The Illusion of Freedom

Growing up like so many in the United States, I was taken in with the awe of such a country where people were free to practice their own religion or believe generally whatever they wanted. This idealistic situation would have not even three hundred years ago have been seen as possible.  Such a utopia we were living in!

But like any utopia, the reality is that there is no such thing.  The sweeter the illusion, the nastier the fall to realism.  My childhood exploded with the destruction of the twin towers, and my idealism melted alongside the jet fuel induced steel beams.  September 11th allowed me to begin coming to grips with reality.  As I was continually blamed at my middle school for the deaths of those involved.  I remember specific remarks such as me pleading that I was a Jew not a Muslim.  The responses were always the same: "You don't believe in Christ just like the Muslims.  You are going to hell.  You are evil." Words that a young teen boy should never have to deal with.

But rather than dwell in the fact that I was being targeted despite having nothing to do with 9/11, I decided to learn about Islam.  In doing so, I decided that perhaps it would be easier to understand why the comparisons exist.  I quickly found similarities, but those similarities stem into far more than just religious texts.  Indeed, humanity seems to have similar rules wherever you go on how to behave.

Rules such as murdering is wrong, alongside stealing being immoral make sense to me.  They make sense to the world at large, hence why those laws appear just about everywhere.  But that got me thinking.  If such rules are universal, and freedom is about the ability to choose what rules to follow, are we truly free?

It seems to me, that freedom only extends so long as one keeps their head down and follows the rules.  Upstarts and rebels are punished not just by the law, but by their peers.  Seeing the world as an outsider courtesy of my Jewish Heritage has shown me that for all our advancements, tribalism still guides humanity.  

To that end, the lovely ideas we subscribe to in America: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, seem to have fine print attached to them.  This superscript adds that "these rights shall vanish into the night the moment you stop following the complex laws put in place by those in power"

Many people constantly talk about the cost of freedom.  They will give you differing definitions about what that cost is.  My answer to this cost is simple.  There is no cost.  Freedom is an illusion. The cost for something that is fake is in fake currency.  Freedom is the ability to live lie according to standards chosen.  I do not think humanity favors freedom.  Instead we favor stability and control in our lives.  Freedom is the opposite of such ideals: Instability, chaos, and uncertainty.

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Another: Spoiler Free Review

Getting back into the swing of things, here is another anime review, just for you.  (Yes, I am absolutely terrible)

I was told to watch Final Destination the Anime for quite some time and as of the writing of this post, it has been some time again since I watched the show.  However, like death, one must be patient to appreciate art and even more so to get a clear review on said art.

Anyway, Another is a psychological thriller featuring a school that is cursed in a most unusual way.  Many years before the start of the story, a class refused to acknowledge that one of their students had died.  This defiance of the laws of nature somehow caused the class to move closer to death.  Unfortunately, in this case, death does not like this closer union.

Every year, the curse creates an extra student who in reality is not alive.  Unfortunately, thanks to the power of reality warping, neither the student nor the class know the truth and even the records of the school update as if nothing is wrong.  However, the moment this extra student appears in the class, Death tries to fix the problem, by causing painful ends to the students.

With plenty of side plots that become increasingly important and fatalities that can sometimes come off as extremely absurd, this anime requires the viewer to pay very close attention to each detail.  As the truth slowly unravels, the ante is upped alongside the extreme and gruesome aspects to this tale that would make Edgar Allen Poe proud.

For lovers of this genre, Another will not disappoint.  To those who are not as used to this genre, a couple warnings in advance.  Deaths are graphic, cruel and unusual.  The second warning is that the pacing can seem a little strange at times.  Murder mysteries can do this at times for the sake of drama, but for those that are uninitiated, this can seem a bit jarring.

All and all though, I would recommend this anime to enthusiasts as well as those who like murder mystery. Another will not disappoint so long as it is given a chance to deliver.