Berlin: Freedom

I have this one seminar about politics. The lecturer is a former senator of Kansas and is now giving us classes on politics. We had the homework to write on page about what freedom means to us, since he was curious if it would be different from what he knows people of the US think about that topic and what it means to them.

Actually, that was not that easy for me.

Here is what I turned in. Might seem very naive and plain to some of you, but it is just the simple truth about what came to my mind. What would you answer to the question: What does freedom mean to you?

Freedom.

Sitting down to write this page on what freedom means to me, has turned out to be one of the most difficult tasks during my studies so far. I do not even really know why. Maybe it is because it is such a broad topic? We usually get pretty clear tasks and know what we have to research or do. That could be a reason. Another reason could be that I do not really know what freedom means to me. Why have I not thought about it before?

                Is that not a question everyone is faced with in his life? Why is it so hard for me to answer? I think maybe because I never felt un-free. Maybe you just think about things like that really hard when you do not have them? In my life I thought a lot about how it would feel like to be a man, to live in Canada, to be rich, etc. But I never really thought about how it is to be a woman, to live in Germany, to be a poor student… because I am all of these things. It is what I experience every day, so why should I think about how it feels? And maybe I am just relatively free in comparison to others and so I never really thought about it. I have taken it for granted; my freedom.
                So, which freedom do I mean? For example: I can, in this paper, pretty much write what I want. I can write about how I do not believe in any god, how I do not like Angela Merkel, how I think women should be treated equally to men, how I think there should be no capital punishment and how I think obese people should be slapped in the face and get their shit together. Are some of these statements provocative? Are they maybe even wrong? Do I offend people with that? Maybe, but I do not care, since I know I have nothing to fear. I can pretty much speak my mind in this situation, in my country, in my city, in my life. I am a white woman living in Berlin, in Germany. I can pretty much have provocative opinions about everything and everyone without being afraid of any major consequences (despite being hated by obese people).
                In other countries in the world, other situations, other circumstances, people could get thrown into prison, punished or even killed if they would say some of the above named things publicly. They would have to keep these things for themselves and be quiet to protect themselves, their families or friends. But I can pretty much say what I want. I only have to “fear” certain social consequences or a weird look from someone who does not agree with me. In my situation speaking openly is even requested, especially as a student of cultural studies. I do not fear anything but my dentist. I guess that must be freedom.