- The Never-Told Story -
Beyond any
legal definition of "freedom", this is materialized through each of
the decisions that individuals consciously and recurrently make. Thus, without
major formalities. And the specific area in which it takes place is none other
than that of everyday life. Self-evident truths that, however, we don't even
realize in an increasingly administered society.
A personal
anecdote from last May eloquently illustrates the (micro)social mechanisms
through which we can, practically without being aware of it, contribute to
stripping ourselves of our "little" everyday freedoms.
It turns
out that looking for a new scientific calculator to replace the now rickety and
malfunctioning one that I have been using for about 16 years, and being almost
the time when the shops close, I saw across the street the office supply store that
I used to frequent because there I found interesting things about stationery and
drawing.
Then I
headed towards the entrance and entered decidedly ... or at least that was my
intention, because the security guard at the door, staring at my bare feet,
asked me sharply: "What are you looking for when entering here, sir?" “To
buy a scientific calculator, sir!” I answered also sharply and looking into his
eyes. Visibly confused he said nothing more, impasse which I took the
opportunity to address the receptionist, who attended me quite naturally, as
well as do also the person in charge of the Electronics area.
There are
times when the freedoms - in this case, to dress as each wish - that each
individual has managed stubbornly and patiently to be granted by an increasingly
by inertia conventional society, are suddenly questioned by the advent of an
ideological climate opposed to self-determination, as occurs right now in this
country, when the brand new Federal Government has even announced a “Moral
Constitution” (!). (A matter in no way irrelevant or harmless: just imagine a
"badly paid sergeant" of the newly approved National Guard demanding
demure and composure to all the people who pass by!)
Going
barefoot is not by itself a political act, but it will always be a temptation
for the Power of any kind or size to turn it into that because it objectively
"disobeys" a conduct stipulated and obeyed by a submissive or
indifferent majority, but this new imposed meaning It can be reversed in favor
of the individual and turn it into an affirmation of his freedom, a way of
doing not alienated politics just by persevering with his usual barefooting.
It never
hurts to reconsider and value all these everyday petits riens in which our
modest individual freedom is embodied, since they are the best antidote against
the embeeches of those who call us to congregate around they assuming we feel
alone and alienated, be they openly religious preachers or ... the same, but with clothes of politicians or
rulers.
So,
whatever the theoretical and practical differences that each perceives regarding the standardized attitudes and behaviors of the majority, keep them
for your own good, that if you have come so far with them, it is because they
have improved and enriched your life, despite those who claim to want to
improve it... MORALIZING YOU!
And if yours
is also the BAREFOOTING, enjoy it twice, both for the well-being and sensuality
it provides, and for the FREEDOM you radiate when practicing it.
Fernando Acosta Reyes
(@ferstarey) is founder of the Investigative Society of the Strange
(SIDLE), professional musician and student of social behavior.
Image: www.stuff.co.nz
