A Reflection: Freedom

It is a pity that we are a society that has to abide by the rules and regulations of mostly the government and bureaucracy but for some parts common sense do serve as a catalyst, for us as individuals to know how to behave with one another. I know that the main purpose of such rules to exist is to maintain order and peace. But it is such a pity that since we are young we have been forced to accept rules and regulations set by the paper, common sense or traditional values are almost always extinct in today's society. We have laws to 'protect' us, we have rules on how to 'behave', we are not allowed to be extremely 'outspoken'. It is almost like the rules that were meant to protect us has robbed us of our own freedom. It feels like there is no such thing as trust between each human beings when we can 'abide' by the rules and play the games in (legal) courts.

Of course I can understand the dilemma of not having these rules; criminal activities would rise, people with too much power would roam free and the world would be in constant chaos. Which is truthfully not far from what it has been today and probably what will become in the future. Our society's value has changed considerably as you grow older, in the past I used to value everyone else around me, giving a helping hand, being kind, respect the elders, help the society to be a better place to live in. As you grow older you started to realise that our existence are merely a facade, a way for the modern society to function like an industrial factory. Occasionally there are those who are genuinely kind, which are a rarity amongst the majority, the rest of us are selfish individuals with nothing in common except perhaps the thought of protecting oneself from being sidelined by the rest of society. There are of course rebels who constantly try to bring chaos into order, some succeed with positive results others often failed and become outcasts.

But still, the rest of us feared retribution from not being able to abide by these rules and regulations. It was never a choice to simply live life to how we want it to be. I don't think I was aware when I was younger how much society has embedded within each of us a perception that rules and regulations should be followed to the absolute. It was simply the older people are the wiser they are therefore follow their footsteps and their advices. But again, those people who are older in the past have been embedded by the same rules and regulations we have to abide by. It is a neverending cycle of constantly being bound by the same thing we want to break free from. Freedom was never a choice, freedom never existed in the first place.