The concept of freedom means choice to act without any consequences or repercussions. While this is so, I remember telling my mommy the other day that even in freedom, one is not truly free in the outcome of their actions.
You see, one thing that I have come to realize about the concept of freedom is that where one's freedom begins, is where another ends. So, If your actions will intrude on another's space, how exactly is that freedom? I mean, freedom should be hindrance free. Hence, one's right to free will automatically ends immediately it becomes an intrusion to another.
While in theory we could say that freedom is actually a thing, in reality we soon realised that there is no such ideology as freedom and that's exactly why we have laws, rules, regulations and then the authorities. Fact remains that if people are left to really be free, there will be chaos and disorderliness. Thus, with freedom, our society will literally metamorphose into full blown survival of the fittest mentality.
Severally, we see people yell freedom of speech and then we hear them quoting fundamental human rights. But how about if one's right to speech turns malicious and becomes the downfall or end of another? One time, the former President of Nigeria, my country, Olusegun Obasanjo when addressing freedom of speech said that, freedom of speech is guaranteed but then freedom after speech is what has no guarantee as one must be ready to take responsibility for their actions. And that is exactly what freedom is, if an individual strives to be free, they should do so with the capacity of responsibility.
There are people who want to live life on their terms and do things however it pleases them but should one's right to live cause discomfort to another? I have a friend who used to be a semi-nudist and then when she relocated, the apartment the agent got her was very ok from the video that was sent but since she was in another state far south, she couldn't go for inspection. Seeing how beautiful the house is, she made payment immediately and sent the address to her sister who lives close by to help her purchase some items and take to the house before she relocated.
The sister got all the items as requested by my friend and on getting to the house saw that the environment wasn't conducive. Immediately she made several videos of the environment and sent them to my friend. Aside from the house being situated inside vegetation, there's no motorable road as the only way out is on foot or motorcycles. My friend was bitter and she called her agent for a refund. She spoke to me about it in tears as the agent was proving stubborn for the refund. In all that she said, one thing that struck me was when she questioned how she would be going out? Basically it's a religious settlement and they have zero tolerance for indecent dressing.
My friend, being a semi-nudist in a religious settlement, knew the risk involved in exercising her right to freedom. She knew she didn't have the capacity to be responsible for such freedom so she forfeited the apartment. I was confused because I have always seen her stand up for herself against humiliation so why forfeit an apartment because some group of people would have problems with how she dresses? I did express my concerns with her and all she could say was, when in Rome you behave like the Romans.
She also reminded me about the laws of the new location being different from where she's coming from. While her initial habitat had no specific rules against indecent dressing, it was a whole different ball game at the area the agent got her an apartment. I saw how my friend understood the concept of freedom and I also learned. Basically, a lot of trouble could be avoided if only we don't push our right to freedom beyond boundaries.
Certainly, we should always fight for our right when the situation arises and also we should protect our space but it should be done according to the rules and regulations of the environment that we find ourselves in. In context, freedom is relative and also could be a mirage.
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