FREEDOM
“2020 was a very special year. Restaurants and bars closed down. Online classes became the norm. People were allowed only one ‘hug buddy’. By definition, the pandemic is anti-social. It isolates us from each other. And yet we exist only by and with others. Now we’re forced to devise a new kind of ethics, one that takes the virus into account. We’ll have to think about new structures. New models. New knowledge. Survivable ecosystems. Perhaps the virus is showing us the way?”
- Koen Vanmechelen, column in HBvL
We live in urgent times. We know that future generations will pay a heavy price for the liberties of the previous generations. It is no longer possible to turn the ship, but its speed and course can be adjusted. The lines for the future can be redrawn.
How do we get a new kind of Freedom? How can we achieve that, as a human being, as a species, as a self-conscious part of various networks and a planet-spanning whole? What does that mean, Freedom, in the current context of a planet that is increasingly being remade on a human scale?
Does the current, dominant idea of Freedom in the Global North represent a severe break from previous interpretations of this concept? Protection of government interference, self-development, human rights, and self-government, the opportunity to enjoy life and property. Our Freedom is beautiful. And yet, it could seem to be problematic too.
Is it true that the roots of Freedom for some grow on the lack of Freedom of others? And how does our Freedom relate to the fate of other animals. Could it be that their invisible and silent suffering gives the human-animal the Freedom to live how and where it pleases?
What should Freedom look like? Neither self-government and Freedom of choice by the people nor the opposite have led to the Freedom of all life on our planet. Does democracy imply that everyone is entitled to the fruits derived from the lack of Freedom of others?
And what about you? Does more Freedom, as we now interpret that concept, make you happy? Or do you think that true Freedom lies in limitation, internalization, and ignorance? Is the puppet freer than the puppeteer? Do you consider Freedom a human right? Does self-awareness really lead to more Freedom? Can we as a species even escape from what we are? Is our democracy a threat to Real Freedom? Maybe the answers to these questions can be the building blocks of a new concept of Freedom.
And finally: are you able to think about Freedom, far outside the thought frameworks that have been built around you in recent decades? Are you that free? Can you, as Koen Vanmechelen challenges you, break the boundaries of clarity to come into a new reality?
Peter Dupont, moderator
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