has gone from being a free country to a freeish country, there is still hope. We must all try to raise our children with an overt desire for freedom, and not be shy about supporting it in society. People in America are so used to living in a freeish country that they don't realize the extent to which it is an anomaly. As such, they don't recognize how easily it can be lost and indeed is under attack. One seldom hears a politician using the words liberty or freedom. How about hearing a journalist questioning a political candidate of what laws he would seek to eliminate? When a new policy or program is proposed, it should be questioned as to what we be the effect on freedom, yet it seldom is.

Fear has a great deal to do with ones views on the desirability of freedom. Freedom becomes irrelevant in the face of immediate peril since it is useless if you are dead. In order for one to have a desire for freedom one must have a certain amount of courage. While one can work to improve ones courage (If you take the cowardly path you become cowardly, if you take the courageous path you become courageous.) as well as ones will, a lot has to with things like family, religion, etc.

It is my belief that those wishing to impose a sort of feudalism on the rest of us are doing what they can to undermine courage and a desire for freedom. If people have a strong family behind them they will have more courage and be harder to control, they will have internal strength. Similarly for religion, though I don't believe the particular religion is important regarding supplying courage.

(There was a line in the movie Three Kings wherein George Cloony's character says to another soldier, slightly paraphrasing, “First you do the thing you're scared shitless of doing, then you get the courage to do it.” I wonder if such a line would be allowed today)

It seems evident that the Powers that Be are doing whatever they can to undermine anything that makes people harder to control. Everything from freedom of speech to weapons ownership to religion and family life, if it's in their way they are going after it.

Their main avenue of attack is propaganda, so we must all be cognizant of the rules:

1. The rule of simplification - reducing all data to a simple confrontation between 'Good and Bad', 'Friend and Foe'.

2. The rule of dis-figuration - discrediting the opposition by crude smears and parodies.

3. The rule of transfusion - manipulating the consensus values of the target audience for one's own ends.

4. The rule of unanimity - presenting one's viewpoint as if it were unanimous opinion of all right-thinking people: draining the doubting individual into agreement by the appeal of star-performers, by social pressure , and by 'psychological contagion'.

5. The rule of orchestration - endlessly repeating the same messages in different variations and combinations.

I remember reading that, sometime around the 1950s, the U.S. Army commissioned a study to look into why some soldiers would not fight. Basically they found that it was those without families or from dysfunctional ones. Presumably, they had no internal strength. From then on it was clear; if you want to enslave all mankind begin by undermining the families.

I began by discussing the power versus freedom dynamic. In this missive I am urging all and sundry to try to maintain and improve their desire for freedom, and to remember how easily it can be lost and how hard it is to recover.

Think about your own desire for power. If you are a supervisor at work do you simply use your power to get the job done, or do you take pleasure in its wielding over the lesser beings?

Simply being aware that this is a function of an individuals character will help considerably in your understanding of the world, and seeing what we are up against.

If a forest has had plentiful rain it is much less likely for a forest fire to develop. A populous genuinely desiring freedom is to tyranny as a damp forest is to a forest fire. It just makes it difficult for the fire to take hold. (Same for an armed populace.)

Well, that's a few thoughts on the issue of people internal views on freedom and power. Hope it gives all y'all something to think about.

Stay brave, stay free.