Caged or Free?

Hahahah. I know. It was funny. But, I am really trying to communicate what I'm talking about. Somehow it's not getting across.

Connor Lidell wrote: Hahahah. I know. It was funny. But, I am really trying to communicate what I'm talking about. Somehow it's not getting across.

I was grooving with you when you were talking about situational freedom vs overarching freedom, but lost you when you got into morality.

Well. Ok.

Let's get into morality for a bit. How about this... can we try something different?

Do you think it is morally acceptable to keep a bird in a cage? Yes or no or maybe or sometimes, and why?

If you answer those two questions, maybe I can see where you are, and lead off of that.

Connor Lidell wrote: Well. Ok.

Let's get into morality for a bit. How about this... can we try something different?

Do you think it is morally acceptable to keep a bird in a cage? Yes or no or maybe or sometimes, and why?

If you answer those two questions, maybe I can see where you are, and lead off of that.

Have you ever read watership down?

Yes.

Connor Lidell wrote: Yes.

Then you know my answer to your question

Just right off the bat i read the first few posts and am late to the topic so I am sorry if I am saying what somebody said because I would not know. It reminds me of something Eric Fromm said about freedom and the concept of negative and positive freedom. In short freedom from(negative) and freedom to(positive).

Negative freedom is like the "Do whatever you want" mentality(The government cannot interfere with what you can and cannot do, you self manage yourself and are opened to all the worries and highs it brings the bonus is you rely on no one but yourself)

Positive freedom is "Be all you can be" mentality(a person with guaranteed healthcare, housing, food, water does have to worry about surviving the next day and instead focus on what he wants to do because of the free time he has)(socialism/communism is in this direction and also a mixture of the negative type as well ultimately)

My opinion is that neither bird is truly free so I would choose neither(but the "free" bird looks better) Negative and Positive freedoms I think are interesting and persuasive ideas. SO on that the caged bird should be allowed to fly and do what he wants(without being a bother to others) and still be able to count on having those guaranteed and necessary things for life.

I wonder if some people are so terrified by possibility that they can't handle being "free." Freedom typically comes to us in stages, anyway. It is bewildering to think "I can do anything" and then to pick what to do. And so many of us pick wrong or have regrets about what we picked x_O

I'm not really coming to any conclusions here, just observing.

http://youtu.be/Gc11mJGre10

Some of us are free, though most of us are caged. It has been posited in this thread that we have caged ourselves. Partly this is true. How then did we manage this? Answer: Ignorance. Many are so preoccupied with the cornucopia of entertainments, that is our media that we have allowed ourselves to become distracted from the important issues that will effect us in the worst ways. Many have been conditioned to accept, nay swallow media propaganda. There are too many poor, stupid, blind people who no longer understand the value of thinking for one's self, or even why they should. No one seems to want to be bothered with mundane activities such as fact checking, research, or original thought. Those are the people who never knew they were free. They will remain blissfully asleep until events occur to sufficiently rouse them from the slumber of ignorance.