Intergalactic Summit

(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?

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?..

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.



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.

Freedom is not automatically nice, that's the bit that people forget.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.