In this day and age, the mind is a terrible thing to waste. The mind encompasses the way in which all things are executed. Most don’t realize the difference between common sense and being book smart. If you think about it an individual can be educated and still make incompetent decisions. Without an open mind one is restricted to what you read in books, or what one has been told. It all comes down to how well an individual can critically think.
The statement is a touchy one, simply because it is hard to depict if an individual is every really free. In what sense are you free? The media tells its audience (individuals) how to think, what is acceptable, what is pretty, what to wear, what to eat, etal. So when are we really free? The only way to be truly free would be to rid oneself of all prior knowledge. To officially think and speak for oneself, and operate with no prior knowledge to influence ones thoughts.
The only individual that is not tainted by the media or any other outside influences is a baby, because they are born without sin and haven’t seen this corrupt world. Nevertheless this baby grows up to watch TV and then gets influenced by the media and is introduced to the rules that government have instilled in their parents. Man is born free but everywhere in chains, because after birth the government enforces rules, which depict what is acceptable and what is available.
Furthermore, yes humans can move freely, but the government has enslaved the mind. Individuals are taught not to oppose the rules that they have put in place. This is another reason why critical thinking is so important. Individuals have to learn how to question the system, and how to oppose what is taught. The way in which Educational authority is set up, one is taught based off a syllabus. One is taught to stay inside the lines, but critical thinking causes individuals to see past the illusion of books and ask the unquestionable.
The late great Bob Marley said “I’d rather have street smarts, than be book smart.” Simply stating that conforming to what is taught or being said is not exactly the smartest thing to do. To live and experience life and ask all the questions and seek the answers would be more sensible; but everybody doesn’t know how to break the never ending cycle of mental slavery. Man is born free but everywhere in chains, because we are slaves to a system that is instilled to keep the uneducated, uneducated.
