Are we really free?
#MayInLeo theme for today is freedom of speech, and that made me thing about my life a long long time ago, in a Communist paradise.
It is always baffling how some people who lived during the communist era are looking back with nostalgia and tell you that it was much better back then. How they would be obliged to go to school, how a job was chosen for them, and you would just receive the address of the place where they would work for the rest of their life, how when you would go there an apartment would have been allocated to you, with one or more extra rooms, depending on how big your family was. Maybe this is the issue, too much uncertainty, as 'back then' the State would have decided everything for you. Life would be comfortable if you would follow the general direction given by the Glorious Communist Party. You would just live, follow instructions and go through your life, never ever thinking that there is something called freedom, as this was a wild dream, requiring work and risk. All that you needed to do was to be a good drone, doing your work as part of society. We used to joke about it, as humour was always the main escape from a reality where everything was imposed on us. We used to say that during the Communist era, we had money, but nothing to buy in the shops, now that Communism fell (and yes, Socialism is just a mild form of Communism, do not let yourself be tempted by it, but I digress), we have everything in the shops, but no money to buy. As a Romanian, you could only visit your fellow comrades from URSS, Bulgaria and others alike. No sinful capitalist countries, you needed to be high in Government or a spy to be allowed to go into the West.
In my opinion, all that nostalgia, if you choose not to talk about the lack of food, the 3 hours of daily TV programmes and the few allowed newspapers, comes from the safety net and from the lack of extraordinary, as everything was running as expected, more or less. When you gain your freedom, life suddenly becomes risky and full of unexpected turns. You lived in your own little circle, and suddenly you find out that the world is much bigger and much meaner. You were not allowed to grow, but you were protected, in a way we protect the cows and horses, and take good care of them, for them to be adequate, in good health and work faster.
When you have no freedom of speech or any kind of other freedom, when you are limited, you may be comfortable, but you need to realize that all the turkeys on the farm are living a comfortable life until Christmas is coming. Do not let yourself be tricked. Yes, being free is risky, and you need to work much more to live the life that you desire but do not forget, that always, comfort is the price that we pay when we stop growing up. And while many of us will fail, again and again, be persistent. I would like to end with a quote from Richard Back's book:
'You are never given a dream without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however.'
All the best,
George
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