The Freedom of Empathy

Subjugation, tyranny, oppression… these are words that all of us hate with vehemence. Why? Because all these words refer to the demise of freedom: a vital entity for the existence of human beings. But the ironic fact is that even though we are aware of the importance of freedom, we take it for granted. We don’t seem to understand its value. But how can we know the worth of something when we don’t know what it means?

The dictionary defines freedom as ‘the condition of being free’. Free… from externally imposed restraints, free… to have the power to act or speak or think, free… to have independence from subjugation.

So the question becomes, which way would you choose? A way of life in which you are the master of your destiny, or one in which virtually all decisions are made for you, by one ruling body or another? Would you rather be free or under control? In this decision lies the crux to freedom: being brave enough to choose to make you own decisions, and being brave enough to believe in them. From that faith stems independence, as it ensures that we would be willing to do whatever is necessary to stand for our ideals and our way of life.

Individuals believing in freedom throw a monkey wrench into a well-controlled society, by inventing new gadgets that make life easier and more productive, but which threaten old ways. Such people want to choose themselves how they want to live their life instead of the decision being taken by the controlling society. These are the people who believe in creativity and dynamic growth so as to create a better tomorrow.

This belief in freedom is the chorus of the countless people around the world who long for independence, or of those who have gained their freedom through bitter sacrifices. As Pakistanis, we should know better than most others what freedom entails. We are lucky enough to possess what is ours and ours alone.

For most of us, it is something that has been given to us as a birthright. But go back a mere 60 years ago and you will see what it meant to want freedom. The people, who have made it our birthright to be free, went through hell to get it for us. They did it because they longed for an escape from oppression and control. They believed in ideals and their way of life… they believed in what has now become our way of life. These people were unflinching in their desire to achieve independence. They died to be free.

So which way do you choose? To be free or to be controlled?

Millions around the world choose freedom. They understand that this freedom means their right to choose how to live their life. Unfortunately, it’s not simply a choice to be free. For whereas choosing freedom over control means taking the first step towards independence, it does not mean that it will be given to them on a platter. For even when they believe in freedom, they do so while living in a society torn by tyranny and oppression. Ask anyone in Darfur in Sudan, or maybe it would be more convenient to ask someone in Rwanda or Zimbabwe or Kashmir? People burn in these and other places, while we debate freedom, which we do when we are not busy taking it for granted. Are these people not human? Would they not bleed a red color? Or is it simply because we don’t care? Maybe we don’t care because we are under the control of the malaise and the ease of our freedom, a freedom given to us as by people who unlike us, cared.

Are we really free, if we can’t care for others who don’t have what we are lucky to have? Can we appreciate any sort of freedom if we can’t even stop taking it for granted? Maybe it’s our time now, to open our eyes and to see, to feel the suffering. Maybe it’s time we took our independence from the apathy that so controls and surrounds us. But are we brave enough to reconsider the comfort that we have and to shake the malaise? Are we strong enough to want the freedom that so many would die for? Can we begin to appreciate what we have been given?

Perhaps James Baldwin knew the answer when he aptly said, “Freedom is not something that anybody can be given. Freedom is something people take, and people are as free as they want to be.”