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> Would Rousseau want us "being forced to be free"? Probably. The French revolution actors were inspired by his work, and the French revolution led to the decl
by astrobe_ 2y ago
> Would Rousseau want us "being forced to be free"?
Probably. The French revolution actors were inspired by his work, and the French revolution led to the declaration of the human rights, which states that all people are born free and equal. If you take this claim as universal, then your moral duty is to make it happen.
So yes, do free people even if they believe their situation is fine. Perhaps for instance because they've been brainwashed into believing it is, or perhaps they don't even know what freedom is.
Unfortunately countries/organizations/persons that claimed to do that too often also had ulterior motives.
The phrase "looking for freedom, we found slavery" is interesting because if there's slavery, then there's a master. The master we are talking about is "norm" or "convention". The term "slavery" can be apt in some cases, but generally is excessive.
"Anticonformity" was somewhat a dismissive word in my country up to some point, but I have not heard it in that way for while, which suggests that people accept more easily "abnormal" people. When you want your freedom and you can have it, then there's no slavery nor tyranny.
- nonrandomstring 2y agoYou've inspired me today. It's odd that in almost all walks of life, freedom comes from non-conformity. In arts, and in science, "progress" is a movement away from wherever we are. We may not like non-conformists, but we absolutely rely on them to move forward. Yet totalitarian technological social systems are the only creation that make those who conform "more free". By design they limit options at the margins while enabling those in the middle of the mediocrity curve. Slavery is freedom. And thus, since time stops for no man or machine, systems invite their own inevitable destruction. Technology is not just "a way of not having to experience the world" (Max Frisch), but a way of not having to experience change. And I think the "master" that you speak of is fear (fear of things changing).