Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Freedom

It occurs to me that freedom is an overused word
Freedom to abuse the earth
Freedom to abuse women
Freedom to spend money you don’t have
Freedom to put toxic chemicals in food
Freedom to market dangerous drugs as safe
Freedom to censor news
Freedom to force workers to work unpaid overtime
Freedom to raise prices and rents indefinitely
Freedom to rob from pensions & social security to pay for wars
Freedom to use those excess oil reserves
Freedom to drill anywhere you please for oil
Freedom to spill oil in a gulf
Freedom to spill radioactive waste into an ocean
Freedom to allow fracking waste to pollute soil and water
Freedom to bomb people with drones in a foreign country
Freedom to drive a car without emissions controls
Freedom to dump waste in a fresh waterway
Freedom to arrest and torture people
Freedom to jail immigrants on suspicion alone
Freedom to spy on people’s emails and conversations

This is different from
Freedom to marry whom you choose
Freedom to worship God, gods or nothing at all
Freedom to express yourself on the internet and elsewhere
Freedom to travel outside your country
Freedom to buy a house in any neighborhood
Freedom to apply to any college or job
Maybe freedom isn't what we mean anymore.