On the Nature of True Freedom

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic that by 2022 has taken over 990,000 lives, there was a significant number of American citizens who rebelled against the local and national mandates regarding social distancing and the wearing of masks as an infringement upon personal freedom. This is particularly disturbing notion – equating judicious public health measures with personal freedom. Many of these same individuals refused safe and effective vaccinations as a protest against so-called government intrusion. As a result of this remarkable point of view, the death rates from COVID-19 were as much ten times greater among the unvaccinated population as compared to the more health-conscious cohorts. This portrait of an American landscape is incomplete without an understanding that many of those who had this myopic worldview also saw in the person of President Donald Trump their salvation – a clearly deranged individual with fascistic dreams, a rather dwarfed intellect, and an individual completely lacking in a moral compass who did not exhibit an iota of real concern about the personal freedom or quality of life of his constituents. Unfortunately, this kind of scenario has been played out far too many times in human history throughout the millennia all culminating in the same disastrous results.

The above is an introductory commentary to a conclusion I have reached over my lifetime in regard to the real nature of personal human freedom. In my thinking, real freedom is not subject to the dictates of any political system. It has as its source a particular state of the mind. It naturally comes from being continuously present in the world; with the senses fully engaged and cognizant of reality; with the thinking brain open and aware and devoid of delusional thinking. This is a state of mind I define as being truly grounded. In this state of mind, the truth is approachable and knowable. This state of mind is congruent with love, and compassion, and peace. From this state of mind, wisdom flows naturally and freely. In addition, this state of being is not subject to outside control – it cannot be negated or undermined by any external force or agency.