Mel Gibson as William Wallace knew what he was talking about when he yelled those infamous words. No one can actually take away another person's freedom. Even slaves of any kind, or indentured servants have a certain amount of freedom.
To me, freedom is the right to choose. My right to have and make choices for myself. To choose what to do, what to wear, what I think, what I can say, what I share, what I make public, what I keep private. In this sense, even slaves and indentured servants still have freedom. Even incarcerated people have freedom. There is still room to choose how to act, how to live, will I live, will I die, get in a fight, cooperate, get out of bed, think positively, react, or reflect - all within some very narrow limitations and confines, given slavery, servitude or incarceration takes away some choice. A slave (I guess I'm referring to modern day slaves as there are a lot more than one would think) can choose to stay, live, run away, possibly get killed, live on the run, hide. Or a prisoner can try to escape, not follow the rules, kill him or herself, riot, starve.
I think I'm over simplifying this issue a bit to make a point, because having your freedom limited, and some choices made for you and others denied is not the same as having complete freedom of choice in your life.
It's definitely not the same thing, but I thought the point of your initial thought is that no one can ever take away the freedom we all have inside of us - the freedom within our minds...
ReplyDelete