This article started as a comment I made on another thread. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that what I had said there wasn’t enough. It seems clear that this is the most important topic of our times. This is what is making me grind my teeth at night; this is what is making me worry that no matter how hard we fight for valid elections, Constitutional laws, government accountability, and so on we are still going to lose the things most precious to us if the fear behind them isn’t addressed.
Celestina
Freedom From or Freedom To?
Years ago, I was privy to a very interesting discussion between my Mom and one of my friends. I had brought him over to hang out and catch up, and as usual he went and talked to my Mom, instead (this was a common occurrence in my life, but I’m not holding a grudge or anything…). Anyway, this particular friend was a reincarnated Beat poet (or at least, he acted as if he were) and identified himself with many “radical” ideologies. He liked to talk about Freedom a lot. Every time he said the word, you could see the capital letters. Everything boiled down to Freedom. And so my Mother, in her typical, astute fashion, asked him a simple question:
Are you talking about Freedom From, or Freedom To?