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Foundations of Freedom: An Open Essay

Author
Felix Rasker
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#1 - 2013-08-09 06:05:14 UTC
(The following audio file is low-quality, obviously produced through consumer-level equipment. It is hosted anonymously, with no indication of the origin or author. A young man with a slight accent and taut voice speaks somewhat tremulously from what is doubtlessly a written speech.)

What makes a man free?

There is no single answer to this question, but it lies at the heart of every government, culture, and political conflict across the cluster. The origin of freedom, more than any other facet of the human condition, has caused the greatest struggle. When two philosophies collide at this singular point, they are immediately opposed on all other grounds.

In the Amarrian Scriptures, Book I, the ancestors of the Amarrians free the newly formed race from “the evils of old.” The scriptures say the Empire was constructed to cleanse those evils and “cultivate the spirit of man.” In Book II, God takes up only those men who he does not destroy for heresy and blasphemy. In the Book of Missions, it is stated that only when a man is broken to his core can he find freedom through God.

Minmatar religions are fractured and many in number, but a large percentage include creation myths in which mankind is born from many gods, or emerges from an earlier civilization. These religions include tales of man being assailed by monsters from beyond the void, great heroes triumphing over adversity and retaining their independence, or their connection with the divine. Original clan structures are found in these beliefs, initial chieftains and clans being born from the heavens.

The core difference in these two religions is this: the former sees freedom as a privilege that is earned, or granted only through a divine force. The latter considers freedom to be an inherent trait of mankind, something which can be traded or lost, but not granted from another entity.

In the State, the meritocracy, by nature, insists that men are not free inherently. Only those who can develop, or are born with, the necessary acumen can rise above other men and unlock broader horizons. In the Federation, legislation is drawn up ad infinitum repeating the value that freedom is built into the existence of man.

From that foundational belief - the origin of freedom and its purpose in mortal life - stems every value that culture exalts.

Now I ask you - the individual, not the cog in the cultural machine - what makes you free? Are you free by choice, by privilege, or by nature? Do you exist outside of your citizen ID? If your culture was stripped away from you, would you still be free? Does a government grant freedom to its citizens?

In the Minmatar clan structure, the majority ruling is that a clan chieftain and his clansmen are intertwined in their mutual sacrifice of freedom. The chieftain is the de facto authority, yes, and the most exalted, but he is bound by honor, duty and tradition to uphold the ways of his people, to oversee their prosperity, and ensure their ultimate safety. The clansman, likewise, benefits from the chieftain’s wisdom, but in return he protects his chieftain and his tribe, he learns a craft to fulfill necessary tasks, and he follows his chieftain’s commands. The trust between these two parties, and the exchange of freedom, is the crux upon which all tribal society sits.

When that trust is betrayed, or when the exchange becomes unequal, the balance must be restored immediately. Anything less is a denial of that freedom which, in the mind of the Minmatar tribe, is part of their very being. Anything less is called “slavery.”

And on the other side, the Empire: in the scriptures, Book II, verse 2:1, God himself drowned in blood those men who would not exchange their greed for the freedom he offered. Those who accepted were granted their freedom and salvation, so long as they submitted to God. Anything less is called “heresy.” Anything less is sacrilege.

Ask yourself: what makes you free? Your religion? Your nation? Your actions?

What should be the fate of a government or a nation that denies this primeval notion of “freedom,” whether the parent culture considers freedom intrinsic or extrinsic? Reform? Rebellion? Annihilation?

Ask yourself: are you free at all?

Does your government promise prosperity through the sacrifice of freedom, only to repay your offer with surveillance and mistrust? When you are told something is being done for your own good, yet you see no improvement in your quality of life, do you still consider yourself free? When government becomes overrun with closed-door politics and bribery, do you lose your freedom, or should you take it back?

Ask yourself: what makes a man free?
Pieter Tuulinen
Societas Imperialis Sceptri Coronaeque
Khimi Harar
#2 - 2013-08-09 06:26:42 UTC
Nothing is truly free - most especially myself. With the nearly infinite horizons of the Capsuleer before me I have CHOSEN a life of service that limits me. Or does it?

In choosing to serve what is important to me, perhaps I've exercised true freedom.

For the first time since I started the conversation, he looks me dead in the eye. In his gaze are steel jackhammers, quiet vengeance, a hundred thousand orbital bombs frozen in still life.

Diana Kim
State Protectorate
Caldari State
#3 - 2013-08-09 08:03:47 UTC  |  Edited by: Diana Kim
What makes a man free?...

Absence of home will make a man free.
Absence of love will make a man free.
Absence of friends will make a man free.
Absence of possessions will make a man free.
Absence of duty will make a man free.
Absence of law will make a man free.
Absence of moral will make a man free.
Absence of responsibility will make a man free.
Absence of religion will make a man free.
Absence of traditions will make a man free.

Now answer my question: do YOU want to be free?..

Honored are the dead, for their legacy guides us.

In memory of Tibus Heth, Caldari State Executor YC110-115, Hero and Patriot.

Steffanie Saissore
Tyrathlion Interstellar
#4 - 2013-08-09 10:43:22 UTC
Diana Kim wrote:
What makes a man free?...

Absence of home will make a man free.
Absence of love will make a man free.
Absence of friends will make a man free.
Absence of possessions will make a man free.
Absence of duty will make a man free.
Absence of law will make a man free.
Absence of moral will make a man free.
Absence of responsibility will make a man free.
Absence of religion will make a man free.
Absence of traditions will make a man free.

Now answer my question: do YOU want to be free?..


Having a home gives a man refuge and sanctuary from the world, making him free
Love inspires and emboldens the spirit of man, setting him free to reach higher and further
Friends encourage and support a man, making him free of worry
A man need not have possessions to be free, but they allow him to be free to do as he will safe in knowing he and his loved ones are provided for.
Duty and responsibilities, are a means to attain freedom for freedom does not come to the lazy.
Law provides order which in turn frees us from the chains of chaos and ruin.
Morals free us from the basic, animalistic tendencies we might otherwise succumb to
Religion can provide guidance and purpose and direction in one's path to being free; it also frees a man from worrying as to what will come of him when he passes on from the mortal life granted him.
Traditions show us what our forefathers accomplished and remove doubt and fear when we might otherwise loose our direction.

We travel in the dark of the new moon,

A starry highway traced on the map of the sky

Stitcher
School of Applied Knowledge
Caldari State
#5 - 2013-08-09 11:58:58 UTC  |  Edited by: Stitcher
Freedom is that state in which an individual person may make informed decisions, and may act upon their decisions, without fear of disproportionate and unreasonable consequences, being held responsible only for those factors that are within their control.

That's the working definition I've been going by these last few years. A bit rough and ready, but good enough for a government contract.

Steffanie Saissore wrote:
Morals free us from the basic, animalistic tendencies we might otherwise succumb to


As it happens, morality itself would appear to be an evolved - and therefore animalistic - tendency. Which is presumably what allows it to go so badly wrong from time to time.

AKA Hambone

Author of The Deathworlders

Repentence Tyrathlion
Tyrathlion Interstellar
#6 - 2013-08-09 12:20:43 UTC
Our essayist friend makes a good sketch of the core beliefs of the four grand nations. My personal opinion is that there is an element of truth to all four.

The Gallente believe that everyone is inherently free. I would say that everyone has the potential to be free. The Matari claim that freedom can be taken from us, but not given to us. Perfectly true. The Caldari and Amarr both hold that freedom must be earned. Also true.

These aren't as contradictory as they appear. The blunt fact is that freedom is not free. A beggar in the gutter is not free, for freedom implies the ability to do as we wish, and many in the world, through lack of resources, opportunities or just plain dumb luck, do not. Even if we take freedom as a more ephemeral concept, freedom of thought and belief, most people are not free, because they don't bother to think. The Gallente populace are able to vote to alter their path - but how many bother? How many truly spend any mental space on their supposed freedom?

You only become free if you have the will and the resources to be free with. Freedom, by its nature, if acted upon, is an act of rebellion from conformity. Only the truly free have altered the course of history.

Freedom is not free. It is not easy. Not everyone can achieve it, or even wants it, no matter what they may say.
Stitcher
School of Applied Knowledge
Caldari State
#7 - 2013-08-09 13:03:46 UTC
Freedom is not automatically nice, that's the bit that people forget.

AKA Hambone

Author of The Deathworlders

Veikitamo Gesakaarin
Doomheim
#8 - 2013-08-09 15:02:57 UTC
I personally place greater emphasis on the importance of freedom and liberty as it applies to my own people, culture, and State. I recognize the need to at times accept curtailment of my own personal freedoms and liberties in order to ensure that the best interests of my society are upheld and the greater good of the State is maintained through the preservation of internal stability by acknowledging the needs of adherence to the Law, respect for legal authority and the honouring of traditions. An individual citizen is always but one part of a whole, whether that be of a Family, a Company, a Military Unit or the State. As such the concept that an individual citizen is born free with inherent privileges and rights not earned also inculcates the concept that an individual owes no obligations to the society of which they form and indeed become nothing more than a burden upon society when the belief is that one can take what they want whilst contributing nothing in return.

To me, a society should seek to be like a symphony orchestra where cultural unity and harmony is expressed through the will of talented conductors and composers as well as the ability of the players themselves to play their part required because all that will be heard if the players decide they have the freedom to do as they please is just white noise.

And the only thing that the flawed concepts of liberal, "Freedom and Liberty" appears to offer me is just that: The white noise of societal and cultural disunity and disharmony.

Kurilaivonen|Concern

Stitcher
School of Applied Knowledge
Caldari State
#9 - 2013-08-09 15:16:49 UTC  |  Edited by: Stitcher
I always interpreted "liberty" something like as follows: if Meritocracy is an orchestra, then there's a critical difference between being handed a violin and told to sit down, and being ushered into a room full of instruments, hearing a demonstration of them all, getting the chance to learn a little bit about each, and then being asked "Which do you wish to play? Incidentally, we don't have enough violins at the moment..."

Which is better? Doing what your people need because you weren't given the alternative, or making the informed decision to set aside your own interests and do what your people need because you know they need it?

I'd argue that the latter is the essence of Heiian. Running the risk that some people will neglect their duty is the price we pay for having the word "duty" mean anything.

AKA Hambone

Author of The Deathworlders

Pieter Tuulinen
Societas Imperialis Sceptri Coronaeque
Khimi Harar
#10 - 2013-08-09 19:55:36 UTC
As an ex-cop the real issue I have with unlimited freedom is that some people are right bastards and will immediately USE that freedom in ways their benefactors didn't plan and will likely find uncomfortable.

I also take Kim-haani's point that Freedom is often just another word for 'nothing left to lose'.

For the first time since I started the conversation, he looks me dead in the eye. In his gaze are steel jackhammers, quiet vengeance, a hundred thousand orbital bombs frozen in still life.

Steffanie Saissore
Tyrathlion Interstellar
#11 - 2013-08-09 21:21:11 UTC
Pieter Tuulinen wrote:
As an ex-cop the real issue I have with unlimited freedom is that some people are right bastards and will immediately USE that freedom in ways their benefactors didn't plan and will likely find uncomfortable.

I also take Kim-haani's point that Freedom is often just another word for 'nothing left to lose'.


I found that her point was not freedom, but hopelessness.

We travel in the dark of the new moon,

A starry highway traced on the map of the sky

Pieter Tuulinen
Societas Imperialis Sceptri Coronaeque
Khimi Harar
#12 - 2013-08-09 23:04:11 UTC
Steffanie Saissore wrote:
Pieter Tuulinen wrote:
As an ex-cop the real issue I have with unlimited freedom is that some people are right bastards and will immediately USE that freedom in ways their benefactors didn't plan and will likely find uncomfortable.

I also take Kim-haani's point that Freedom is often just another word for 'nothing left to lose'.


I found that her point was not freedom, but hopelessness.


Really? For Caldari, being without position, kirjuun, community... All those things... That would be hopelessness.

Having them is... belonging.

For the first time since I started the conversation, he looks me dead in the eye. In his gaze are steel jackhammers, quiet vengeance, a hundred thousand orbital bombs frozen in still life.

Diana Kim
State Protectorate
Caldari State
#13 - 2013-08-09 23:46:46 UTC
Steffanie Saissore wrote:
Diana Kim wrote:
What makes a man free?...

Absence of home will make a man free.
Absence of love will make a man free.
Absence of friends will make a man free.
Absence of possessions will make a man free.
Absence of duty will make a man free.
Absence of law will make a man free.
Absence of moral will make a man free.
Absence of responsibility will make a man free.
Absence of religion will make a man free.
Absence of traditions will make a man free.

Now answer my question: do YOU want to be free?..


Having a home gives a man refuge and sanctuary from the world, making him free
Love inspires and emboldens the spirit of man, setting him free to reach higher and further
Friends encourage and support a man, making him free of worry
A man need not have possessions to be free, but they allow him to be free to do as he will safe in knowing he and his loved ones are provided for.
Duty and responsibilities, are a means to attain freedom for freedom does not come to the lazy.
Law provides order which in turn frees us from the chains of chaos and ruin.
Morals free us from the basic, animalistic tendencies we might otherwise succumb to
Religion can provide guidance and purpose and direction in one's path to being free; it also frees a man from worrying as to what will come of him when he passes on from the mortal life granted him.
Traditions show us what our forefathers accomplished and remove doubt and fear when we might otherwise loose our direction.


Do gallenteans always have to pervert things?...
1. The home is a part of the world, and you can't be 'free' from the world, hiding in your home.
2. If there was a worry, then absence of worry would make him free from worry. But absence of friends make him free from them instead. Who said in the first place there was worry at all?
Well, actually same thing goes to all other your replies. You stupidly add extra categories, from which you make 'free' by using categories I have used. It would be logical, if you had simply added these categories to the list, but no, you had to refute my categories by adding five wheel to each of them.
You know what? Your whole Federation is a five wheel to our universe.

Everyone will benefit after the Federation will disappear.

Honored are the dead, for their legacy guides us.

In memory of Tibus Heth, Caldari State Executor YC110-115, Hero and Patriot.

Morwen Lagann
Tyrathlion Interstellar
#14 - 2013-08-10 01:06:06 UTC
Pieter Tuulinen wrote:
Steffanie Saissore wrote:
Pieter Tuulinen wrote:
As an ex-cop the real issue I have with unlimited freedom is that some people are right bastards and will immediately USE that freedom in ways their benefactors didn't plan and will likely find uncomfortable.

I also take Kim-haani's point that Freedom is often just another word for 'nothing left to lose'.


I found that her point was not freedom, but hopelessness.


Really? For Caldari, being without position, kirjuun, community... All those things... That would be hopelessness.

Having them is... belonging.


Pieter, look at Steffanie's words, then look at who she was speaking about.

Are you sure you're not thinking the same thing?

Morwen Lagann

CEO, Tyrathlion Interstellar

Coordinator, Arataka Research Consortium

Owner, The Golden Masque

Evi Polevhia
Phoenix Naval Operations
Phoenix Naval Systems
#15 - 2013-08-10 04:38:37 UTC
Felix Rasker wrote:
Ask yourself: what makes you free? Your religion? Your nation? Your actions?

Ask yourself: are you free at all?

Ask yourself: what makes a man free?


I personally think there are some more interesting questions. More foundation level.

What is freedom? Freedom of thought versus freedom of action, is one more important? The pro's and con's that come with those freedoms of thought and action.

If you wish to talk on those matters I would enjoy a one on one discussion. It does not have to be done in person, mail or relay communication would suffice as trust I am certain is an issue. I would not wish to do it here because there are many trolls who abhor the idea of me discussing such matters with anyone. People who insist on derailing every conversation I get near with snide off topic comments.
Pieter Tuulinen
Societas Imperialis Sceptri Coronaeque
Khimi Harar
#16 - 2013-08-10 05:32:31 UTC
Morwen Lagann wrote:
Pieter Tuulinen wrote:
Steffanie Saissore wrote:
Pieter Tuulinen wrote:
As an ex-cop the real issue I have with unlimited freedom is that some people are right bastards and will immediately USE that freedom in ways their benefactors didn't plan and will likely find uncomfortable.

I also take Kim-haani's point that Freedom is often just another word for 'nothing left to lose'.


I found that her point was not freedom, but hopelessness.


Really? For Caldari, being without position, kirjuun, community... All those things... That would be hopelessness.

Having them is... belonging.


Pieter, look at Steffanie's words, then look at who she was speaking about.

Are you sure you're not thinking the same thing?


It's possible. I'm not really at my best with philosophical arguments...

For the first time since I started the conversation, he looks me dead in the eye. In his gaze are steel jackhammers, quiet vengeance, a hundred thousand orbital bombs frozen in still life.

Repentence Tyrathlion
Tyrathlion Interstellar
#17 - 2013-08-10 09:25:21 UTC
Evi Polevhia wrote:
Felix Rasker wrote:
Ask yourself: what makes you free? Your religion? Your nation? Your actions?

Ask yourself: are you free at all?

Ask yourself: what makes a man free?


I personally think there are some more interesting questions. More foundation level.

What is freedom? Freedom of thought versus freedom of action, is one more important? The pro's and con's that come with those freedoms of thought and action.

If you wish to talk on those matters I would enjoy a one on one discussion. It does not have to be done in person, mail or relay communication would suffice as trust I am certain is an issue. I would not wish to do it here because there are many trolls who abhor the idea of me discussing such matters with anyone. People who insist on derailing every conversation I get near with snide off topic comments.


While I do hate to be predictable, it's way too easy a shot to take. Seriously, you lined it up for me and gave me the rifle.

What is freedom? Not something you get from Nation.
Laria Raven
The Scope
#18 - 2013-08-10 11:49:27 UTC  |  Edited by: Laria Raven
Quote:
What makes a man free?


Only people with pointy appendages can be free, apparently.

Seems typical.

Fallen from grace. And as night comes, may flights of Angels visit your sleep... shoot your ships and steal all of your stuff.

Diana Kim
State Protectorate
Caldari State
#19 - 2013-08-10 16:39:57 UTC  |  Edited by: Diana Kim
Evi Polevhia wrote:
Felix Rasker wrote:
Ask yourself: what makes you free? Your religion? Your nation? Your actions?

Ask yourself: are you free at all?

Ask yourself: what makes a man free?


I personally think there are some more interesting questions. More foundation level.

What is freedom? Freedom of thought versus freedom of action, is one more important? The pro's and con's that come with those freedoms of thought and action.

Well, then it would be referenced as freedom of action. Or freedom of thought.
But, anyway, every of freedom is a degradation and a perversion of a human nature.
And when it is not specified which of freedom you are talking about, you should consider it as Ultimate Freedom: freedom from everything, freedom of both thought and action, freedom from both everything good and everything bad, freedom from objects, concepts and beliefs. Literally. From everything.

Honored are the dead, for their legacy guides us.

In memory of Tibus Heth, Caldari State Executor YC110-115, Hero and Patriot.

Repentence Tyrathlion
Tyrathlion Interstellar
#20 - 2013-08-10 23:37:30 UTC
Diana Kim wrote:

Well, then it would be referenced as freedom of action. Or freedom of thought.
But, anyway, every of freedom is a degradation and a perversion of a human nature.
And when it is not specified which of freedom you are talking about, you should consider it as Ultimate Freedom: freedom from everything, freedom of both thought and action, freedom from both everything good and everything bad, freedom from objects, concepts and beliefs. Literally. From everything.


Interestingly, you've summed up the theological position of a few Amarrian philosophers there. The concept that freedom is a degradation and perversion of the human condition is, of course, reliant on some supreme force being present to guide us. We call it God. Should we take it from this that you're proposing the deification of Heth?

Snarking aside, the chains of duty do place limitations on what we should do, but not necessarily what we can do. To take a topical example (and not inviting discussion of it, because god knows we've beaten the subject to death at least twice over), Electus Matari has taken the stance over Colelie that their duty demanded they support the Republic fleet. This does not mean that they did not technically have the freedom to do otherwise. I stand by my position - freedom is limited by resources and willpower, not by ephemeral concepts like duty, honour and loyalty. Acting on those is a choice.
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