Freedom

Such a heavily imbued word.
We are born in a free country we are told. I once thought this was a wonderful thing.
That was before I was old enough to open my very own electricity bill, or run the risk of being labelled a criminal because I chose to alter my own consciousness.
Though, I can only be happy, for I do not live in china, as a falun gong practitioner.
I can only be happy that my skin is not black enough to endure the brutal racism inherent in our free country.
I can only be happy I was not born part of the untouchable caste in India.
Even more so I can only be happy I was not born a tree or animal on this near forsaken planet.

Let alone one of the giants of Tasmania, logged for toilet paper and wood chips, while our government lines the pockets of their friends and allies, leaving the modern Australian family forlorn over their rising costs of living.

Freedom, being born in this free country is a fallacy backed up by capitalist dictatorships. We are free, as long as we do not question. As long as we keep quiet. As long as we toe the line. As long as we buy their products like we are told we should.

Well. For a country who's most loved and revered public face for decades has been Ned Kelly, where did our brazen larrakinism go?
Reserved for countries relying on our tourist dollars?
Our freedom now so blatantly denied, none of us have the time to stand up and do what is right for our nation.
Our freedom is now used against us a tool in the march to war.
We have lost bright minds, not only to the pitfalls of all these wars, but to the daily grind.
Tied to the stones we heave about like status symbols.
Shiny things destined to obsoletion.

This is not freedom.

Inch by inch they encroach. With snippets of law here and legislation there. We are not free. Not by their jurisdictions anyway.

So, how can we become "free", or is this just a fallacy, a philosophical notion with its true meaning lost to the annals of time?

Freedom. I can almost hear the cries of those still left on Nauru. I can hear the screams of our West Papuan families.
Any notions of freedom beyond the release of our physically incarcerated bodies are privileged at best in the political climate of today's world.

The last bastion of philosophical freedom left, is information and choice. What we fill our minds with on a daily basis thus becomes our life.

The media has been bought, if in fact it ever was free at all.

The television fills us with fear and division, a job it was born to do, and a job it is doing well.

The personalities fed to us are pie bald, half cocked red necks at best. Thanks for that Sunrise.

But in the midst of this, our humanity remains.
Our desire to see our country being free from it's oppressors, those who would seek to profit using our resources and leave nothing behind.
We work in the background, sharing information, tapping away, bit by bit, through education and choices.

Our self accountability is a form of freedom we cannot deny.
If we are still free to speak, free to think, then we will.
Even more, our freedom demands we listen to and look for those who are not free.
And speak for them if we can.
For until freedom is a process of self accountability for all, other forms are specious at best.

I used to see Australia as a free country.
Though now I see that it's only free for rich multi national corporations to run rampant, with no accountability.
Boycott.
Boycott the lot of them.
Shop Local.
Stop buying from companies that do not value human life.

Nestle, Unilever, Monsanto.

The sad thing is, even with reading labels, you may never know how far their capitalist grasp goes, how many brands they own. Lobby your local representatives to stop putting the profits of foreign investors over their local constituents.

Boycott. Don't buy what they try to sell you
Barter. Share your skills with your friends, families, acquaintances
Grow. Grow your own food
Learn. Soak up all the information you can, try to make it objective, unbiased.
Share. Share your knowledge, your skills, your resources.

That, is FREEDOM

Freedom is self accountability.

Jilli Manning