Why Do We Fight For Freedom And Flight From Responsibility
Because the freedom we fight for is not about being free but having more. More of what — options to exploit. With more options in hand, we feel safe. There is nothing wrong with having options. It is the sense of security assigned to ‘having more options’ I am pointing at. Choice is a need that initiates a responsible undertaking. After the initiation, the value attached to having more options distracts the commitment to the undertaking.
This value is acquired not out of necessity but a congenital insecurity. Even in the presence of what we call freedom this fabricated dysfunction is dutifully served. I called it fabricated because it’s unnatural to us even after being coded in our genes. Our genes store information from the structural sense perception. These models are not definite. Since ages humans have tried to specify the senses and duly failed. Insecurities were fabricated to camouflage the ambiguity of perception. We have rationalized and synthesized but never accepted this ambiguity: the only constructive thing we can do with it.
We fight, kill and die with pride to be free. But when the insecurity about being free is not there, freedom loses its significance. We know how to fight for freedom but not how to be free. We don’t know how to be free because we lack awareness of a state. After the victory the same situation as before is created to perpetuate the fear of losing again. We turn a state into a trophy and guard it with the narrow lens of loss aversion.
What to do to be free? Take responsibility to preserve the state of freedom. To be free is to take responsibility for our insecurities and fears, to work with the ambiguity and not shun it, and to make the freedom work for all equally. But the passivity towards responsibility keeps us trapped. Even the most ardent diligence can be irresponsible. We fear taking responsibility because it is too much. The inertia of being in one state is misperceived as comfort. More than anything else we dread discomfort. In the deftness of avoiding responsibility, we keep running away and end up depleting all our potential.
What the world needs the most right now is leaders. Leaders, not resource hoarders. Leaders do not need people under or over them. Leaders do not have to oppress the human inside to succeed. Leaders can see through systems and states. They do not fight or flight but lead. The world has been cleverly fragmented to make it too frail to take responsibility for itself. When we are not responsible for ourselves, we need someone else to take over. This shift of responsibility does not come free. We pay the cost by our freedom.
Remember, the responsibility is ours so we can take it back anytime we want to. The process of taking back the power is challenging but possible. We need not to brood over the state of the world and feel helpless but understand the situation and take control of our individual state. Without mulling over the negativity, we must do whatever and however much we can to fix the dysfunction on our own. It must start with the most trivial actions. As we learn we must start with taking small steps at a time. This is not a novel learning but a painful relearning. It’s about not just knowing what to do but also how to do.
We are in the process of a reform where we don’t need heroes but leaders. We don’t need to be saved but act. There is no enemy. There is no fight. So, we shouldn’t flight. We already have what we need. It’s just our capability to utilize has been stunted. It needs to be grown by our relearning. Whether as a consumer, a student, a worker, or a parent we must know how to cultivate what we already have to make the best out of it. Being responsible is being free.
