I've been thinking about freedom a lot lately. I've come to the conclusion that it's a very hard thing. It can be subjective.I've noticed that the bus offers me one type of freedom while taking away another type. What am I on about? Well, I'm a little less anxious because I don't have to care about traffic jams as much or worry as much about accidents. I don't have to think about parking my car, which can lead to tickets or just a lot of extra cost. But I lost the freedom to do things on my time and I lose time each day riding it. Still, I think it's worth it. Because I'm not staring at the ass end of the cars around me or checking blind spots to ensure some idiot doesn't hit me, I get to look around and actually see this city I've lived in for four-and-a-half years now. I also started listening to audio books, so I'm getting to read more books because of the bus.
I'm a complicated person when it comes to politics because there really isn't a party that represents me. I like a few libertarian ideas, but full libertarianism would increase the nominations for the Darwin Awards. Hydro is an example of where I feel our liberty is infringed upon. That's electricity for the non-Canadians reading my blog. When I was looking to buy property in Ottawa and the surrounding areas, I discovered that I could go green, but the city would force me to have the property hooked up to the hydro grid. Meaning, I'd have to pay a delivery fee for hydro no matter what. Now, I think it's reasonable to ensure everything is connected and maintained properly for safety reasons, but forcing people to pay a company for a service they don't need or use is messed up. I'm sure someone would half-ass things if there were no regulations and end up burning the neighbourhood down, but our government is literally restricting how green we can be unless you're rich. But that's just one issue. I see the need for social things like health care and at least reduced education costs. Trusting everything to the government can leave us too vulnerable to an asshole with orange skin though, so I can't agree with socialism beyond a certain point as it usually leads to death.
My wheeled briefcase has been giving me the freedom from having a heavy weight on my shoulders while limiting where I can go because it's heavy and can't really fit in a locker. Because it's been physically injuring me almost as much as a backpack, I'm looking forward to the freedom of a tablet. It'll be lighter and more portable, so I can actually see doing things like visiting a museum on a Thursday after class if the bus can get me to one before the free hours are over. Or going to cool places in the city like the Art House Café to write.
We have a lot of freedom in Canada. Not total freedom, but a lot. Our free speech laws are different than the US, not that it has solved all our problems.
My car gives me freedom in terms of traveling places faster and it's cheaper to take to my hometown than the bus. It's also better for groceries as I don't have to worry about scheduling much when I'm using it.
Thinking about the bus, if someone leaves their foot in the aisle and a person who is exiting steps on it, who should be at fault? The aisle is supposed to be for walking, but it sucks to step on someone. Whose freedom is impinged the most in such a situation? The Non Aggression Principle may have the answer to that one.
Is anyone really free? Even people like Bill Gates have a few rules they have to follow.
What does freedom mean to you?
Guid cheerio the nou,
R~