In just a hundred years, the wisdom of fourteen centuries collapsed and new knowledge flooded into society-Ideas and wisdoms of Biology, Astronomy and Freedom. The idea of freedom is changing constantly. In 1792, the idea of freedom was ‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité’. In India in the early 1900s, It was the freedom to profess and preach what you desire in public with no harm on your person. In some other parts, liberty or freedom was defined as the power to move and traverse the world and the seas and to have the free power to trade with countries, much like in Marco Polo’s time. In some patches of history, freedom was, like in 2001, much against the jingoish USA Patriots Act which allowed wiretapping homes and phones, checking business records and restricting investing in certain countries.
‘Freedom’, therefore, is very erratic- it keeps changing in ideology so one cannot easily put a statement on freedom because it is not like the words in the Oxford Dictionary which will outlast time. Sooner or later, a new definition for freedom will arise, just like today, when the civilised world’s opinion of freedom conflicts with that of terrorist organisations’.
As seen before, history is an exemplary evidence of the ‘undefinable erratic nature’ of freedom.Throughout history, man has been transforming his beliefs into more refined and advanced ones. Man always thought that the best mode of transport was on foot, until the making of the wheel came through which then progressed into the bicycle and then into the car and now is boats, trains and airplanes. Man always thought that the best surgical equipment were his hands. This was until Sushruta’s coming in 1215, who introduced needles and scalpels. Everybody long ago though that syphilis and hepatitis were the modern equivalent of A.I.D.S, until the coming of Alexander Fleming who gave humanity the boon of penicillin. Man always used stone to hunt until the arrival of the sword and then the gun. Man always thought that freedom was the power to be a male, and was a natural quality and not something that could be brought about to change.
Till the time of the Mughals, males were the dominant and ‘free’ ones. This concept withered quickly into the bloom of women empowerment and just like the son takes after his father, women now are taking over the world and they feel that freedom means complete independence and the equality of both sexes. Different people have a different opinion of freedom even today. A dominated country may feel that to be free means to be independent. Feminists feels that women empowerment is freedom, a youth may feel that freedom is the power to stand up and support oneself in life and a child may feel that freedom is the power to choose which video game he can buy. Just like the Indian monsoons, the perception of freedom is very erratic- it keeps changing.
Even in India, we can see that freedom has changed itself and like a chameleon, has adopted to its clime and situations. In the Vedic period, freedom was the power to buy and sell ‘Gau’ and the power or be a ‘Rajpat’ which turned to not being called a ‘Chandal’, changing to male dominance and then was recast into free trade. It finally transited into being independent as a country on a macro level and as an individual on a micro level.
Understanding ‘freedom’ truly is an enigma which even Alan Turing cannot solve. Freedom has had its fare share of protest and has been encumbered by several leaders. Dictatorship is the rule over a kingdom by one man for a long time. A dictator can change or order and change the constitution of a country. So has been the case for Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin. These charismatic men changed all the laws of their countries and even barred basic rights. General Dyer barred the right of Indians to move around freely and form associations and killed several who did. The native Americans of the present United States were driven away from their lands and rivers to the hot western and central deserts, expropriated from their freedom. Native Maoris of New Zealand were enslaved and completely barred from any freedom when Thomas Cook arrived, until the Maoris eventually committed mutiny and killed him.
We see that freedom has been often snatched from the hands of those who are unlucky and poor and so the phrase ‘the rich get away from crime’ comes into play here. Today we see that the concept of freedom in Syria is a right to life and safety, which even though being a human right, constantly gets violated.
Freedom constantly keeps amending itself. Lack of education or the belief in common maxims and dogmas makes the majority believe that freedom basically means the freedom of thought and speech and to do whatever one wants. This is correct in one aspect but if one was to looker deeper, one would see that freedom is like a tree with several branches voicing a different aspect, perception or meaning. Several times, old ideas of freedom become redundant and just like an old branch, wilt away and fall off. In its place, newer branches sprout up which represent modern interpretations of freedom. Today, for the unfortunate several, like refugees, gypsies and vagabonds, freedom means finding a shelter and a living. To young men, it means being solvent and for women, being equal to men.
Freedom can be large or small. Freedom for a young child could mean to be free from studies. Freedom for a fat man could mean to eat whatever he wants without society judging him. Freedom could also be seen and interpreted as being a free nation or a free race among several other examples.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge gives man the power to understand and judge the world around him and build a better place, as famously put by Francis Bacon. This is true because knowledge is the main constituent of freedom and, synonymously, power. Knowledge gives man the power to interpret freedom to his own understanding and how he can make his life free from whatever shackles him to slavery. This was witnessed in the South African freedom struggle where patriots and revolutionary thinkers- like Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Walter Sisulu- fought for their freedom. In India also we saw similar ideas when nationalists like Tilak, Gandhi and Nehru educated themselves and through education fought the rule, and often without violence.
Today we are enslaved by technology- possibly the worst type of slavery when we are entrapped by things which do not have a heart and are controlled by other men. Machines are but metal and electricity. Computers can easily be hacked and can then expose people publicly on the internet, ruining peoples’ life and living. Self driven cars can be hacked and anarchists can easily drive them into walls or off cliffs from miles away through a computer.
We must keep a safe distance from technology. They say that people lived the same when there were no blenders or washing machines. It is true that these inventions have done wonders but has made people lazy and complacent and accept mediocrity. Nobody strives to do anything now and those who do are often jeered by the complacent ones.
We must break the chains of the Rule Of Machines because it will be the bane for us. But whenever we attempt to do things like this, we think about the pain and struggle we will have to deal with. It is not easy but it is a good way to start. A piece of paper is worthless for the marriage of two men who love each other but is a damn good beginning. There is no freedom till we are equal. God loves all his children which we have somehow forgotten, and now blindly believe and paraphrase a book written 3500 years ago. Our genre still ignores this. ‘Gay’ is synonymous to the lesser in India. It is this same hate that has caused wars for religion, gender, skin colour and the complexion of your pigment. There are human rights for everybody and there is no difference. If you preach hate at the service, those words aren't anointed and the holy water you drink and offer has been poisoned. When everyone is comfortable remaining voiceless rather than fighting for humans who have had their rights stolen, our world is on a fast lane to decay. No laws can change people so, instead of prohibiting gay people to do anything, we should ‘break the bat’ and support them. This is a forward-taking step towards freedom rather than setting our world back a few decades and persecuting and killing millions who cannot do anything because it is in their genes.
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