Freedom?

When one looks at human existence as a whole, it may be a common theme to question the grand purpose of it all. Perhaps it is within the individual to define their own, but if that were the case, why are we so adamantly told what to do on a regular basis? There are several elements who can take responsibility for this: parents, govenment, laws, advertisements, corporations, the education system, subliminal or outward messages in mass media, evolutionary biology and societal/peer pressure.

Each has come up with a systematic code of rules and regulations to dictate behavior, and in most cases also have a substantial say in men and women's desires, ambitions and final fates. Go to college, get a job, get married, hate yourself, have kids that repeat the process. We all know the story...

For some, this is the accepted fate. Others may rebel and ultimately find themselves trapped in the end against their will, regardless. Some are just lost to the undesirable outskirts of society and labeled misfits, bums, criminals or loons.

The select few who rise above the system, are often forced to abandon their own beliefs to appease the machine representatives that are lining their pockets. Many fall victim to the corruption within the system. Can they be blamed? Is poverty with a side of pure idealism really a better alternative than being a wealthy puppet in a time of economic hardship?

This leaves the question, does true freedom really exist? If not freedom of action or belief, how about freedom from judgment or persecution for making a decision or choosing a path that doesn't fit the mainstream way of thinking?

If the answer is no, which the current state of humanity suggests, then just how far have we really evolved as a species? Are we no better than animals who live their lives in cold blood, at the fickle whims of nature's calls?

Centuries ago, the church killed Galileo for being correct about the sun's place at the center of the solar system. Today, a relative genius who comes up with an alternative form of energy that would challenge the oil moguls in power, may catch a bullet to the dome without an apology. Humanity's collective resistance to positive change because of a few backwards schmucks in power raises even more burning questions.

If minds are told how to think from start to finish, how can true innovation continue? Perhaps only through a deeply-dug attitude of 'fuck these rules...I'm making my own form of progress'.

It may be considered a selfish philosophy and you may even make a few enemies along the way, but at least you will laugh with the gods at the end of the ride, as Bukowski would say. If you happen to disagree, then your reserved spot is waiting in the eternal line of the faceless.