My Thoughts on Freedom and Equality Have Changed

March 15th, 2025

"Freedom doesn't exist. We're equal because we have something to be upset about," - anonymous

Ever since mid-2020, there's this conversation amongst the people who used to be close to me about this thing called "freedom." I kept seeing statements about "personal freedom" or "freedom to choose" or "freedom isn't free." Recently, with the election of Trump and the rise of a conspiritual populist conservatism all over the world, that word has constantly come up again in my social media feeds and the discourse only makes me want to crawl into a hole and become an anti-social hermit. So I decided to reflect on my views on freedom and sadly, because I'm disabled and autistic, I can only see freedom and equality in a cynical light.

On the surface, I sometimes feel like freedom doesn't exist at all because we're all stuck with shared experiences of dissatisfaction or suffering. But when I take other attempts at swimming in the deep thought of complexities of societal constructs and the human condition, I see a challenge of the conventional notion that freedom is a universal truth, and instead, find myself wondering if equality is derived from our collective acknowledgment of the limitations and imperfections inherent in human existence.

So first, let me illustrate my thoughts and questions on the illusion of freedom. On days when I feel that "freedom doesn't exist," I always meditate on the questions about the nature of freedom. I always question whether true freedom is something achievable or is it just an idealistic view of the world that a lot of people "stand up" for. Most of the time, I feel like freedom is an illusion, as our choices and actions are influenced by various external factors such as culture, laws, and social norms. Other times, I feel that freedom is relative based on a person's individual privilege and their external circumstances.

For instance, a liberal may think they are free while living within societal constraints, yet a conservative may feel like they're in prison despite having the same legal rights and privileges. So is freedom an objective reality or a subjective experience, shaped by individual perception and context? Is it really true that one person's freedom is another person's prison? Or is the pursuit of absolute freedom a futile endeavor, since it's subtle and may even be an obstacle to understanding our shared human experience?

I want to shift the focus now towards equality and the commonalities that actually do unite and shape certain types of group dynamics. I believe our shared experiences of dissatisfaction or hardship are what truly make us equal, rather than any inherent or bestowed rights or laws we've been given. While I used to believe the opposite, I now deeply question if equality is a static state that can be granted or achieved through political or legal means alone. I don't think equality can be achieved anymore because it's a dynamic condition that emerges from the recognition of our collective struggles and vulnerabilities.

It is through these shared experiences that we empathize with one another, fostering a sense of solidarity and common ground. And that empathy is being completely destroyed on both the left and the right by this rise of trendy neoliberal populaism and anti-intellectualism. And yet, I sometimes wonder if a commonality of outrage serves as a foundation upon which we can build a more equitable and empathetic society, since it can allow us to see beyond superficial differences and appreciate the universal human experience. Who knows?

Now, when it comes to freedom, dissatisfaction is often a catalyst for change. Even in my agnostic rage against the Christianity I grew up with, I think Proverbs 29 does raise a point that when the wicked rule, the people groan. It is the discontent with the status quo (with the rich and tech industries getting richer while kissing the ring of conspirituality) that will drive progressive societies to challenge and overcome various forms of oppression and fascism throughout history. I'm not sure if we'll come to a place where outrage can be a unifying force that propels us toward greater equality, yet I always knew that our outrage rather than our peaceful disagreement comes from struggles and injustices, regardless of our individual freedoms.

The problem is that if progressives want freedom, they need to work on getting away from social media and its outrage and figure out more ways to organize together to address the underlying issue each local area faces, but it's so freaking hard when our entire system continually keeps us isolated (and the more privilege one lacks, the more isolated they become). After touching grass for a bit away from computer screens, collective effort can lead to societal advancements, as seen in the civil rights movements, where people united despite their diverse backgrounds to fight for a more equitable world. Hard times serve as a reminder that in most cases, we are not as divided as we might believe, especially up here in Canada when tariffs became a hot topic. Our commonalities can be leveraged to create a more equitable, inclusive, accessible, diverse, and just society.

After doing this intense thought experiment, I've concluded that before using the word freedom, every person living in a "Westernized" country should reevaluate their individual understanding of freedom and equality. The quest for freedom never was about achieving an unattainable state of absolute liberation. Real freedom is about what we can sacrifice for the purpose of creating a world where our shared humanity is recognized and valued. As for equality, it can't be exclusively a legal or political concept; it should be a lived experience of empathy and mutual respect, whether it's listening to a person who immigrated to the US or Canada share their fear of being deported, or listening to a man who's afraid that their masculinity will be eventually outlawed.

By figuring out what makes ALL people upset (especially when it comes to disability, race, LGBTQA+, and many other issues that could prevent the working class from going to their job the following day), we can cultivate a society that addresses the systemic issues that perpetuate inequality and strives for a more equitable distribution of power and resources. In order for our kids to make it to 2100, we must eventually move beyond the pursuit of individual freedom and instead focus on the common good, fostering a more interdependent and compassionate world. If anything, I want this chapter to be a stark reminder that true equality is not found in the absence of freedom but in the collective acknowledgment of our shared human condition and the collaborative efforts to improve it.