"Freedom"
March 2000

How can I describe Freedom without preaching into my life and myself the things I have been seeking and achieved by finding my freedom trough my perseverance’s, if there were any. I remember my childhood to be the forgotten part of my life and my teenage years to be the stupid one. Even though I will say and prove you are wrong if you ever said so. Life takes us to places that do not make sense until you are too old to enjoy it. Then, either you try desperately to "stay young", or you will be telling yourself if I only knew… That is a freedom that you can personally take.
Well, I do not wish to pronounce these words or to stay young. So, do I have a way out of this ongoing circle? Could I not say these words, ever? I personally don’t think so. Because I do believe that life is a circle! And we are all riding on the same rails. I just don’t want to say these words. But let us not get away from the subject.
If Freedom depended on the constitutions and treaties and declarations, it would obviously have a lots of different faces. And somehow, we have all come to agree on the definition of Freedom. Could it be just a way for the mind to adjust, adapt and balance the individual to his or her environment?

With the help of a short survey, I asked people around me about their thoughts on freedom. The answers of the twenty people who took the time to do the questioner were very variegated and sometimes surprising. Some told me about their dream world. A world that could not possibly exist. Some others, more assertive, described it as a feeling that comes from inside and that could change life for better. Some others even refused its existence. But is there not freedom in the fact of existing? Do you need to do everything you want or everything the law dictates you if you want to be free? Do you have to see your repression trough the eyes of the people who look at you? Is there not a repression in the way you look at yourself? If you do not feel free as a person, only experiences that the world put you trough could make you feel free. Albert Camus, in his book "The Stranger", describes Meursault as a man who never cared about anything in his life. Nothing seemed to touch him. Even the death of his mother brought his indifference. And that is what they would judge him for, in the second part of the book, instead of the murder he had committed. He says "So close to death, mother must have felt so free and ready to live all over again. No one and I said no one had the right to cry for her." (Page 185) And he feels the same way the last night of his existence, just like his mother, in their "cells", alone. It is in this freedom that he finds the courage to confront the reality of his death that is facing him at dawn. And the conscience that he gets trough that feeling is worth his whole entire life of ignorance.

If we were able to feel free, as Meursault did, even for a second of our existence, that is when Life would really make sense and show us its beauty and hidden joys. That is when we can reach the myth of living each second of our existence.

Trough the short years that I have experienced in my life, I have crossed freedom’s path more than one time. I have seen it on the walls of the overpopulated cities of our world; in the sand of the deserted white beaches of the south Pacific; in the eyes of the children of all different nations; and in the gray skies of northern Europe. And it was always accompanied by loneliness! I came to understand later the reason of its solitude. The reason is us. Because we seek freedom in the materialistic world that we like to accumulate in our houses, at work or even on vacation. We build a world of money and fame for our standards, and convince ourselves that those who achieve and make their lives up to those standards find freedom. Well, I have to agree that they do find the freedom of spending their money the way they want and the freedom of leaving and returning into our lives as they please, but I am convinced that those people are still seeking freedom the same way everyone else is. Of course I would love to take the freedom of spending $1,500 without worrying about my rent that is due next week. But I am not talking about the freedom of choice in this paper. Freedom of choice depends on our morals and our social status, our environment and our education and other factors that we build our lives with. I am talking about the freedom of being and taking conscience of our being.

In the "French Constitution" of the 20th-26th of August 1789, accepted by the king, 89 articles describe Freedom of the people of France. It was, and still is, one of the most admired declaration of independence ever written. Nevertheless, The "Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Rights of People" of 1979 is one of the most respected in the Arabic world. Should we compare? :-)

The Article 23 of the Islamic Constitution says: "the investigation of individuals beliefs is forbidden, and no one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief." I believe that is what happened with Salmon Roshdi (Rushdi?). Also, through the same whole constitution, the phrase "except in case provided by law" appears at numerous times. Why do they even bother writing this "agreement" if they can do everything they want? I am also interested to know who agreed to these articles.

The word liberty appears only eight times in the French constitution who places the individual freedom under the protection of the judiciary authority (article 66 of the constitution). Is that really freedom?

So what is Freedom?

It seems that these papers pretending to be the passport to freedom of the nations have no value and no place to be. We all do, excuse my French, what the heck we want. In the Western World as well as in the Eastern World. Maybe in different degrees, but it is all the same beings expressing their personal freedom. In Iran, young people have clubs in their basements and change the location of the club as often as possible with their fan clubs. The same thing happens every weekend in New York City with what they call after hour clubs where you can enjoy yourself in a different kind of environment.
It is very common that someone have one last beer before driving back home. These are all acts of independence and expressions of freedom in different forms.

We could also talk about a more popular subject like the treaties that have been signed in the last century to defend the freedom of the people. Bosnia would be a good example.
How many treaties were there signed? I think everyone stopped counting because I could not find the exact information anywhere. Or what about the one signed in France in 1918? Hitler was so proud to make the French Government sign "an other treaty" in the same train wagon in 1940. Is it possible that these amusing declarations are just made to be crossed?

But trough all this, the people have been happy in one way or another. Some in ways that we could not understand. Freedom still persists in good times and in bad times. Trough peace or war.

So, Freedom does not depend on the laws or the boundaries that surround us. It is much more personal and attaches itself to the individual. It’s something much deeper than an object you could hand someone. It has its own life and energy. Is it possible or is it all in my head?

Then, If it’s from inside, would it be from the heart or from the head? Is it in your heart that you feel free or in your head?

First, let’s presume the head. It is a fact that our surroundings have effect on the way we see things and the way we feel things. Meaning that our brain controls us by finding a state of balance where it can make us feel good and comfortable. Excuse me, but this still sounds like control to me. I can not find any satisfaction as an individual (since it is an individual Freedom) about Freedom in this reasoning.

On the other hand, The thought of being Free in my own life and my decisions opens my heart to other interests. It somehow brakes the fences. I do feel more freedom in my heart than in my head. And whoever thinks so is Free to do so.

In case that someone would agree with the first elaboration, You are free to say that I am saying this to balance myself in my environment. But I would like to take Pascal’s advice on how to make a bet.

Works Cited

Pascal, Blaise. "Le paris Pascalien" - Livre de Poche - French Edition 1971.

Camus, Albert. "The Stranger" -Folio’s French Edition- September 1989. Pages 175 - 186

Luchaire, Francois. "The fondamental rights of the French Constitution".
-Yahoo France; Keyword: La constitution francaise-

"Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The rights of people." www.Iran.com/constitution

"Declaration des droits de l’homme et du Citoyen."
-Yahoo France; TDDHC2.HTM-

Sabet, Farhad.
"Survey about Freedom"
1. Would you have an extra drink with a friend if you had to drive back home?
2. Describe Freedom in your own words.
3. Does freedom exists at dawn of the 21st Century?
4. When was the last time you experienced freedom?
5. Special comments - there are no bad comments -

Special Thank You.

As a minority of the western world I thought it was important to recognize what African Americans have achieved in the name of freedom and personal rights. Thank you for letting me write this paper as freely as I possibly can.