Is it better to die free, or live the life of a slave?

Does anyone believe freedom is good? and how did freedom get started?

Good quesiton:

Neither state may persist. Patrick Henry said "Give me liberty or give me death."

I prefer living to dying.

Too much freedom is not good, but where does one draw the line?

The only true freedom we have is our thoughts. We are restricted with freedom of expression and actions. We like to think that we enjoy the most freedom of any other country. That is an illusion. We should take the liberties we need to enjoy life within the framework of freedom we have without violating the rights of others. To feel free is what counts.

As for dying free, I suppose you have freed yourself from a life you didn't want.
Living the life of a slave? Unless you were a slave you don't know what it is like. Many are enslaved by thoughts. That, in my opinion, is worse than restriction of movement. Being told what to think is enslavement.

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Is it better to die free, or live the life of a slave?

An interesting question, Dom.

Maybe a definition of freedom would help the discussion. It's a pretty broad word that means different things to different people.

Is slavery the only alternative? Does it have to be a life or death issue?

What comes to my mind as I read - especially as a writer, I suppose - is that you cannot have freedom without some structure. It is like a sentence. Accept the structure and you are free to express any thought you wish. Ignore the structure and your words are meaningless.

Extrapolate that a little, and thoughts become actions.

Just me.

Ann

Children are not free, I am glad they live.

5/24/2011

I have known people who lived under Communism
they had no freedom of speech, no freedom to buy
what they wanted, told where to live, you couldn't
speak out at the govt., you would be put into prison.
The country Cuba, I've known several people who fled
for their lives......Read :

" Visions Of Freedom"

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There's a famous study that is part of every teacher's learning experience. Two groups of children were sent out to recess. The first group went into a field where there were no fences or borders and were told they could go anywhere but they had to return at the bell. the second group went into a field where fences marked the actual recess area. They were told to stay within the fences until the bell rang. The totally free group hung out in little groups without playing very much and were anxious to return when the bell rang. The fenced group played many games and ran all over the fenced in field, not at all anxious to return to class with the bell. The moral: Sometimes boundaries provide freedom. The lack of boundaries creates anxiety.

dkchristi wrote:

There's a famous study that is part of every teacher's learning experience. Two groups of children were sent out to recess. The first group went into a field where there were no fences or borders and were told they could go anywhere but they had to return at the bell. the second group went into a field where fences marked the actual recess area. They were told to stay within the fences until the bell rang. The totally free group hung out in little groups without playing very much and were anxious to return when the bell rang. The fenced group played many games and ran all over the fenced in field, not at all anxious to return to class with the bell. The moral: Sometimes boundaries provide freedom. The lack of boundaries creates anxiety.

Ann

Excellent question. my first inclination would be to die for freedom as I know( or have known it) but my second thought would be to live and fight behind the scenes. I think it would depend on a lot of variables.

I'm calling off the experiment. I don't think it can work on a forum. I think it would throw a light on the meaning of freedom if it could be done.

We have no water--no worries we won't be alive very long.

You may die...I won't. Are you in if the others are?

If a few others would like to join, you're welcome.

Drinking water being one of the most important considerations, improvise containers to catch rain water. That could be in the form of large leaves that can funnel the water into the plastic bags. Drink one bottle of wiskey and save the other for medicinal purposes. Use the empty bottle to store water. Begin a rationing program. Search the island for food. With seven people, three teams of two to conduct the search leaving one person to remain at the base camp.
That's a beginning.

I believe if the experment were real, Abe would have come out alive.

Sorry I can't wait around to catch rain water. I must have water often to take my medications.

I am dead so now you only need worry about six people.

Alice,
water is very important. Sea water is not drinkable. Desalination, removing the salt from the water is being used in the Middle East and there is also a large desalination plant in Tampa, Florida.

High temperature evaporation is the most common form of desalination. It is possible to boil sea water and use the droplets. That takes a long time, however it is an option. Collecting dew is another source of water for survival. Every little bit is important.

If a stream on the island could be found, and the water boiled to kill the bacteria, that would be the simplest way to go. Of couse that assumes that there is a way to make a fire.

No matches? Anyone ready to rub sticks together? Anyone capable of finding the right stone to create a spark?

In desperate survival situations, people become creative. No one suggests that it will be easy.

Dying free would definently be better then dying as a slave in my opinion. And witht that being said, sometimes I wish I was a bird...

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Desalination, removing the salt from the water is being used in the
Middle East and there is also a large desalination plant in Tampa,
Florida.

One of the earliest in this country, and one of the largest, is in Freeport, Texas. I dated a guy from Freeport during my college days, and saw it on a visit to the city. At the time, it was extremely expensive, and had a very low yield.

Ann

A desalinated date with a low yield?

Sorry Ann, couldn't resist.

He was a frat rat. What can I say?

Ann

We had a desalination watermaker on our sailboat. Water came in through a huge hose. A very tiny stream of water was salt free. It took a very long time to get a quart of drinkable water.Very thick, salty water went out. Certain sea creatures were always gumming it up. We had to be sure we were out to sea or the crud in a harbor would gum it up. Our best water was collected during rain storms. Our bimini had a dropped corner that fed into a hose that we connected to the tank. I'd also catch some in clean containers for drinking. We bathed in salt water. The problem with the watermaker was the requirement for power to operate.

Wo said, "Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink?"

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Abe, except it was literally, "Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink." It's from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. It had to do with the drought and doldrums brought on a ship and crew because of the mariner's killing of the albatross.

Ann

Thanks, Ann.

It's nice to know there is still an occasional use for an old English teacher.