Freedom is not free. Freedom has to be fought for and at a price.

[Dtris]

Thank you for this thread. I appreciate the input from Ming and Patrick. Thank you for being. I enjoy exploring/contemplating concepts like freedom, justice, and karma.

Buckminster Fuller once said "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."
While I do not agree with absolutes (never/always) I see his underlying point of using your energy wisely. To fight something takes energy, sometimes it takes a lot of energy. To build something requires energy. The energy you expend while fighting is energy that you are not able to use for creation. Many systems that we find oppressive in our current reality seek opposition. They want you to fight, because when you attempt to overcome something/someone through opposition there is still an energy exchange. I cannot play "the game" unless I have an opponent to play against. If I believe/live in duality, I am seeking opposition to validate my position.

In terms of the concept of freedom, I see it as the default existence for all beings. Freedom is the absence of fear. Freedom or lack of freedom occurs only in the mind regardless of the perceived constraints on my physical body (illusion). If I am not free, it is because I believe that I am not free. Someone can break down my door, put a gun to my head and demand that I comply with whatever they want. I am free to not comply (or comply) and if they shoot my body then and there, I die free, ready to continue my mind/spirit development without any constraint or restriction (karma) from that previous interaction. Meanwhile the mind/body/spirit complex who fired the weapon has, in a way, imprisoned themselves through their own karma.

All this is merely a poorly articulated version of my limited perspective, which is derived from my experience in this current life. I welcome alternate perspectives and information that can be integrated with my current understanding. May we all walk in the love/light of the one infinite creator.

I don't think I will present anything alternative to what you said. I think you articulated fairly well the central point. Freedom is not something you ask for. Free Will is a primal distortion of the Law of One, it exists in all life. You can never be given freedom from someone else, you can only give away your freedom yourself.

Buckminster Fuller was also spot on. The most intelligent way to fight something, is to put energy into an alternative.

I do think in our world freedom is something that needs to be fought for. But strictly speaking you don't fight for freedom, you fight against those who would attempt to have you give them your freedom. The best way to do this is by demonstrating that you will not do so. This takes many forms, and as long as you are true to yourself and maintaining your boundaries then you are affirming the freedom that is natural to all life.