New Four Freedoms

Sunny, rainy, stormy, changeable day in Spring.

Four Freedoms

The Mensa Journal  for April/May 2017 published a "new"set of Four Freedoms.  We all are acquainted with the pictures that Norman Rockwell painted based on President Franklin D. Roosevelt;s famous speech in 1941, where he cited "freedom of speech,"  "freedom of religion,"  "freedom from want," and "freedom from fear," as the main needs of the U.S. in time depression and possible world war.

Karl Albrecht wonders if these cultural "icons" will be part of the American psyche fifty years from now. The digital environment is creating the need for new "freedoms," such as:

Freedom From Media\
Freedom from Commerce
Freedom from Politics
Freedom from Religion

Freedom from Media

Having the right to choose when to tune in to the electronic culture and when to shut the damn noise off.  It seems that we are becoming a society "who fear both intimacy and solitude, and who can't find joy in silence?"  Elaine is constantly asking me to shut off the radio or CD player and have a little quiet time.

Karl sez:  (after throwing out his TV)  "...since I got serious about input selection... I've felt that my brain has been cleansed and liberated."

Freedom from Commerce

"...we've evolved into a society in which we as citizens are automatically deemed obligated to produce and consume at the maximum possible rate..."   Buy, Buy, Buy!

Karl sez:  "Each of us can (should) declare our independence from the constant mind programming that urges us to buy more and have more."

Freedom from Politics

Mark Twain said:  "We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going, and then we go with the drove."  My grandfather voted as a Democrat and I vote as a democrat, even though I say I am an Independent.  Why do we need parties anyway?

Karl sez;  "We should let go of emotional attachment to any brand name political party ideology, tribe or hero figure."

Freedom from Religion

"Surveys repeatedly indicate that nearly 30 percent of Americans completely reject the scientific concept of species evolution == ranking them 29th world wide in scientific orientation, just ahead of the people in Turkey."

Karl sez:  "Belief in the essential premise of science - that knowledge and understanding are forever evolving = is actually a deeper and more profound 'faith' than worshiping the old white guy with the beard."

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