Making Sense of Freedom
As we claim our natural global power, leader worship loses its luster.
An excerpt from Making Global Sense: Grounded hope for democracy and the earth (inspired by Thomas Paine’s Common Sense)
![When men [sic] yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon." - Thomas Paine](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2Nl1!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa307fac4-8d19-461f-8bd9-0195a943a24a_1800x1800.heic "When men [sic] yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.\" - Thomas Paine")
OUR 21st century is setting the course for humanity and the planet. Will we feed our old craving for autocracy or new hunger for democracy? By healing our hidden inner conflicts, by seeing our natural oneness and innate equality, we may yet avert climate catastrophes and terrible dictatorships.
To end tyranny in our world, first end it in our minds. If authority addiction and split perceptions trap us in shadow self-deceptions, we may default to trusting in kings and escaping from freedom.
When I accept as a fact that light is being me in the act of being all, (first premise in reasoning), I make sense of life as one. I release crippling victimhood, own my power. I'm a generator, waiting to respond.
My shadow trap is that I want to control outcomes, so I feel secure. Fear feeds the grumpy old tyrant within, so confusion and doubt overrule reason and conscience. In youth, I trusted a cult for my “truth,” so life made sense. To feel accepted and loved, I lied to myself. Took years of tears and pain to regain my freedom of heart and mind.
Making sense of liberty in a new way today, I seek freedom from all abuse of authority, and I seek the freedom to be me as I am — a living growing being. I claim the natural right to be conscious, to govern my own mind, to choose which wolf I’m going to feed in my head and heart. Seeing our oneness, our interconnectivity, I can choose to live free responsibly, creatively, kindly, and gratefully.
The despots’ biggest Big Lie is that democracy is a “failure.” The hoax is belied by democratic success stories in communities and businesses, like social entrepreneurs. Participative problem-solving and decision-making yields excellence, doing it reliably and consistently enough to prove the theory. Collaborative teamwork is more dynamic and long-term effective (not efficient) than letting a boss think for us. As mindfulness and personal sovereignty displaces despotic mental habits, democracy gets doable.
As we claim our natural global power, leader worship loses its luster. As bullies with feet of clay are exposed, if true believers admit heroes lied, their worldview crumbles. The mindmap crumples.
Since January 6, 2021, and since November 5, 2024, I’m forced to admit that half of my fellow Americans see reality very differently than I do. They sincerely believe Trump won in 2020, They believe Biden stole the election. They believe they have a duty to rebel against the government and dismantle it. Beholding the flipside so starkly is unsettling. For me, these people believe a lie. For them, I’m the one who’s deluded.
Living in a cult as a youth helps me honor how Trump can make sense to good people. In every land, anyone can believe a big lie is The Truth. The most intelligent of us can become true believers if untrained in critical thinking and emotional literacy. Sharing some secret truth makes us feel special, so we buy into conspiracy theories, such as a Jewish plot to rule the world. Losing our loneliness in belonging, we believe because we want to believe. We are “thinking for ourselves” in groupthink silos, research rabbit holes, swirling mindwarp maelstroms. Our minds are not our own.
Tyranny over our minds is the opposite of mindful self rule.