ThomasDoubts Posted November 10, 2013 Posted November 10, 2013 For Love and Liberty What we see now is like the dim image in the mirror; then we shall see face to face. What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete. Must I ask today: does humanity have a right to be free? For a thousand years, and many more, humanity has striven for one thing. Plagued by a yearning for something more, he prays to the heavens and the winds, “why can I not act, as I see fit?” Authority's answer has never wavered; you are unfit to govern yourself. Burdensome and insignificant though you are, without power or considerable value, I am here to protect you, and will not let you suffer. It is with love that I shoulder you, for it is my duty to protect you, to teach you, and to guide you, such that the determinants of your actions are in accordance with your interests. To know thyself is futile, for your knowledge does not surpass my own, and from that knowledge I derive my responsibility and authority. A time may come when you are prepared to be loosed upon the world, free as the seagull to surf the skies, but not this day. You are not yet equipped, but I will instruct you on all that you need to know. First, you seem to desire freedom. What is it that you understand about freedom anyway? Is it my right to speak? Is it my right choose? Your freedom is everything; when you are prepared and well equipped you may do as you wish, and need not my guidance. Is there anything I shouldn't do? Yes, you must do no harm. What does it mean to do harm? You must not murder. You must not rape. You must not assault. You must not steal. You must not use violence. I have no desire to murder, to rape, to assault, to steal, or to use violence. My heart wishes only to love and be joyous. Well I tell you, this is good, but first, I must be sure that you understand love. What is it that you know about love anyhow? Is love a feeling? Is it an action? Let me explain, love is your involuntary response to virtue. Wait, wait, I don't understand... Ok, let me explain. Virtue is a measure of moral behavior. To love, is to recognize and appreciate in others, behavior in accordance with your morals. An honest person loves honest people. A caring person loves caring people. A generous person loves generous people. So let me get this straight; when I say my heart wishes only to love, what I'm really saying is, I wish to be surrounded by people who share my moral code and act accordingly? Precisely. Ok, well that's simple enough, I think I've got it. Can I be free now, I can't wait to love with all my heart! Whoa, whoa, whoa, not just yet, eager one. How will you ever protect yourself? I hadn't considered my protection. Are there many things I must protect myself from? Oh yes, of course, a great many things will prey on you if you aren't prepared. Your protection is taken care of now, but with freedom, you must protect yourself. Well, I have a good idea. I feel quite safe now; perhaps if I understood how you protect me, I could replicate it when I have my freedom. That sounds like an excellent idea. You're quite right, and learning quickly, I might add. There are several ways in which you are protected. Firstly, you are under my care and supervision at all times. As I explained earlier, I love you, and would therefore do you no harm. Yes, I can see how that works, but can we go back just a bit, I want to make sure I fully understand. This is the second time you have told me you love me; am I to understand that I am a reflection of your moral code and behavior? Precisely. I think I love you too. I'm wondering though, does it then follow, that if you change your moral code or behavior, I will no longer love you? Yes, that is correct. Together, we share a common moral code, and we act in accordance with it. Ok, so a few examples; one thing we have agreed on is to be honest. If you begin to be dishonest with me, I would no longer love you right? Because you love me, you have cared for and defended me when I was vulnerable; so if you assaulted me while I slept, I would no longer love you? We have agreed not to steal from one another, so if you began to steal from me, I would no longer love you? Yes, I think you understand. Surely, I would not love someone who rewarded my honesty with lies. I would not love the one who rewarded my care and comfort with assault. I would not love the one who rewarded my trust with thievery. Yeah, I can see how that makes sense, thanks for clarifying. But to get back on topic, we were talking earlier about protection; should we return to that? Yes, of course. I said earlier, I love you and would therefore do you no harm. Since I am always keeping watch over you, this is one way in which you are protected. Secondly, you may notice, you've never been attacked by anyone, have you ever wondered why that is? Well, no I haven't, now that I think about it. Who would want to attack me? I've not harmed anyone. Indeed, however, if you're ever to be free, it's important that you understand that the world has many predators. To a predator, it doesn't matter whether you've done them harm or not; they will prey on you just the same. But how is it that you protect me from these predators? In two ways. First and foremost, by avoidance. I don't send you anywhere that you'd likely encounter them. This requires great caution on my part, but it's well worth it to ensure your safety. I'm curious though, if you started sending me to dangerous places, or brought predators to my home, I would know that you did not love me, right? That's correct, I would never willfully put someone I love into harms way. Ok great, go on. Secondly, if you were ever to find yourself under attack, I would do anything in my great power to protect you. Anything in your power? Yes, anything. You've never seen me use it, and it's unlikely you ever will, but I will never hesitate to use violence in your defense, if no alternative exists to ensure your safety. I'm quite surprised, I've never considered you violent. I'm not, but such is my willingness and right to protect those whom I love. Hmm, love is a powerful thing... I want you to know, even though I am without great power, I too, will come to your defense if you require it. After all, we are becoming like family. That is very kind of you, but I scarcely expect I'll require it, I'm quite good at avoiding threatening situations. Ok great! Let me just stop you for a moment though and recall everything we've been over. You explained to me what freedom means; basically it means I can do anything I wish, with the caveat that I can't harm anyone. Surely that would be preferable to someone else deciding what I must or must not do. Simply understanding freedom wasn't enough though, I still wasn't prepared. You explained your love for me, and what it means to love. Love is my appreciation for another's virtuous behavior, in symmetry with my own. You explained that I cannot love another who's morals conflict with my own. You also taught me the most important skill to utilize in establishing my protection; the avoidance of potential threats. Is there anything else I must learn before I can have my freedom? You really are excited about this whole freedom idea aren't you? Well yeah, it seems like a pretty good way to live doesn't it? I thought you explained that to me... Well yes, I suppose I did, but here's the thing; I can't grant you freedom entirely, the world just isn't ready yet. What the hell do you mean the world isn't ready? Well the thing is, there are a lot of predators out there, they don't understand all the same things you do. Without me to keep an eye on you, who knows what could happen. You could be attacked, and I won't be there. You could have your food stolen, and how would you eat? You could get sick and who will care for you? You taught me well; I will quickly find others I love and we will work together to care for and protect one another. I'm sorry but you're being naïve; nobody will ever love you like I do, nor protect you as well as I have. Others will deceive you. Well that may be, but I promise I will be very cautious. I'm confident I'm ready. No, it's not safe yet. I refuse to let you go... Hey, get over here! Do I need to repeat myself!? SMACK! You know what, Fuck You! I don't need your permission to be free, and I never did. I don't love you any more. Did you find this enjoyable? If so, let me know below. This is my first attempt at writing something somewhat creative since an essay on making a PB&J sandwich about 5 years ago in college. I'm inclined to think I should quit while I'm behind You'll notice I borrowed stef's definition of love, and I'm kinda concerned I did a disservice to the concept, so any thoughts on that would be appreciated as well.
Seleneccentric Posted November 15, 2013 Posted November 15, 2013 Thanks for this, this really spoke to some of the things I've been dealing with myself. I noticed something about the structure — it opens like an essay but quickly becomes a dialogue between the narrator who asks "does humanity have a right to be free?" and the "Authority". I think the dialogue is fantastic. You might get an interesting result if you retooled this to focus exclusively on the dialogue. Secondly, if it's not too invasive, may I ask who the "Authority" is, from your perspective?
ThomasDoubts Posted November 15, 2013 Author Posted November 15, 2013 Thanks for the feedback, it's much appreciated. I was unsatisfied with the transition in tone as well. I played with it a bit, but I was never very happy with it. Perhaps it would have been better to scrap it altogether and find a new way to introduce the dialogue. My goal was to not be clear with who "authority" is. I wanted to allow the reader to project the ideas on any form of authority they wished. It could be the State, a parent, religious leader, etc. It's about the supremecy of the individual, and the unmasking of unjust authority. As a child, we are taught rules that parents exempt themselves from. As a student, we are taught the moral principals of governance, which the State regularly violates. As a religious person, you may be taught tolerance, and churches can be the most intolerant. It's about revealing a tendancy of all forms of authority to practice the doctrine of "Do as I say, not as I do," that is, to aviod the universalization of principals. To show how the true character of authority is revealed the instant you choose to act outside of it. I was raised in a authoritative family, an authoritative State, and under an authoritative God, and that's where I drew my inspiration from, I suppose. My intention was to characterize authority in all its forms. I struggle sometimes with putting my foot down and standing up to authority. This was my way of revealing to myself, the reasons for my reluctance, as well as the simplicity and righteousness of disolving authoritative relationships.
Seleneccentric Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 I've been debating whether or not to respond again, but I believe that I do want to speak up before the message goes completely stale. When I read your piece, I was struck by how similar your Authority was to my own internal voice that I've been struggling against for many months. Same arguments, same tone, same intentions and goals. As a matter of course this agent must behave hypocritically, in the way you describe, in order to satisfy its mission. Putting my own foot down against this force has been a massive struggle, and by no means always a winning one. To some extent these might be patterns that are shaped by the words and actions of others, but would they behave as they do unless the behavior has been modeled by their own internal dialogue? More and more I understand that the state is a state of mind.
ThomasDoubts Posted December 6, 2013 Author Posted December 6, 2013 Indeed. By teaching virute, one creates a standard by which they will inevitably be judged. Far too often, we fall short of our own standards, and rationalize it in such a way that it is passed down from one generation to the next. Living with virtue as one defines it is like living with pregnancy; either you are, or you aren't. To make a determination with regard to yourself or others requires examination and testing. Authority, by definition, cannot tolerate rejection, else it ceases to be Authority. As you mentioned, hipocracy is required. For this reason, any authority that preaches love or liberty contradicts itself when it reacts negatively to "subjects" acting in an incongruous or disobedient manner. As Neo said,"The problem is choice." Any form of authority dissolves the instant it is rejected. What follows is a futile fight of reclamation. To quote another fictional character, "You have come to fight as free men. And free men you are! What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight?... Fight and you may die. Run and you will live, at least awhile. And dying in your bed many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives but they will never take our FREEDOM!" Of course, we can fight with our minds, our words, or by not fighting at all. I view my struggles with Authority as my internal struggle between courage and cowardice. We are not by nature a cowardly species. Rather, cowardice is a trait learned to cope with violent authority. To live in a cowardly manner, is to live precisely as Authority would have it. This truth is deeply unsettling to me whenever I notice it in myself, and is great motivation to correct my behavior. I reject involuntary authority, so how can I live as a product of it's influence? How can I reject it, yet live as it would have me live? I can't. My anxiety is generally, I believe, directly related to the degree to which I've not entirely broken free. My mind can't be pleased with contradictions. I'm pleased that you've been interested, and I'm appreciative of your thoughst and feedback. If this resonates, it's good evidence that I'm at least on the right track!
Recommended Posts