The Illusion of Freedom Part 1

Unless you’ve been stuck in a different dimension over the past couple of years, you realize there is an enormous debate about the issue of freedom and the direction of our nation. A lot of people have been talking about it. In fact, many are saying we are losing our freedom. It seemed to start with the election of President Obama and the debate over healthcare. Who decides our future? Big government or do we? So the current debate has been framed in terms of choices and our freedom.

The conservative message is clear. Big government means you will lose your ability to choose for yourself as well as your freedom. Liberals believe you will lose your freedom and your ability to choose because big business will make those choices for you.

No matter who wins the argument or dictates public policy, we all have lost our freedom. In fact, freedom is only an illusion. Are we really in control of our lives? Whether it’s big government, big business, or the media conglomerates, there are forces at work within our society that have tremendous influence, power and wealth. And they are determined to stay in power.

Whether by accident or design, today we have a media culture that is capable of dictating and controlling practically every aspect of our lives. Whoever controls the media controls the culture. One of the ways that you control the culture is by defining the American Dream. Has the American Dream been hijacked? At one time, many people considered the American Dream as the pursuit of freedom and the ability to make your own decisions.

Today, I’m not sure that’s the case. Our media culture has led us to believe the American Dream is about getting everything you want whenever you want it. It’s now a self-centered world build on the ever expanding appetite of consumerism and materialism. As we pursue this lifestyle and this new version of the American Dream, we actually lose more of our freedoms. Our choices become limited as we are more closed in. We are encouraged to spend all of our money. And when that is no longer sufficient to meet the demands of a consumer-based lifestyle, we then start borrowing money that we don’t have. Does this pattern seem familiar?

It’s obvious that this is what Washington has done, and it’s the same thing that most of our society has also engaged in. We give up our freedoms for all of these material things that occupy our time and our interests. We no longer have a life of our own. We are forced to work at a job that we don’t like because we have no other choice. Does that sound like freedom to you? Or is it a form of bondage? Who convinced you to live this life? Who says that our society and the way things are ordered are the way they are supposed to be?

Wednesday Part 2