en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2437634 Comments by dontgetcaught4 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/what-does-it-mean-to-be-free/#IDComment122918607 I wish I could say it was inspiring to have read this letter, but I can’t. Unfortunately, I’ve known for quite some time that I take my freedom for granted. I think a lot of us know this, and for the rest of us it’s probably just another one of those facts of life that we don’t know we know until someone tells us. Personally, this wasn’t a wake-up call because tomorrow when I wake up my decisions won’t have changed. I will still get out of bed, take a shower, and chose my cloths the same way I always do and these decisions will still be affected by all of the trends and fads that have ultimately shaped who I am today. Tomorrow, I will be no freer than today and on average my life will not change. How could it change? I’ve known all along that the fads were meaningless I just saw attempting to fight against them just as meaningless. Why be the emo or goth kid fighting the system if you’re just going to end up in a system with just some tweaked rules? Maybe I’m the fish. Right? Maybe I just can’t see the water and if I really knew what freedom was this letter would mean more, but from where I’m swimming it seems easy to throw away social pressures when you know it’s going to be the same thing day in and day out regardless of your decisions whether you die today or in thirty years. We can all choose to be free truly free, but it seems impossible to also choose to be a part of society because just being apart of a society means that you are signing away certain freedoms in exchange for camaraderie. Jean Rousseau called this a social contract, and I believe we all sign one whether we like it or not. If you don’t like it you are free to remove yourself from society. You don’t because you feel you really aren’t free to do that. Fortunately, B. (allegedly) broke the contract and got to experience removal from society whether his system said he should or not. Sat, 22 Jan 2011 04:43:49 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/15/what-does-it-mean-to-be-free/#IDComment122918607 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cn%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122865459 soc 001 Fri, 21 Jan 2011 22:59:01 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cn%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122865459