A Man Can Be Free: Freedom and its Limitations

Though human beings are entitled to manifest and use their freedom, many people still do not
live free lives. For such people, freedom is a possibility but not an actuality or a reality. The general
statement of “A man is free” is further modified into “A man can be free.” The lack of freedom can be
lived in many different ways such as a life of chance, social pressure and a life governed by feelings,
rules and needs.

Initially, one may live a life of chance. It is characterized as living fatalistically since it is
dominated and guided by a blind force such as destiny and chance. The human being’s life is controlled
by chance. In this type of unfree lifestyle, there is no sense of such an external power since life is
conceived to be a matter of happenings that control the system and flow of one’s life. For instance, a
student may study in school for compliance since the student’s uncle is paying for his/her tuition fee. A
person whose life is guided by chance doesn’t make an effort to control his/her life due to the fact that
his/her actions are guided by the events that arise. Though the power to choose may be present, the
person stays idle and never activates the power of choice.

Another type of unfree life is once controlled by social pressure such as the influence of family,
friends and culture. Trends and culture pay a big role towards a human being causing them to follow the
bandwagon through social pressure. Human beings carry traits and characteristics founded on what is
dictated by the society. As a result, the exercise of freedom is absent or limited form such a life.

Feelings, also, is correlated to freedom and it may affect one’s choices. When feelings dominate
and take control of a human being at any particular moment, there may be a variation in the way they
may exercise their freedom. In this type of unfree life, it is brought up by less cognition and little time
for critical thinking about one’s lives and what one should have done. Hence the primary feelings that
can dominate the human life are pleasure and pain.

Life’s reality further is impacted by rules. Rules are accepted principles that serves as a norm to
maintain discipline and order in society. Although strict rules establish order and a system of consistency
of each individual’s good conduct, there is no room for human choice, freshness, life and spontaneity.
Lawyers are great examples for they get so preoccupied with legal procedures that justice is suddenly
forgotten. What is lost, above all, is freedom itself.

Ultimately, human beings also neglect their freedom when their lives are steered by needs.
These basic needs are composed of food, clothing, shelter, security and companionship. For instance,
when somebody is hungry, his/her thought and first focus would to indulge in eating. This proves that
for a full human life, one truly must prioritize and attend to their basic human needs first.