FREE TO CHOOSE

If a man or woman is free, then he or she is certainly free to choose.

In fact, the freedom to make an internal mental decision can never be removed from an individual except by the physical impairment of his or her mind.

So long as a man or woman lives, he or she is able to make up his or her own mind as to what he or she wants to do. This is true even of a slave!

This is one reason why slavery is such an unsatisfactory condition. It is so hopelessly unrealistic.

The physical fact of the matter is that each person does control his or her own (and only his or her own) thinking processes! In a state of slavery, however, the slave acts as though his mind has been made up for him by the slave master.

Since in reality this is not actually physically possible, the relationship between slave and slave master is impractical. The slave is only playing a role - he or she is acting as though he or she were a slave.

The slave master too, is only pretending. He acts as though he can think for his slave when, in fact, he cannot.

It is possible, of course, for a person to be conditioned or, through fear, to "willingly" play a particular role.

It is quite probable, however, that even the most obedient and docile slave thinks his own thoughts and knows full well that he is only playing a role, like any actor, and is not naturally a slave to anyone.

So we say that a man or woman who is free, is free to choose. And, in contrast, we say that a man or woman who is a slave will have his or her choices made for them.