Being Free

Unusual Beliefs
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So over the years I had the tendency to run away from things in life, sometimes becoming homeless or destitute. I look at this as a way of avoiding stress or ‘reality’ and acting irrationally. I have met others with this condition who got themselves into situations for similar reasons, that for the purpose of this topic I will call “being free”.

Often you will hear what could be considered ‘positive’ freedoms like driving a car or being able to protest, or generally be able to do and think what you want. However, I had the unusual belief, in that it is uncommon, that freedom was the absence of certain things which could be considered ‘negative’ freedoms. These things are realties like need for money, having to adjust to social situations, taking care of property, having lots of possessions, dealing with people’s expectations, etc. This belief of ‘negative’ freedom dominated my view for a long time, and I viewed the world as constraining, unfree, freedom illusory, and people as being bars in a cage to name a few perceptions.

I thought that if the world hadn’t advanced to its current modern conditions, I would be able to exist with sz in poverty like the majority of people. Negative freedoms would allow me to not have to prepare for the interview, need much money for shelter, need to travel long distances via car on a daily basis, have to interact with rational and rationalized people, work full-time, and so many of the other things that make up modern existence.

So I had this idea of being free that was distinctly sz, in that there was a paranoid element, that the society was designed to be less free in terms of negative freedoms, and more free in terms of positive freedoms. I found that as a sz, there was lesser access to positive freedoms as the condition puts you in a constraining legal and medical state that take away rights and freedoms, and also more vulnerable to things that take away negative freedoms such as economic and social demands.

Anyway I had more delusions related to the political situation that was responsible for these constructions, but that would be getting political.

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That isn’t too dissimilar to some of my own delusions and troubles. Interesting, thank for the sharing.

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In my mind I had a more “reality” based idea about freedom and sz, but what I have written here basically sums it up without talking too much about reality.

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If i ever have enough money with a year and save it.
Id probably own inches of land and build a home.
Maybe its possible.

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I think about that too, buying a small plot of land and building a small house.

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You can buy small tiny portion of land and own a shed

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I can buy a house in most small towns/cities in the country I live but the problem is I live in the most expensive city.

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I didnt really express myself the way I wanted in this post as really the idea i have had is that negative freedoms are about reality or realities and szs are therefore in a situation where they are unable to be in reality as it is conceived in the mind and also in the modern realities that are social and economic. I guess i didnt make it clear that more negative freedom would be better for szs and people in general but as negative freedoms are not as easily perceived as positive freedoms and most people accept things that go against negative freedom as reality that they have to accept there is a gradual loss of negative freedoms as people pursue positive freedoms. Afterall not needing money which is a negative freedom is sacrificed by the positive freedom of pursuing money. Most freedoms are like that.

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I enjoy living in a house, my computer, driving a car, having adequate food etc. If abject poverty with no shelter is freedom, I’d rather be chained.

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Thats a natural response I think but its not so black and white as that I think. There coukd be a great deal more in terms of negative freedoms without so much of the trendy within last 200 years American style pursuit of positive freedoms. I think if negative freedoms became more in style which actually would have to probably take the form of questioning reality to implement, then people would embrace wasting and having less rather than more as is the case now. But im not exclusively interested in economic aspects, if economic stayed the same and people became less disciplinary and corrective id settle for that

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I can see from what I wrote it was as if I was advocating abject poverty. But for me at the present time not needing a million dollars to buy a house in my city would be a negative freedom if houses were capped at 200k. But people pursuing wealth increases positive freedom but diminishes negative freedom

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I don’t know, you seem to moderating your initial point now. I don’t know your history, but have you ever been homeless and tried to survive? You still need food and have to find someway eat. You are often provided food and shelter by those who are living by the ideals of your "positive freedoms.

I see nothing wrong with the sentiment of living with less but your initial post specifically made the point of being in poverty and shelter being a luxury. If there were not people who lived by “positive freedoms”, I honestly dont know if I would have survived for long.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve slept in mud and rain before. I did not feel an overwhelming sense of joy because I was free.

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I see you made another post while I was typing last reply so this may not apply.

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I didnt really express myself well in the op I just kind of let my fingers do the talking.

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I apologize if I appeared to jump on you. I just had severe issues with your initial point that I felt that I had to express.

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I was just saying before your comment I wasnt happy with what Id written. I guess i went to the extreme in making that point when it would have been prudent to say living in a society less oriented towards just making money or something like that would improve negative freedoms. But anyway my whole intention of it being about negative freedoms being taken away by modern realities and how that relates to sz was missed.

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Reminds me of someone I used to read called Ran Prieur. An interesting mind who has sought to ‘drop out’.

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I looked him up. He would be sympathetic to freedom from rather than freedom to. Also he would get that freedom from is about transcending reality and freedom to is participating and constructing one.

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My freedom, as a citizen, let’s me walk about the place without hindrance, without being thrown in jail or put in a hospital. I can say what I think, eat what I want. The SZ takes away from my self, making me unhappy. Men and women are just that!

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