Happy Independence Day. But before we celebrate it with flags, patriotic songs, speeches, and the usual feeling that we are finally free, I think we should ask ourselves what freedom actually means. People once fought colonial rule because they believed that no foreign power should have the authority to control their lives, their choices, their information, or their future. Yet today, while we call ourselves independent, people are still fighting and dying on borders, being sent into situations where they may sacrifice their lives for an idea of freedom that many of us never stop to examine. We tell ourselves that we are free because there is no foreign ruler sitting above us, but from the perspective George Orwell explored in 1984, freedom can disappear without chains, prisons, or an obvious dictator. It can disappear when surveillance becomes normal, when governments and institutions can monitor devices, locations, communications and movements, when data is continuously collected through digital systems, government IDs, cameras and CCTV, and when the individual slowly becomes transparent to the system while the system remains increasingly invisible to the individual. And perhaps the most powerful form of control is not forcing people to obey, but convincing them that they are choosing freely. Patriotism, flags, national pride, borders, enemies and the constant language of sacrifice can become powerful instruments of mass manipulation when people are encouraged to fight one another emotionally while the structures of power remain unquestioned. The irony becomes even greater when ordinary people are told to cross borders, celebrate freedom and proudly call themselves warriors while others are expected to stand at those borders and die protecting an idea of freedom that they themselves may never fully experience. I am not saying that people should not defend one another, nor am I condemning those who choose the defence services; if you genuinely believe in protecting your people and you choose to fight for them, that is your decision, and I will always respect the courage it takes to put your life on the line. But I personally have never had that desire, and I do not believe that my freedom requires me to become a soldier or prove my patriotism by fighting for a nation. My idea of freedom is different. I want to understand the power structures around me rather than blindly worship them. I want to understand money, influence, surveillance, propaganda, social conditioning and the psychology of crowds. I want to know who benefits when millions of people are made to think and behave in the same way. I would rather understand the machinery of power than simply become another person operating inside it. And perhaps that is why, ironically, when the moment actually comes and everyone leaves their homes declaring themselves warriors, freedom fighters and defenders of their nation, I might still be the person standing at the front, holding the flag and receiving the credit.....not because I suddenly became the most patriotic person in the room, but because I understand how power dynamics work, how symbols work, how money works, and how easily mass emotion can be directed. I am not claiming that I have escaped every system or that I possess some perfect definition of freedom; I am simply saying that I refuse to confuse independence with freedom. Political independence may have been achieved decades ago, but individual freedom is something that has to be questioned, protected and understood every single day. So yes, celebrate Independence Day. Respect those who sacrifice their lives. Stand beside the people who genuinely protect others. Hold the flag if you believe in what it represents. But also ask yourself who taught you what the flag represents, who benefits from your emotions, who has access to your information, who can watch you, who can influence you, and whether you are actually free.....or merely convinced that you are. I may sound cynical, rebellious or even arrogant saying all of this, but I would rather be intellectually uncomfortable than emotionally manipulated. I know what freedom means to me, I know that independence and freedom are not necessarily the same thing, and I will always choose to be the master of my own mind before becoming a soldier for someone else's narrative. Still, to every person who genuinely believes in this country, to every person who protects another human being, and especially to those who willingly put themselves in danger for others: Happy Independence Day.
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