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Freedom is a three-edged sword
01/09/2005 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
The definition of the term 'freedom' is rather diverse, especially dependent on how you pre-fix it, says Uncle Geoff. There's my freedom, your freedom and country freedom. Often as not, at least in the western world, they might even mean the same thing as long as your personal freedom does not infringe on the freedom of other people. Hello everyone
In less democratic societies, freedom is ruled far more by the country than the individual as to how much liberty you might or think you have. If you're brought up in such regimes, unless you've seen anything different, then this is your level of acceptance for normality as you have nothing to compare your life to. Indeed, there is always some level of non-freedom you'd prefer to leave to governmental control simply because they are either better informed, have more resources or just happy to pass the buck to. Mind you, with democracy there is always the opportunity to change the people in power which is often deprived in countries that don't believe in giving people some choice in who governs them.
Freedom is still hard to pin down to an exact definition. Freedom for and from what? If everyone had complete freedom there would be anarchy simply because it varies from person to person. For certain levels of sanitation, healthcare and such, we all get docked money as taxes to pay for such things. We might not necessarily like it but it is a necessary evil. The limiter comes with the definition of damage to others and where does freedom stop. If such things were unlimited than those with a criminal disposition could steal with abandon and it would be a field day for anyone with psychopathic tendencies to kill who they liked.
There has to always be a certain rein on how much freedom any one person can have and then that is dependent on the circumstances and who they are answerable to. It is to these rules that 'freedom' is mostly associated with. Violation of such rules, especially when it can range from theft to rape and murder which most societies regard as being unacceptable behaviour varies as to what should be done to such people ranging from imprisonment, amputation or death. It's an odd state of affairs that such crimes are still committed except under extreme circumstances or the possible belief they can just get away with it. Whether they learn better or not is open for debate another time and that isn't really part of this editorial.
What is always questionable is the level of freedom for all and the justification for adjusting the rules under certain circumstances. A war situation certainly changes things as to what can and should be done. People whose activities are questionable or serving the opposite side automatically gets classed as treasonable. The last thing you want are fifth columnists in your midst who are likely to put your country people at risk.
With the relative freedom to choose where you live these days should also be the house rule of when in Rome do what the Romans do and abide by the country's rules where you live. This has interesting consequences in places like the Middle East in regard to severe punishments to even in the western countries would be no more than a slap on the wrist in comparison. Getting a world-wide level of national acceptable behaviour associated to punishment is hard to negotiate or abide by.
Then again, this also raises odd questions as to how you define 'civilisation' as much as 'freedom'. Some countries definitely don't look like they're entered the 21st century and not dealing with people fairly. Whether the dividing line between the most wealthy and the most poorest within a country can be used as a measuring stick of prosperity is again debatable on how such situations are created. It is as much a dividing line as levels of intelligence. Those who have least don't always envy the ones who have most although the wealthiest do appear to get away with more liberty than they might deserve.
In Science Fiction, revolution and uprising or a desire for change in society is a mainstay. Stories invariably paint such activities in black and white where it is easy to spot the villains from the heroes or the oppressors from the suppressers. In real life, things are never so easy and there are always reasons to be examined, especially in terms of motivation and aftermath, to ensure that the results are better than when they started. Changing the people at the top doesn't necessarily change a regime. If anything, it just risks bringing in even worse rulers.
Proving that such a regime is ineffective or that there are better ways of governing can bring revolution although with mostly bloody consequences. In the long run, it is nations that learn and sort out their mistakes that will survive. For development, mankind's various civilisations depend on change to survive. To do otherwise, risks them becoming stagnant and uncompromising, often going out of control when they don't change to more acceptable circumstances. Socially, at least, the western world has evolved significantly in the past 50 years but its only subjective as to whether its better or worse, let alone where its going.
Earlier civilisations might have depended on miracles to resolve their problems. Today we have world leaders expecting technological marvels to sort out a crisis than simple restrictive solutions. Neither are very effective if taken in isolation. If generations are to survive then it's important that the right things are done today. Not just by leaders but by ourselves. Personal freedom, at the end of the day, is respecting the rights of others as much as your own. To do otherwise means having no freedom at all. I doubt if that's a world you would want to live in.
Thank you and good night Geoff Willmetts editor: SFCrowsnest.co.uk
(Less Serious) Thought For The Month: More an observation really regarding 'Star Wars'. Considering how Darth Vader could sense how strong Luke Skywalker was with the Force, don't you find it amazing that he didn't feel it from Leia Organa when he first captured her in 'A New Hope'? Granted she was untrained but even Luke was still learning his lessons at the time. Mayhap, the god Lucas hadn't realised the implication when he plotted the story in the 1970s.
Something Zen for neo-writers to ponder on: If you have to ask another writer where they get their ideas from, maybe you're not a writer yourself after all.
PS If you've survived this far in the editorial, let me reiterate something from the website newsletter and the above editorial. As you can see from the main page, we have one of the biggest SF/fantasy/horror monthly reviews columns on the Net. Our success has increased the number of books that comes in and our policy is to read everything before giving a review. You want the bottom line about what you're going to choose to read. We roadtest books so you have some idea of what you're letting yourself in for. That means actually reading the product and telling others what you think. For that, we're always on the outlook for more reviewers.
Apart from the ability to put words into sentences, you also need to know how to précis, either know or do a little research on associated subjects and can express opinions constructively expressing good and bad points about the books you read. You'll even get a little editorial help in how to write good copy and that can always lead to other things. I did say you have to love books and willing to read beyond your favourite authors, didn't I?
If you like reading books in the genre, think and show you can write a decent review and, most importantly, live in the British Isles (sorry, expense, time and distance travelled mostly prohibits elsewhere), then use the link below and see our requirements. We can't pay you but a review for the price of a book has to be a good incentive.
We have one of the most popular SF review columns on the Net. Do you think you're up to writing a review? If you think you can, then you're really going to think you've landed your hands in the biscuit tin. Review Guidelines:
PPS: For those keeping track, I'm still about 20 months (end of July 2003) behind. I've been looking at short stories this month as well.
With going through the ebook samples, I have removed some who've gotten published elsewhere. Thank you for your patience but let me know if you've sold elsewhere so I can reduce my pile or if you've changed address, especially e-mail address. I can't give you my comments unless either is up to date. Currently, doing spot-checks to see if you're still there when I reach your sample in the pile is making it easier on my time and catching up on the slush pile.
This isn't much of a repeat, just to show you're not forgotten. Those sending in ebook samples, be prepared for a long wait and read the Guidelines elsewhere on this website:
They are there to help you do some of the right things and reduce the number of times I'm repeating myself over silly grammatical errors and spelling mistakes that you shouldn't be making. It makes editing a lot easier if any editor has less work pointing out poor English which should have been sorted out in the first place and more focused on other areas of your work.
There's an old editorial adage, if you can't aim for perfection why should an editor nurse-maid you to that state? If you're a writer, then you should understand the words and grammar of the job you're supposed to be writing or are you considering it as mundane and boring as any other job to get right? Fall in love with making every sentence the best you're ever written, read up and understand the rules of grammar. Be prepared to put a story away for a few weeks and go back to it for a self-edit.
A lot of the time, errors will just stare you in the face when you didn't see them the first time round. Once you know where your weaknesses are, they can be sorted and allow you to move a little higher up the ladder towards making your material look its best.
Common Problems
Please don't confuse this with my short story slush pile which is kinda low at the moment. We're always willing to give short story writers a chance to be seen if they can withstand my scrutiny even if we can't pay for their efforts.
Short Stories
Don't forget also, we've got a teaching ground of one page stories, so check out the rules elsewhere on the website.
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