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(Source: sunburstcybernetics)
(Source: fissionaccomplished)
Today I saw a post on a soldiers facebook about how freedom isn’t free. I wanted to reply to it that there is no such thing as freedom. Because freedom doesn’t exist in this world. If you think it does, then try going somewhere without money. I typed out my response… But then I thought, what would be the point? I realized that this was a person who has dedicated their entire life - sacrificing his own safety, missing out on experiencing his children growing up, missing his wife - to something which can never be accomplished. There will always be war. There will always be violence. There will always be hatred. And for every single person who simply wants to love and be loved, there are a hundred thousand people whose hatred and resentment grows stronger at the very thought of that love. So I couldn’t bring myself to tell him the truth about our world. I couldn’t be that mean. Let him have his hope that by causing more violence and pain, he can somehow bring an end violence and pain. My heart broke for him, and everyone else who is fighting for a kind of freedom that doesn’t even exist. Because the truth is that freedom is a concept. It’s metaphysical. It is not something which can be achieved outside of the mind. The only freedom, is in our dreams, our imagination, and the things we create.
“People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at your from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are the Advertisers and they are laughing at you.
You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.
Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.
You owe companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.”
