Some Seeking Freedom
There are not many who truly want freedom, and there are even fewer who are truly making themselves free in this world. But there are some, like the one I mentioned in the February 23 Daily Freedom, “Individual Rebels,” for example.
I have pointed out before, that almost all the organization, movements, and WEB sites that claim to promote freedom, do not promote freedom as something one can realize in their own life today, and are actually promoting some political or social agenda intended to produce a “free society,” sometime, but certainly not in the lifetime of anyone living today.
There are a handful of exceptions to that, a few WEB sites run by individuals who are truly interested in being free in the world today, and for the most part, in their own way, are seeking that freedom, and living as freely as possible. You might find some of the insights and methods on those sites useful to your own pursuit of freedom. You may not agree with everything you find on those sites, but then no two people are probably ever going to agree on everything, nevertheless their intention is good, and I think you will find something in all of them that is at least worth your consideration.
“Living Freedom,” is Clarie Wolfe’s blog on the Backwood’s Home Magazine site. Clare Wolfe has been a long-time advocate of individual freedom (and an arch- enemy of the greatest threat to freedom, the state). Her emphasis has changed somewhat over time—we all mature—from the self-sufficiency approach to a broader view, meaning whatever freedom means to the individual, I think.
She sub-title’s her site, “Musings About Personal Freedom and Finding It Within Ourselves,” with which I do not exactly agree. It reminds me of the quip by the despicable Woody Allen, “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work… I want to achieve it through not dying.” My view of freedom is, “I don’t want to achieve freedom by finding it within myself, I want to achieve freedom by finding in the world.” I’m sure what Claire means, however, is really the same thing, that if we are to be free, it is we ourselves who must make ourselves free.
I am however, very much in agreement with her latest blog entry, “Being strong and free,” in which she said, “…although you can be strong and not free, you can’t be free and not strong.”
I like that because strength is a virtue, and the idea she expresses goes along so well with my current series on freedom and virtue, [so far, integrity, responsibility, honesty, and competence] without which one cannot be free.
I also like the fact she makes it clear, it is not some kind of brute strength that matters, but, “… being ‘rooted’ in your own kind of strength—whatever that is. It’s the strength of your individuality,” because only independent individualists can be free.
“The Ultimate Answer to Kings,” is another blog by Joel, it says. As they say on the radio quiz program, “Says You,” during the bluffing round, “it might that, it might be something else,” but it doesn’t really matter—only the ideas matter, not the personality.
In one of his recent blog posts, “I Dreamed I Saw MamaLiberty Last Night, as Live as You or Me,” he said something I have a great deal of sympathy with:
“… you’re forgetting the Cardinal Law of the Universe: PEOPLE ARE IDIOTS.”
I’m not sure it’s a universal law, but it is very near to being a universal fact.
Here is another thing he said, which summarizes the meaning of [Practical Freedom](https://firehammer.page/fw/practical_freedom/):
“I take my freedom where I can, compromise where I must. Only I can decide where that level is for me. Only you can decide where that level is for you.” It’s called individualism.
I’ve included “The Price of Liberty” site because it belongs to the same MamaLiberty addressed in Joel’s article above. Not exactly a subtitle, but I think an intended characterization of the principles the site is based on are these words found below the title, “liberty, freedom, responsibility, integrity.” Yes, integrity, the first virtue required for freedom.
I think MamaLiberty’s site might not emphasize establishing one’s own freedom quite as much as the others, but it is certainly sympathetic to that view. The second article on the home page, as a matter of fact, is an article by Claire Wolfe.