The most distinguishing characteristic of a human being is freedom. Human beings are born to be free. Animals are determined. Animals cannot engage in evil acts. Humans because of their freedom can. Humans without freedom are also determined. Their owners make choices for them. There was a time in the United States when persons belonging to the white race debated if black persons had souls. It was easier for them to treat the black race (African Americans) like animals especially if they were thought not to have souls. In the caste system, however, the so-called low castes were thought to be lower forms of humans. The most interesting and amazing thing is that in all this human's inhumanity to human, two major religions (Christianity in the west and Hinduism in the east) had given not only their stamp of approval but also actively participated in them. Practitioners of these evil systems were religious persons. Pockets of discriminations still exist in different parts of the world. For instance, in my recent visit to Pampa, whence the pilgrimage starts on foot to the famous Sabarimala shrine in Kerala, there was a notice stating that girls and women between the age of 10 and 50 could not visit the shrine. Certain exclusive clubs in the west would limit admission only to whites and men. That freedom and equality are in the laws or constitutions of countries does not mean that they are practiced in reality. It is also difficult to think that our own ancestors were part of such evil, satanic race and caste systems. Yet who knows we, in our lack of wisdom and awareness, could very well have been part of these very systems that we are now condemning. Millions of heroic people all over the world throughout centuries died for their freedom and for what they believed in. Gandhiji was once asked as to how he would face Nazism in Germany, where about 60 lakhs (6 million) Jewish people were killed between 1933 and 1945 in what is known as Holocaust – the most abhorrent genocide in humanity - in a non-violent fashion. His response was that one should be willing to face death as a soldier would for his country. It is very important to examine if freedom is worth the sacrifice of one's life. The immortal words "Give me liberty, or give me Death" uttered at the end of a speech in 1775 by Patrick Henry fighting for American Independence from colonial Britain still reverberates in the air for all freedom loving people.

             It is also important to keep in mind various types of freedom: political, economic, social, moral, inner, and even glorious liberty of God's children. Political freedom involves not only freedom from foreign invading armies or gradual occupying forces but also from native kings/queens, dictators, or pseudo-democratic autocrats. Many nations had to struggle and undergo long painful suffering to become free from colonialism, dictatorships, authoritarian regimes, or hereditary monarchies. In the last twenty years, for instance, the collapse of authoritarian Soviet Union spawned many new democratic nations. Nelson Mandela spearheaded a non-violent movement to free South Africa from legally institutionalized segregation of races (apartheid) and immoral white supremacy. I consider Mandela's becoming the first president of free South Africa after 27 years of horrendous prison life in apartheid South Africa to be a true miracle and an exceptional testimony to the human spirit. The king of Nepal was forced out of power a few years ago. A few weeks ago, Ben Ali, the president of Tunisia, a dictator for 23 years, fled the country after being forced out of power by popular outrage. As I am writing this, the popular protests in Egypt are coming to a head, and the position of Hosni Mubarak, an autocratic president of the country for 30 years, is very precarious. All this tells us that human beings are more and more aware of their rights, and they want political freedom and democracy as their inalienable rights. In a true and enlightened democracy there is no role for nominal monarchies as head of states with limited powers or political dynasties. The writing is clearly on the wall for all people to see and voluntarily relinquish, before it is too late, any power that does not come from any elected positions in a true and enlightened democracy. This also applies to religious organizations such as the Catholic Church governed by a self-perpetuating monarchy-like hierarchical structure modeled on the old imperial Roman system as well as a theocratic system of government directed by a supreme mullah as, for instance, in Iran. People all over the world are waking up, and are less willing to tolerate anything that compromises with their rightful political freedom.

             About five months after India's political independence and three days before Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated he stated in 1948 that it was more difficult to attain economic, social, and moral freedoms than political freedom. Economic freedom implies that one does not lack the very bare essentials such as food, clothing, shelter, and medicine. We have made tremendous strides in per capita income, life span, and health. Deaths due to starvation and lack of primary health care have mostly disappeared. Yet there is still rampant poverty side by side with great opulence and waste. By far the vast majority of the people of the world still live below the line of poverty. They do not have the economic resources to live a life with dignity. Yet according to a recent study published in Lancet 500 hundred million people in the world are overweight or obese. The whole world is shrinking into a global city in an era of instant communication, high-speed transportation, extensive travel, and high mobility. In such a world aggressive consumerism is using expensive commercials and advertisements marked by highly sexually seductive poses to create insatiable wants. Unregulated market economy based on supply and demands and instant gratification is prevalent. What has selling an expensive car to do with a highly sexually suggestive, scantly-clad female with the right vital statistics? What has a macho man or a film/sports star with attractive looks to do with selling cancer causing cigarettes or alcoholic beverages that ruin families and relationships? Are we so stupid as not to be able to see through the games and gimmicks that the advertisement companies play? Not long ago I came across a news item in connection with pharmaceutical companies spending in advertisements many times more than the amount of money they spent in developing the drugs. No wonder the drugs cost so much. Interestingly the same drugs that cost so much, say, in the USA can be bought at a much lower price in other countries.

             Humanity is being turned into a commodity, and humans into objects of pleasure in a materialistic society where human and spiritual values are given little importance. What is valued is what increases the margin of profit. While authoritarian communism has fortunately crashed, unbridled capitalism is sadly soaring. While many countries are advocating a minimum wage in order to arrive at a living wage, we have not been able to put a cap on the maximum wealth an individual can accumulate. It is a shame that persons who hoard wealth that they will not even able to spend in many life times are held in high esteem. It is also reported that Indians after independence of India have looted and deposited many times the wealth that the British looted during centuries of British Raj. Are we economically free in a country/world where a human being stripped of his/her human dignity can be "bought" in to servitude? Is it not high time to change labels such as servants, masters, maids reminiscent of the old imperial, colonial, and dictatorial times? If we do not keep on changing or purifying our language, be it sexist, racist, casteist, or ethnically derogative, we cannot express our own ideas accurately. I have heard not uncommonly persons not held in high esteem referred to as payyan (boy) or kochu (small one) in Kerala. When I inquired about their age the payyan is in his thirties and the kochu is in her mid to late twenties. Yet it must be said that people on the whole are fed, clothed, medically treated, and housed many times better now than in the past. It is also important to note that when one human being anywhere in the world is diminished the whole humanity is diminished. Humanity cannot be smug and satisfied as long as one person on the face of the earth goes to sleep at night with pangs of hunger due to lack of money or resources to buy food. To that extent we are not economically free.

             Social freedom does exist only where there is equality. It does not exist where there are discriminations or privileged status on the basis of gender, race, genetic origin, caste, color, creed, nationality, ethnic origin, or class. Instead of appreciating and being grateful for diversity we categorize them into oppressive and discriminating systems of abuse and injustice. Imagine how dull and boring the whole world would be if all were of one kind, if all humans were like you or me! Certainly I would not want that. There was a time in my early years when I wished I were born in a royal family or so-called famous family. Now in my present consciousness I realize I certainly do not want that. And if I were born in such a setting, I wonder if I would ever have gotten the awareness I value so much. Of course we can keep on wondering and reach nowhere. But the reality at least for me is that I for one do not want to exchange the present consciousness for anything else in the world in spite of great inconveniences at times. When one begins to taste true freedom everything else really is an illusion and not worth anything. That is also the reason that I so passionately advocate freedom. Since we are humans bound in space and time, tied to our individual bodies and determinations, my freedom limits your freedom and your freedom limits mine. That is also the reason that we need everyone else, that we are our brothers' and sisters' keepers, and that we need to be independent enough to be interdependent, that we need to just surrender to God and others in one total giving/oblation knowing very well that there is really no giving without receiving. We truly find ourselves when we lose ourselves as the prophet of Nazareth said. It is again good to remind ourselves that when one human being anywhere is unfree the whole world is unfree. No one is appointed the keeper of this world or any nation or religious organization though some individuals in their lack of consciousness or misguided understanding of God's will do not mind assuming that role. Even as I am writing this, people in Libya are facing bullets for their freedom against the 42-year old dictatorship of Gaddafi. All dictatorships, autocracies, and unfree structures need to vanish from the face of the earth. The sooner the better for all.

             Humanity certainly has made progress in the realm of social freedom especially in the last 65 years. Much of the progress has been in law books, constitutions, and statutes. The curse of racism, casteism, or sexism has not been rooted out of the hearts of people. The cancer of corruption among government officials has not yet seen any sign of abatement. Worse still is the attitude of the general public who has accepted it as a way of life because of their general apathy and self-defeating impotence. Corruption is so widespread that it is also not uncommon to hear persons say all are doing it. By that what they mean is all are accepting bribes or being dishonest to gain some financial advantage. This kind of attitude contributes to what may be called "learned helplessness" leading to a state of pervasive depression, depleted energy, apathy, low morale, progressive desensitization related to value system, and general moral paralysis. My best interpretation when people make statements such as all are doing it is that they themselves or persons close to them are doing it. Corrosion of morality mingled with fear, a deadly combination, is what led to a monster like Hitler killing anybody who stood in his way and also ethnic cleansing that involved the murder of 6 million Jews. Immorality has invaded even the strongest bastions of morality. Richard Nixon, the American president, who took an oath to protect the constitution that enshrined the best moral values, lost his presidency because of his lying. The Catholic Church was rocked by pedophilia. Some famous Christian tele-evangelists were caught in the very immorality that they were reviling against. One of the Sankaracharyas was reported to be associated with a certain murder. Some swamis (holy men) were recently in the news on account of alleged immorality. Ministers of central and state governments and even judges of the Supreme Court in India are accused of corruption. It may be important to note that historically changes for bettering humanity especially in the realm of equality, freedom, and justice came in spite of world's entrenched major religions. We are more and more conscious of our rights; side by side we also need to be conscious of our obligations. In comparison to the advance in science and technology we have not made proportionate progress in the realm of the psyche and the spirit. I would like to equate freedom with God. We cannot rest assured as long as one human being suffers from the lack of social freedom, and as long as one human being appropriates to himself/herself the power he or she does not have through democratic process.