With great power comes great responsibility. Same goes for privileges!
Freedom definitely is enjoyed by all but the interesting question is, is freedom genuinely understood and valued by all? More importantly, is it well interpreted by all in the first place? Welcome to another blog in curious case series.
All of us need freedom right….it’s after all a basic human right. History has many unsettling incidents of how tormentors did atrocities to people often defying them their freedom. Many countries including India have won its freedom after enormous bloodshed over very long period of time which makes freedom a huge privilege and also a matter of great responsibility. We are highly privileged to be living not only in the era of freedom, but also in the era of technology. Internet, which once was a luxury is now in everyone’s pocket. Freedom + Internet in today’s world is pretty much any one might ask for to break free the shackles of mediocrity and have a run of excellence. But is that happening in expected measure? A bit of it I also discussed in one my previous blogs. Success stories are still not in as insane proportion as it could have been. It could very well just be the thing in making and not an opportunity lost. Let's hope it is former (fingers crossed!). Before Jio revolutionized retail internet, Indian railways started providing free internet on many stations after partnering with Google. News about a coolie in Kerla cracking the civil services exam using free internet on railway station became a sensation and was well received as a harbinger of positive change. But alas, such incidences remain few. Upon observation, what I saw was most of the time people entered stations, they either turned on social media or YouTube for entertainment (Obsession of entertainment in masses is another curious case for me which I discussed in an earlier blog)
Similar observations made me write this blog about freedom. How do we perceive freedom? What’s our interpretation of freedom? Do we really value it in true terms? The answer unfortunately seems "NO".
Its a hard-hitting fact that only those things which are hard-earned are valued best.
For many, the interpretation of freedom is simply restricted to do "as you please”. Millions take it for granted and hence I am reminded of the famous saying - with great power comes great responsibility and it seems we are missing out on this responsibility big time.
All those who are doing nothing worthy with their freedom, will they fight for freedom if their freedom is forsaken? Most likely they will but the unfortunate thing is that they won’t be productive in either ways with freedom or without freedom. All that ranting which many people do around freedom is still only about having leverage to be "as you please” wherein constructive utilisation of available resources is the last thing in mind.
So those who are non productive will most likely remain non productive only….when they rant for freedom, the only thing they mean is “we will be non-productive only; but on our terms not on someone else’s”. The section of non-productive people, they were non-productive then, they are now and most of them will remain that way forever. Few of them who are good enough to flex their intellectual muscles can throw a valid argument that if at all a possibility of becoming productive exists, it exists only with freedom and not without it. But unfortunately, very few can actually do what they can argue. As simple as it might sound, they way masses waste their freedom is a matter of deep reflection for our innate tendencies and social behaviour.
So should people be let free even when they won't be doing justice to it? Obvious answer is yes! There is no doubt everyone deserves freedom, just that we need to keep striving to become equally deserving. It has to be two way traffic where freedom is not just enjoyed but also valued.
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