The Quest for Freedom

(image courtesy of candidkerry.wordpress.com)

Kratos, the main protagonist in the great video game God of War 3, says to the girl Pandora ‘The Quest for Freedom is also a heavy burden.’ He was comparing it to the other great burden of fear. Why is the quest for freedom such a heavy burden? What does it mean to be free? Freedom is one of the greatest ideals because it is synonymous with no cares, no influences or nothing that can determine what can be done or what is to be done. Frederich Engels, Marx’s primary collaborator, presented the dilemma thus: The Kingdom of freedom vs. the Kingdom of Necessity or free Will vs. determinism, Infinite vs. Finite and, my favourite, Surplus labour vs. necessary labour. Is the quest for freedom a heavy burden because we are tied to the realm of necessity? Necessity comprises many things such as our dependence on nature and our own natural constitution, responsibilities, social bondage and the everyday reality that denies us our utopia. You always hear that when someone feels they are free from some form of bondage they land themselves in another set of shackles.  When the slaves were freed they became wage slaves or due to brutalization by the white authorities and their cronies the majority were denied the freedom to do certain things that would see them on par with the dominant class. In The Dark Knight Rises Nolan highlights Bruce Wayne’s escape from the pit as the leap to freedom. The former prison doctor told Bruce that the leap to freedom is not about strength but the great impulse of the spirit: the fear of death which makes you fight longer than possible and move faster than possible.  There are those who will say that death is the ultimate freedom from the bondage of life but then comes the religious folk that say that even in death you might go to hell or heaven. On earth hell is an everyday reality while our dreams are in the subject of heavenly thoughts. Is there no end to our bondage on this basis? Some people moderate the concept by saying that they feel free instead of experiencing actual freedom. In the world of capitalism there are the notable proponents of free trade where everyone is free under false democratic traditions. They use this great lie to befuddle the lackeys and sympathizers. What they call free trade induces a rabid competitive environment that regulates capitalism. No one is ever free to do what they want under capitalism because of the ‘coercive laws of competition.' With the concentration of capital monopolies are formed that control all spheres of life related to their product offering. These monopolies determine prices, the markets to exploit etc. The consumers and the up and comers then fight back and try to challenge these monopolies but they come back bigger and stronger in different forms. It is never ending for even if you smash these great trust companies free trade and competition levels the playing field momentarily until someone seizes the initiative and trounces his/her competitors and assumes a dominant position in the market.

This is why freedom is a momentary feeling a constant relative experience. This constant relativity associated with freedom is what pushes boundaries and after the great battles are fought you can look back and claim freedom from that never ending struggle. Is there really an end to it though? Does this constant pushing ever stop? It will be difficult to answer this question because we cannot predict the future or the individual elements of life that will assume grand proportions in the particular sphere of interest. The competition between the urge to be free and the reality that binds us is a constant struggle. This is why I did the post the accumulator becomes the destroyer. When something reaches its peak that is normally reflective of the extent that it has accumulated a significant amount of material and this accumulation, or that which is accumulated by particular means, must have assumed some monopoly or assumed an entrenched position in its sphere of influence. Freedom comes when there is a break from that accumulated mass that has assumed a dominant position and a new mass is created to correspond to new needs and modes of expression and production. When the former mass was accumulated it too broke from tradition to create its own standard however it no longer corresponds to the new demands of the succeeding generation. This is why freedom is a constant relative process. There is always a buildup of some element be it institution, some form of hegemony etc but the extent that there is a release from that build up or there is a diffusion of that build up then that must be considered freedom in a relative sense. Freedom in an absolute sense is considered from the process itself of constant diffusion of any build up or by removing oneself from being affected by the monopoly of a particular element. This constant diffusion normally results in the creation of something new. Without the creation of something new then that is merely the void and no freedom can exist in the void hence why madness is not necessarily freedom because there is no element to determine a new direction. Even if you break with tradition or from prevailing concepts you need to demonstrate why you’re breaking from it or it will reek of juvenilia. Also, when you do break, you will find that the concept or the means you used to break from the previous structure that influenced your existence, will hit a stumbling block eventually and you will no longer be able to command influence based on the direction you have taken. The direction you have taken will eventually become a burden particularly as you have settled or accepted this as your mode of expression or production.  The new direction will be become ossified and this will require yet a new direction  and so long as the life force exists this can go on forever unless there is a dramatic destruction of this force.  

From a social perspective can man ever be free when we exist in the throes of the class struggle? We can never be free of nature as it exists on earth and in the universe but can we achieve freedom in the civilization(s) created by mankind which represent a significant break with nature or the living of a primordial existence.  The class struggle binds us to the reality of our bondage and a revolution in the class struggle, where the ruling class is overthrown, frees us for the time being until the revolutionaries become stagnant and create another oppressive environment that stifles freedom. Every mode of economic production has reinforced the class struggle and it is clear that those who control the means of production seem to be more free than those that do not. Those who do not control the means of production must sell their labour power to the ruling class where they generate a surplus above and beyond their immediate needs which is appropriated by the ruling members. Within the context of the class struggle there are those that seem to be free; the rich who own a majority of the society. They merely embody the wealth generated from the dominated classes that do the bulk of the work. They are not necessarily free because they benefit from the system and so will not like to be free from it. It is this wealth that becomes a burden on society because it is only shared among the few while the majority exist in  a state of destitution or bondage and are compelled to continuously generate this wealth shared among the few. It becomes a feature of the system and all subscribe to it however there must be means by which this wealth can be used for the benefit of all.  When the revolution, or the movement for freedom, comes the dominated classes appropriate this wealth, accumulated on the basis of private property, which is seen as the source of their freedom. The question is how does this society, which has been temporarily freed, maintain freedom for all of its citizens. When the bourgeoisie overthrew the domination of the aristocracy they created a new system of wealth generation that seemed to benefit all because there were rising wages and great profits as a result of increased growth. The class struggle is revealed in a crisis when it is clear that  only certain individuals can survive because they have wealth while others are struggling to get by. This system is said to be regulated only by competition and so the free trade element is paramount however what happens when a particular individual smothers the competition and creates a monopoly. It is through monopolies or the concentration of capital in single bodies that capitalism can announce itself as a dominant force in society and I am here agreeing with Lenin. The proponents of free trade cannot hope that there can be the constant withdrawing and depositing of elements without someone or something forcing people to take control and so regulate the system.   However that is only for the few what about all? Can the entire human race be freed from the bondage of the class struggle? Marx envisioned a classless society which would be ultimate freedom in this material world however what will prevent the buildup of a dominant sect that will try and impose itself on society. I have my own views on the classless society which I will not elaborate on here and I do believe it is possible from a social perspective but not when private property remains an essential element in the accumulation of wealth.

The Quest of freedom can be a heavy burden based on the extent of the buildup of the dominant element that holds the repressed element in its throes. If it’s a massive buildup it may require more work to dislodge that mass. The game God of War 3 illustrated this quite well as well as the film The Shawshank Redemption (1994) which is one of the best on the subject. It is not necessarily a heavy burden when there is a constant ebb and flow however this does not lead to stability hence why someone or something will endeavor to stabilize this ebb and flow through various regulating principles. We should always be on the quest for freedom for it is paramount regarding the progression of life itself, particularly from a social perspective. It removes us from our bondage and prevents things from festering. Whenever things start to fester in a society and show signs of decay then acquiring freedom is a natural right.