It's a matter of perspectives

Here lies the debris of my experiment in GP essay writing (graded by Ms Lim, and improved upon by me). It's a tad philosophical.

"Only in their dreams can Man be truly free." Comment.

Freedom is a desire that is innate in Man. Ask anyone on the streets, whether they like the feeling of stress, or having to shoulder responsibility, or feeling as if they were bound to time - a slave - helpless to the ticking of the watch, facing a brand new day. Ask again, if anyone would want a life with lesser restrictions, and the choice to not account for their actions. Ask a child, if he would prefer to play or to study; if only he had a choice. Ask an inhabitant of the Great Sahara, if he ever thought of living in a less harsh environment. This is how freedom is expressed unknowingly or explicitly, through a person's thoughts and actions.

The concept of freedom itself may not be actually real. In fact, freedom is an ideal that cannot be exemplified or realised in reality. It is an ideal because people put their faith in it, and wish for it incessantly, even though they themselves may not be aware. It is an ideal because there is no such thing as being truly free; having not to account for your actions and the impact of your actions on others, or not being restricted by any rule regardless whether these decisions are moral or not. It is an ideal also because a hermit living in complete isolation from others cannot claim that his actions in the way he lives does not impact or affect anyone, simply because he exists. Freedom is an ideal, albeit one that seems to manifest in certain societies because it is so sought after, true freedom cannot exist in reality. As such, Man can only hope to be truly free in their dreams.

Your parents first gave you a name, and your country gave you an identification number on your birth certificate when you were born. When you grow up, you are judged based on your merits and demerits - your strengths, intelligence, obedience, jail records - and your success in life is often determined by such factors. Labels. The onslaught of labels slapped onto you since the day you exist contribute to one reason why true freedom does not exist. Each label we accumulate represents accountability. For example, an university graduate who holds a degree in law is expected to be well-versed in the study, and his performance as a lawyer reflects on the credibility and ability of his university to churn out good students. Therefore, he is indirectly accountable for his actions to the university. Such accountability infringes on one's freedom, for he is no longer able to act like he wants to, but is bound by expectations and labels.

When we think of freedom and of a country, the first thing in mind that comes to us is often the United States of America. For Americans, they have long hankered after freedom. Americans are allowed to wield guns, they are allowed the privilege of free speech; but have they attained true freedom? I highly doubt so. Just like any other country, America has a hierarchy system which ranks the President at top and the common citizens at the bottom of the ladder. At each rung of the social ladder Americans have their duties and roles to play for the nation. Although small, the behaviour of one citizen can amass an effect large enough to impact the nation. Due to this effect, laws governing the nation are crucial to survival, and these restrictions (although beneficial to the country and its people) are nevertheless a barrier to Man's desire of being truly free in reality.

Imagine, when you retreat from reality and into your own world of dreams and imagination. You are free to make up stories of knights in shining armour and villains who kill for the fun of it. You see someone you have a crush on in your dreams and you manoeuvre yourself in the position to love that person. You see your nemesis, or the person who caused your parent's death and you kill him there. In your dreams, there are no restrictions, no one dictating that what you do is wrong, that you have failed. Man sees what he wants to, do as he pleases - to many, that is being truly free.

However, there is a question we should ask ourselves; do we not break out in cold sweat after we imagine ourselves killing someone, or feel happy after we had a good dream? My point here, simply, is that while we are free to dream about what we want, reality still hinges upon us in our dreams. Ever since we were young, reality had shaped our mindsets and our morals. Our reactions towards our dreams reflects who we are intrinsically. The shame, happiness, guilt and sorrow we experience after a dream happen because we are bound by reality. Even in dreams we often do not imagine ourselves doing something people term as 'crazy' - like running nude around a city. According to experts, the absence or presence of desires in our dreams often reflect what we want in real life, and since what we had experienced in real life is so hopelessly interwoven by labels and expectations and boundaries and socialised into us, we cannot say that we are truly free even in our dreams because we are eventually accountable to ourselves and what life has ingrained in us. Our heart, and drilled-in morality since young restricts us and prevent people from relishing in their freedom while in the state of dreaming.

The concept of freedom being an ideal, it is therefore impossible for Man to embrace it regardless whether he does so in reality or the dream world. Man is eventually accountable to himself and restricted by his own birth and his innate nature; he cannot be truly free.