Thursday, May 7, 2009

To be a Free Thinker (#97)

Everything in a market economy has a cost. Yes, even the air we breathe to the water we drink. Maybe not directly but absolutely indirectly. To be a free thinker is somewhat of an illusion since thinking freely is in itself taking a position. Not always a positive in a world striving for conformity. I understand the rationale for conformity, since it could lead to an efficient and concordant society. In some specific areas this is a universally sought after outcome by most, my pardon to the anarchists and chaos theory proponents. A slippery slope situation occurs when people of good will and honest opinion attempt to extend conformity into areas best left to individual development and exercise. It is in free thinking that we, as a society, must continue to encourage by teaching ourselves how to think, not necessarily what to think. There has never been an absolute way to live life. Living life is a learned process based on how life affects each of us. Yes, there are rules given about what can be lived in life, laws-codes-mores-ethics, but no one individual will know how to live within these parameters until they can personally ask the question, "how do I do this" and find their own answer. We are many on this planet and a society regulated in fundamentals will be necessary, but the ability to think freely, with knowledge, analysis, reason, compassion and objectivity, will require individual courage to discover our own "how" to live and stand in defense of our own decisions.

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