The hidden meaning of freedom and independence

The Daily Drip

Independence and freedom are easy to confuse with anarchy.

If you want to live in the mountains or on some island alone, live off the land and off the grid, that's fine. But then when you come down with a medical condition you might not have access to essential services you need to survive. In fact, if you drive into town and use the emergency room, well, who is paying for that?

You've removed yourself from a community system to avoid adhering to the rules that come along with it. But now you've also removed yourself from the benefits of living in a community system and it's a lot harder to reintegrate when you need it.

And what about the car you used to drive to the ER? Who built that and how did you get the money to acquire it? And what about the roads you drove on? Did you need or want those to exist when things got bad? I think you get the point: we are all contributors to our work and we rely on each other.

If you're okay with taking this risk and accepting the consequences of total freedom, it's hard to argue against it.

Independence and freedom, as they exist in the U.S. constitution, are powerful descriptors of the absence of tyranny and oppression. Let's unpack those.

Tyranny is when someone or some group is exempt from law or common social norms. Typically, this is bad news. I can't think of a single example in history where concentrated, unchecked power was used to benefit the common good.

Oppression is when someone or a group systematically and intentionally harms or disempowers another person or group. The word "unjust" comes to mind, which just means that the rules for one group are different from the rules for another group, conscious or non-conscious.

I think we can all agree that tyranny and oppression are not ideal. I think we can also agree that, stated this way, independence and freedom are moral and useful. In fact, they are so moral and useful, they seem worth spending money and effort defending. I think most people can get behind that.

The trouble we humans put ourselves in, then, is believing that freedom means being able to do whatever you want however you want no matter if it impacts others. This is where it gets tricky, because having a society means having some basic rules that we all agree will keep us safe. The absence of rules is what we'd call anarchy.

So, really, following this logic, on the extreme end of the spectrum, freedom and independence look a lot like anarchy. On the other extreme exists tyranny and oppression.

Somewhere closer to the middle of the spectrum is a place where we can eliminate concentrated, unchecked power and where we have social rules (some of which we agree with and some of which we don't) that help us work better as a community and still achieve personal life goals.

It's this notion, that we can live in different states with slightly different social rules and still be focused on a common social good, that the United States was founded.

Equality. Merit. Possibility.

The more we remind each other of these core values we all have in common, the more we'll be able to collaborate and design a system that continues to serve the people. In this way, we realize that freedom and independence are less about isolating ourselves and rebelling against anyone who disagrees with us.

Freedom and independence mean working harder to understand each other and uniting on common values.

Happy Independence Day.

Take time to reflect, thank a veteran, and ask yourself how you will contribute.

We're all counting on you.