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From my perspective, freedom is impossible. As at the moment freedom is obtained, the chains of responsibility get shackled to every moment thereafter. One of the most attractive parts of Steem for me has been that I am free to act as I choose, make the decisions I do - and take the rewards *and punishments* for my actions. Too many people think they are entitled to the upside only. 

What would you sell your freedom for? What price of Steem would you take happily take if you knew it would kill the decentralized nature of Steem and the value this blockchain has to so many of the community?

https://i.imgur.com/xVx7Xk6.jpg

We all want gains. We all want better lives. We all want a return on our investment whether we have put in our hard-earned fiat, or our blood, sweat and tears to earn through sweat equity. *Everyone* wants *something.* 

But at what cost? What something makes the expected pain and suffering of others worth it? What are you willing to sell your values for? 

I find a lot of people talk about their worth on Steem and how for their time isn't worth this or that reward, that the reward isn't worth their effort. People talk as if they have a very good sense of their self-worth, yet most seem to have put little thought into what they actually value.

Perhaps it is a symptom of the times and society, as the individual has taken precedence over the community, whilst the same individual has been devalued into a disposable consumable. We have come to value the number of connections over the depth of relationship and the difficulty of relationships can be avoided as there are so many more connections waiting to hook up. People love the diversity and the possibility of all the options - but miss the intimacy and the understanding that only comes through relationships developed across time and through thick and thin. 

They say that everything has a price. Is it true? How many parents would sell their child, and how many would give up their own life to save a child? With every action there is a cost, but it doesn't mean there was a willing sale. 

But Steem is an opt-in platform, *no one* is forced to be here, everyone can come and go as they choose. Yet, many of those who stay do not want to take the *responsibility* of their actions nor the maintenance requirements of the community. Again, everyone wants only upside, without recognizing that there is *always* a downside. 

>For every action, there is a reaction.

And every interaction is going to exert forces that have consequences, intentional or not. People want to be free to act, but do not want to deal with the reaction, unless it is positive and in their favor. Yet, they do not want others to act as they please. 

>"Let me be unrestricted and unchecked me, but you must do as I command."

That is not Freedom. Freedom is to be open to unrestricted upside and downside - the metaphorical *heaven and hell,* and all that lays between. 

We are seeing the actions of entitlement to upside without the grime of the downside now, a child who expects to have every desire granted - that child is the society we have created - where everyone is special, talented and deserving of a prize no matter their skill, effort or behavior. 

We have created an illusion of upside on social media, the presentation and branding of ourselves to show our best side, to signal our strengths, advertise our intelligence and skills and avoid our weaknesses and ugly. We have put our lives *on the line* and we sell them for hearts, stars and likes from strangers, the options that make us feel good about ourselves on the surface without providing the nutrition to dig deeper, to find out just who we are. 

The parent will sacrifice themselves in the place of their child because of the depth of relationship, not the blood of family. The freedom of unrestrained love is no freedom at all, as it *demands* the sacrifice under circumstances - it binds one to another and the lack of limitation opens one up to the most intense pain imaginable. The pain of the ultimate loss.

I have considered that loss as a parent, as I held my daughter in my arms as she had seizures, was unresponsive and I couldn't recognize her face - I have run through the most terrible of scenarios a thousand times while sitting useless in hospital waiting rooms. 

This is Freedom.

The exposure to the experience of uncontrollable pain. Unprotected. Freedom isn't being able to do what one wants, it is about being completely open to all that comes one's way and understanding that *what will be, will be.* This doesn't mean standing frozen, it means accepting the consequences of moving and knowing that it isn't always going to work out as planned, isn't all upside - and there may not be a reward.

And here we are, back at the rewards. Everyone wants a reward - but how can one know the level of prize if one doesn't even know what their values are? Find out what you value and then ask yourself - what will you sell them for.

We think our values are worth something, yet we put a price on our freedom. 

#FreeSteem

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]

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