All life forms grow and mature to become independent and free. Personal independence and personal freedom are natural rights of all life forms.

Nature treats all life forms equally by being equally available to all. All life forms are born dependent but become free and independent in the richness of nature. There is no slavery, neither physical nor psychological, in the wilderness of nature.

Independence is the foundation of freedom. Greater the independence, greater the right to freedom and liberty. Freedom is natural in the wilderness whereas, freedom in the society is qualified, called liberty.

Meaning of Freedom

Freedom is a phenomenon of independence resulting from the cause and conditions including right to own will or conscience, right to own option and equal rights. If there is no equal right to own will, and no equal right to choose own options then there is no equal freedom.

Freedom is not wishfulness or the right to fulfill wishes. Freedom is a state arising like a phenomenon from conditions of right to own will, right to own options and right to equality in the universal context. In the universal context, freedom is harmonious with other life forms.

However, freedom in context of society if not equal, can go against the freedom of others. For example, religious or cultural freedom of one group can go against religious or cultural freedom of another group.

As free individual, you belong to yourself, depend on yourself and are responsible for yourself. As a free individual, you are a wild human.

Understanding Freedom Through Slavery

Freedom can be understood from the institution of slavery. Freedom is the opposite of slavery. Slavery is enforced without the right to own options and without equal rights.

Slave is not free because they are in slavery against their will. Slaves own what is provided by the master and slaves do not have right to equal status. Slaves are of the master, dependent on the master and for the master.

If you do not have will of your own, if you do not have right to own options, if you do not have equal rights, then you are not free. For example, women in some of the patriarchal conservative religious societies. If you are dependent, if you are for something other than yourself, and if you belong to something or someone, then you are not free.

A society without right to personal independence and personal freedom are big jails.

Personal Freedom Is a Natural Right

Personal freedom is natural. Personal freedom justifies itself. Freedom may have external objections, but it does not need external justification. Freedom is a natural human instinct and destiny. Infants wean, grow, mature, become independent and free. Freedom is a right and not a favor. Personal freedom is a necessary condition for life to flourish.

Freedom allows to make mistakes, learn from the mistakes, grow and mature. Without freedom, lifeforms remain immature because they cannot self-regulate, cannot self-organize and cannot grow to their full potential. Individual as well as society without the right to equal freedom will remain immature.

Liberty is Limited Freedom

Freedom is individual and liberty is institutional. Because society may not be able to accommodate the individual right to equal freedom, society may give and protect a restricted form of freedom called liberty. For example, kings and feudal lords allowed limited degree of freedom to their subjects through unequal rights.

Liberty is freedom in the context of society or within the framework of society and it’s institutions. Liberty is artificial. Autonomy is institutional. For example, educational institutions have autonomy due to which they independently operate within the premise of state laws. Freedom, liberty, or autonomy cannot exist without independence.

Independence Through Basic Natural Universal Rights

If you are independent, then you have the right to freedom. Women lose freedom due to their weakness and inability to assert themselves in a society where they are forced to depend on men.

Nature is the cradle of ferocity necessary for independence and freedom. Human strength, independence and freedom is hampered with the destruction of nature and stress inducing corruption of life-processes.

With destruction of nature and corruption of life processes, humans are unknowingly enslaved psychologically right at the beginning of their lives and hypnotized through imaginary false ideas to serve institutions of society owned by authorities. For example, the ideas of supreme creator or controller and eternal self or spirit.

By means of such unrealistic unnatural false ideas, the authorities of society mislead, polarize divide and conflict humanity to play the us-versus-them game and hoard resources to support their unnatural extravagant resource intensive lifestyles and ambitions.

In order to keep the revolutionary rich natural flame of independence burning and the light of freedom shining, it is necessary for all humans to be independent of society by having their basic natural human rights fulfilled universally because mother nature offers itself for free sufficient enough to meets the basic natural needs of all humanity.

Every human has equal right to personal independence, personal freedom, mother nature and to mother earth.