I’ve been listening to Sebastian Junger’s book “Freedom” and your article has really made something click for me. Junger lays out three forms of freedom: running, fighting, and thinking. Historically nomadic people have always been more capable of evading larger powers than agrarian peoples, hence why being mobile and having few possessi…
I’ve been listening to Sebastian Junger’s book “Freedom” and your article has really made something click for me. Junger lays out three forms of freedom: running, fighting, and thinking. Historically nomadic people have always been more capable of evading larger powers than agrarian peoples, hence why being mobile and having few possessions was a deep form of freedom. Fighting was also a form of freedom but not in a sheer might makes right sense: again mobile, nomadic people often had an edge against larger powers. But these forms of freedom are largely unattainable to us in modern societies where big brother is everywhere and our lives are so utterly dependent on the system. So what form of freedom remains? Thinking. This is the deepest freedom. It is what the nomadic people sought to protect through their mobility and geurilla tactics: the freedom to retain their own thoughts, culture, and identity. In a world where we are essentially trapped in a highly interconnected and rigid society, all we can do to be free is to think for ourselves. How do we do this? By stepping out of the role of passive consumption and into the role of creating. Writing is just the act of speaking made permanent with pen and paper. You lay out very clearly the importance of writing and I’m sure George Orwell would agree that it is indeed one of the most important freedoms. Thank you for your great article, it’s always insightful to read your thoughts.
I’ve been listening to Sebastian Junger’s book “Freedom” and your article has really made something click for me. Junger lays out three forms of freedom: running, fighting, and thinking. Historically nomadic people have always been more capable of evading larger powers than agrarian peoples, hence why being mobile and having few possessions was a deep form of freedom. Fighting was also a form of freedom but not in a sheer might makes right sense: again mobile, nomadic people often had an edge against larger powers. But these forms of freedom are largely unattainable to us in modern societies where big brother is everywhere and our lives are so utterly dependent on the system. So what form of freedom remains? Thinking. This is the deepest freedom. It is what the nomadic people sought to protect through their mobility and geurilla tactics: the freedom to retain their own thoughts, culture, and identity. In a world where we are essentially trapped in a highly interconnected and rigid society, all we can do to be free is to think for ourselves. How do we do this? By stepping out of the role of passive consumption and into the role of creating. Writing is just the act of speaking made permanent with pen and paper. You lay out very clearly the importance of writing and I’m sure George Orwell would agree that it is indeed one of the most important freedoms. Thank you for your great article, it’s always insightful to read your thoughts.