Freedom, a card to provoke thought and debate about the importance of free speech and free thought
My design on this card is intended to stimulate thought and debate about freedom.
The card measures approximately 178 x 126 mm.
It is printed on 280 gsm Fine Art card stock.
The inside is coloured but blank, so you can add your own greeting.
It comes with a strong brown kraft paper envelope (about 195 x 138 mm - so you can fit a letter in it).
The card can fit in an A5 frame.
The design featured on this product is copyright.It is not to be copied, reproduced or distributed in any form without my written consent.The card is available from Etsy here:
https://www.etsy.com/nz/listing/1243190684/freedom-a-card-to-provoke-thought-and
Please support my efforts to get people thinking and talking about important issues, by buying products with my designs on them, and use them to get conversations going.
You can find more of my designs on various products at:
https://www.etsy.com/nz/shop/TheThinkProject2018
https://www.redbubble.com/people/Think2018/shop
https://www.zazzle.com/store/thethinkproject2018
In a civilised society we cannot be totally free to say or do whatever we want. For example we aren't free to kill or rape. We aren't free to threaten to murder or harm people, or damage their property. We aren't free to act in a way that could harm others such as reckless or drunk driving. We aren't free to steal or defraud people. We aren't free to take part in crime, or encourage or enable crime. We aren't free to incite, encourage or enable violence. Such restrictions on personal freedom are to protect society, and are justified for the common good.
However, we are increasingly being corralled into a totalitarian-like restriction of permitted language and thought, by powerful and influential groups with agendas; which have weaponised the internet, and undermine the internet as a public commons of exchange of information, ideas and opinion.
There is a famous book, written by Ray Bradbury called Fahrenheit 451. It is about a dystopian future when books are banned, because someone might be offended by what they read or saw in a book. The result is an ignorant, easy to control society.
George Orwell's classic book, 1984 was about a dystopian future which involved perpetual surveillance by Thought Police on the look-out for "thoughtcrime" (those who swayed from dictated group think, or who dared show the slightest sign they weren't in agreement with The Party and Big Brother's policies or who questioned things when the state altered history and facts to suit their purpose. The Party and Big Brother progressively narrowed and changed permitted language.
Consider the current control of information we are exposed to - the push of certain ideas and notions of what is true or false, right or wrong, good or bad, normal or abnormal - and the suppression of counter-arguments.
How can the public be fully informed and make independent decisions if The Party (governments) and Big Brother (internet platforms) manipulate information and suppress or outright censor information or arguments they don't want the public to hear?
"Freedom requires free speech and free thought.
We must be able to think for ourselves, and say what we think out loud - whether we are right or wrong, serious or silly, or offer praise or criticism, or a different opinion.
Bar the restriction of the incitement or encouragement to commit violence or crime, if what we are allowed to say or think is controlled - we are not free."