What Freedom Does Not Mean
Succumbing to peer pressure, consumerism, and social control media (status/vanity/voyeurism games online) is the opposite of freedom
In English, the normative "freedom" is a 7-letter word. It is less ambiguous than the 4-letter word, "free", which can refer to price, not a condition (but both are used as adjectives, libre and gratis sound exactly the same). In the past, Richard Stallman (RMS explained that in hindsight, using the 7-letter could be more helpful, but it's too late to 'rebrand' and confuse listeners (to the older message). Besides, even if Free software adopted the 7-letter word (e.g. "Freedom Software", "Freedom-Respecting Software" and so on), the haters of software that respects users' freedom would find some other means to ridicule, belittle, distort and dehumanise not only "Freedom Software" but its personification, RMS.
The funny thing is, as we noted this morning, those who attempted to portray RMS as a pedophile themselves turned out to be closely connected to pedophilia and pedophiles. That says a lot, doesn't it? Like homophobes that turn out to be homosexuals themselves (self-loathing or efforts to distract from themselves by expressing hate).
So what is freedom anyway? A free person is connected to this notion or concept of 'freewill' and that, in turn, refers to one's liberty to act of one's own volition (not the same as choice alone).
As I put it some minutes ago in the sister site: "Freedom is not the ability to fly somewhere far; freedom is the ability to say "no" to unnecessary air travel."
Rich people can clock more "air miles", but are they happier or better off for it? What is the impact of air travel on a person's physical (or even mental) health?
Conflating wealth with freedom is a very American (and sordid innately cultural) phenomenon, as if the richer one is, the more one can buy, hence "freedom". It does not work like that. It is a gross and offensive oversimplification. This is where terms like golden cage come in handy.
Recognition needs to be earned, not purchased (the latter can amplify notoriety). Freedom is exercised not by financially gainful activities; it's when one finds satisfaction in very little and isn't compelled to do anything against one's will.
Many people will never "grok" this because the advertising industry constantly wages a war on their minds, tricking them into mistaking (or conflating) purchases with self-empowerment - a shallow form of perceived emancipation, almost superiority. Remember that Big Tobacco doubled its target "market" by recruiting women smokers under the banner of Torches of Freedom. Lung cancer, brown/yellow teeth, withdrawal symptoms etc. are... freedom.
Tell Warren Buffett to go skiing; he'll soon understand how much freedom he truly has. █