It is an additional problem when you need to get rid of an autocrat or a dictator whose last name rhymes with yours. Many people then do not realize that various freedoms can be denied to them despite the fact that there is no external invader, that, for example, freedom of speech almost completely disappears, which, as we have seen in Serbia in recent decades, we recognize above all through the suppression of media freedoms
I'm not a historian, I don't know enough about the circumstances of the famous March 27, 1941, after which the streets were named. Surely there are controversies or at least conspiracy theories and stories about spies. But for me it has always been the story of a unique event: France has already fallen, the British allowed almost 50000 soldiers to be killed and captured at Dunkirk, not to mention Poland and the Czech Republic, and neither the Soviets nor the Americans are at war yet, while in Belgrade thousands of demonstrators refuse to cooperate with a military force whose allies surround them from all sides (the Italians are already in Albania and Greece), shouting "Better a grave than a slave". It is impossible to know if we would have been bombed and occupied and if the previously signed pact remained in force, since Hitler broke the agreements as soon as they were no longer useful to him, but the demonstrations did lead directly to an unimaginable number of graves and general destruction.
Is it all a story about the love of freedom? And does the price of freedom have to be that high?
When we hear slogans like these, those that place freedom even above life itself, we usually think of political freedoms. Politics is the domain of negotiation about which social group will have how much influence and where tendencies may appear towards appropriating so much power that someone else loses many or all rights and freedoms, whether we are talking about wars, enslavement or the abolition and deprivation of rights and dignity. From antiquity to the present day, people have been trying to devise "social contracts" that would prevent (excessive) abuses of military and political power and ensure freedom for minorities, the weak and the poor.
An obvious part of this problem is those invaders from previous centuries whose army destroys yours, they take direct power and start to impose their language, customs, religion, laws, value system and artistic trends on you, more or less cunningly. Many nations also have heroic stories from their history about resistance to invaders, successful or unsuccessful, and willingness to sacrifice everything else, including life, or even the lives of their sons, for the defense of freedom. Therefore, it is usually easy to have a clear position - to be in favor of resistance or cooperation, to sign or to refuse. Different cultures transmit their attitudes to young generations very early and often very unambiguously. Here, the example of Serbia, along with of course Montenegro and Greece, is paradigmatic, since centuries of slavery directly leads to epic poetry that mourns the loss of freedom and dreams of regaining it, and then not agreeing to any new slavery.
(NE)VISIBLE FIXINGS
It is more complicated with contemporary forms of enslavement, the so-called neocolonialism. Invaders today do not bring their armies, especially not living soldiers, into your territory if they can get what they need in other ways. They install or exploit corrupt politicians, put you in debt until you're drowning in debt, export dirty technology to you and buy water, land, mines, oil - whatever the country has. And then, even if you were to fight for freedom, it is not easy for you to recognize that you have lost it, that someone has sold you to someone else, nor to understand how and against whom to fight, how to explain to fellow citizens what kind of invisible shackles they live in. Not to mention the fact that we all support it with our consumerism, starting with me who is typing this text on a computer that may have been assembled by children in a distant Asian country, forced to work for fifty cents a day, just as they certainly produce almost all the clothes or shoes we wear, such as the fact that cocoa farmers in Africa do not even know what chocolate is, and in Thailand macaque monkeys and primates harvest coconuts and live in chains.
An additional type of problem arises when you need to get rid of an autocrat or dictator whose last name rhymes with yours. Many people then do not realize that various freedoms can be denied to them despite the fact that there is no external invader, that, for example, freedom of speech almost completely disappears, which, as we have seen in Serbia in recent decades, we recognize above all through the suppression of media freedoms. There were also periods when children suggested their parents, and people went to Siberia for songs that were never written down. The most widespread and long-lasting form of usurpation of one's liberties is certainly the insistence of most cultures, especially large monotheistic religions, on the superiority of men, along with scholarly discussions about whether women have a soul and the prohibition of women from even elementary education, and from being professionally and financially independent. The idea that the liberation of women is still necessary, or at least the fight for their equality, sounds completely absurd when you consider that they make up a statistical majority in almost all societies in the world.
It must not be overlooked, however, that problems with freedom also exist outside the political sphere. When it comes to social expectations and moral demands, both external and internal, freedoms fall easily. We often look at fighters for them with a mixture of admiration and suspicion. A number of psychological experiments show the strength of the tendency to conform and speak obvious nonsense just to not stand out from the group. If you observe small children, it may seem to you that they have an innate fear of being laughed at. Such is the strength of the need to belong. Because of this, histories, civilizations and cultures are actually series of initially misunderstood innovations, that is, stories about people who were ready to sacrifice a lot if they could not express a newly discovered truth or beauty for which the world was never sufficiently prepared.
WAIVER OF FREEDOM
This is an unusual place where the love of freedom comes into conflict with other kinds of love. Namely, there are not many experiences that can prompt us to give up our freedom, and among them the fear of losing love stands out (so we say "attachment", the English "bond", etc.). For a long time, children are willing to do anything just so that they don't lose their parents' love or that their aunt/grandmother/teacher doesn't get angry, so Rilke writes the whole parable of the prodigal son as an illustration for trying to escape from the limitations that this kind of love brings. At the same time, many modern couples feel that parenthood would limit them too much and choose the freedom to organize their own time at the expense of parenthood. All this is even more obvious in romantic relationships, where we may try to restrict the other person's freedom, for example out of fear that we might "lose" them, or give up our own freedom in order to "repair the relationship" or prevent being abandoned (Kieszlowski says this was one of the points of the script for Three better: Blue, but he tried so hard to hide the true meaning of those films that I don't know how much to trust him).
Another important reason for giving up freedom is responsibility. Thus, the end of adolescence or the end of studies can arouse anxiety precisely because the balance changes and obligations begin to prevail over carelessness. There can be permanent tendencies or moments of weakness in us, when we want someone else to make decisions for us, take responsibility and give us unreserved support, so we agree to possible dependence and give up independence.
VOICES WITHIN US
This example brings us to the most complex aspect of this problem - inner freedom. On the one hand, we have the question of moral development, that is, the capacity to resist pressure and act in accordance with one's own convictions. We are faced with such tests almost every day, with temptations to renounce honesty, make decisions under pressure, be hypocritically kind. We don't have to defend freedom of speech here, so much as independence and freedom of thought. Although it may seem like a tiring Hamlet, it is necessary to regularly, if not constantly, question yourself, your strengths and freedom, because we all tend to stumble and accept other people's thoughts and principles as our own (and we are also bombarded by definition with superficial media representations, while freedom of thought and research at universities depends more and more on those who approve money for research on certain topics).
On the other side stands the mystery of the unconscious, the basic question of psychoanalysis and the greatest trouble of our lives. We like the feeling of power and importance that comes from the idea that we know ourselves well, that we are independent, that there are no "different voices" in us. Nevertheless, the most diverse phenomena, not to go beyond dreams, post-hypnotic suggestions or lapses in speech, writing and memory, show that there are parts of us that are unknown, unclear and inaccessible to us, which influence our behavior, decisions or feelings, and that, what is worse, there is some meaning behind it that we can only reach with a lot of effort. When you experience this directly for the first time, which is usually in a psychotherapy session (or with the help of inkblots, a dream, or a particularly important work of art for you), you realize that inner freedom is to some extent an illusion, and you may wish to free yourself, as much as possible, from the inner tyranny of anxiety, urges, traumatic experiences or ambitions. Progress in this usually brings great relief and motivation for further struggle, but one should not cultivate the illusion that it is possible to win and achieve some absolute inner freedom, not to say nirvana.
Greater inner freedom also brings more creative freedom, when we not only understand and analyze in our own way, but we can play by creating something completely unique, something that has never existed. And although it does not have to be an objectively important work or cause reactions in others, for us it can be an expression of perhaps the greatest freedom available to people, even when it is far away, or completely separated, from the sphere of political (un)freedoms.
The author is a psychologist
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