6 Key Takeaways from Living Freedom

Over the last week I was fortunate to have taken part in the Living Freedom Summer School organised by Ideas Matter! 

It was an amazing experience hearing from UK leading speakers, being around a smart and engaged cohort and learning about a range of fascinating topics.

I have shared some of my 6 key takeaways from this programme in case this of interest to anyone

 1) The importance of consciousness 

During our first lecture we learnt about the merit of being true to yourself and doing things because you want to, not because it will help you with popularity or your work. 

We spoke about how in the present day it’s often the case that who you are and what you identify as is more important than what you actually achieve. Similarly, what we are seeing is that therapeutic norms, such as self esteem, being validated etc. are now being treated akin to if not more desirable than moral norms, such as bravery and courage. We are now witnessing a breakdown between the private world and the public world, with some people sharing everything about themselves and their lives in the pubic world where they wouldn’t have a few decades ago. 

We are now being criticised for having opinions and making judgements, for example, around intellectual comparisons, but actually it’s important to be judgmental in some cases as this is a legitimate way we express our consciousness. People are now scared to be themselves and have open conversations in the workplace due to fear of being accused of prejudice or not fitting into being politically correct, which isn’t a conducive way to live and operate personally or professionally. 

2) The dangers of identity politics

In todays world we have freedom and unlimited opportunities to express ourselves. However the tragedy is that people tend to be obsessed with identity politics and primarily identifying and behaving according to their own demographic group, which can be extremely limiting. Group identity robs people of individuality. People now seem to have an inability to speak for themselves, e.g. we often hear people putting forward an opinion by saying, ‘as a woman/as a black person/as a gay person’ etc. Nowadays lived experience is seen as more important than actual evidence and research findings on a topic, such as racism, sexism or homophobia in an environment

In the past when we talked about diversity and inclusion this was focused on socio economic class, whereas now the focus has shifted on gender, race and LGBT+ inclusion as examples, often at the expense of focusing on class. Now social class and social background is just seen as another demographic/identity group. 

The issue with identity politics is that people focus more on what divided them as opposed to what they have in common. In addition to the society keeps creating new constructed identity groups, e.g. white working class, which further fractures common humanity and divides people up unnecessarily. We are now seeing different minority groups fighting each other. For example, Just Stop Oil protesting at Pride in London. This trend is ironic because Martin Luther King Jr famously said "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character’ however instead of this admirable goal, as a society we seem to have regressed and now focus defining people by their skin/gender/orientation than their character, under the notion of ‘diversity and inclusion’. In the past there was a notion treat people like you wanted to be treated yourself, however now this has mutated to treat people how they want to be treated. 

3) The risks of updating old books

During the summer school we spoke about the notion of updating old books if they feature content that some modern readers may find offensive or harmful. We discussed how censoring content can lead to a slippery slope of even more censorship moving forward. 

We also discussed whether anyone actually feel offended or harmed by reading books with controversial content or themes. Philip Pullman defended keeping books the same by arguing if a book truly offends let it fade out organically this way as people won’t want to buy it/engage with it anymore as opposed to censoring it. 

We also said that often it’s when artists and creatives go against the rules this is where a lot of creativity and insight is generated. There is also a notion of not conflating an artist’s politics and personal life with their art, and just enjoying and valuing the masterpieces they create.

We spoke about the pressure facing schools, universities and the publishing world to decolonise the curriculum and books. Some people see this as an attack on whiteness. It’s a shame as Britain is first and foremost known for its literature and is world class at this. However now this domain is being criticised as being racist or too white or elitist. If you understand great traditional British literature like Shakespeares works you are more likely to understand appreciate modern pieces of work like Breaking Bad and the Lion King as an example. 

4) The mutation of social movements

In the past the gay pride movement argued for religious people not to shove down their religion down their throats arguing that being gay isn’t that important or all encompassing to their identity. However now it seems to have gone the other way where the evolved LGBT+ movement is often plastering LGBT+ content and propaganda in front of everyone, even if they aren’t interested or comfortable with this. 20 years ago it made sense to have a gay movement as gay people were genuinely in danger for who they are and who they love, whereas now the power dynamics have changed and got better. 

There is a notion that social movements go through 4 different stages; this includes

1. Where it is brave 
2. Where it is boring 
3. Where it it is radical 
4. Where it is authoritarian 

5) The challenges around gender and LGBT+ 

We are seeing more girls and boys in schools looking to transition to the other sex. Some people see parts of this trend as homophobic conversion therapy where some children who are likely autistic, gay or lesbian are being pressurised to feel like they are members of the opposite sex and to think they are trans and want to change their bodies at a young age. Some gay activists are angry we aren’t talking about this nearly as much as the debate on pronouns which is less important or relevant compared to homophobic conversion therapy. Some would argue we are seeing a structural decline of gay men in society, for example, very few people in society now talk bout gay children anymore. Gay male culture has gone from aspirational and strong, like Tom of Finland, to now being focused on gay men as drag queens and clowns, which is frustrating for many gay men. 

Some would argue that there is still deep homophobia within the medical community with some of whom in the medical community who want to medicalise gay kids and transition the gay away. Unfortunately there are cases where some parents don’t want their children to be gay, but they want their children to be straight and marry a partner of the opposite sex and in a way their children changing their gender will help them achieve this fantasy. 

Some gay activists don’t like to be seen as ‘queer’ or part of the ‘LGBT+ community' because they propose that being gay or lesbian is very different from being trans, intersex, asexual etc. and feel like this discussion needs to be integrated with intellectual rigour. Some see the ever growing LGBT+ community and obsession with changing gender as a deeply regressive movement which is hurting gay and lesbian folks and feminists a lot. The risk is when you remove the barriers and boundaries to a community, it opens up the community to all types of people, including those with sexual kinks who feel empowered to think and act this way in the public sphere.

The challenge is if people share concerns around the growing nature of the ‘LGBT+ community’ or gender critical views they are usually criticised as being old, or old hags etc. and told that young people are tolerant and inclusive and don’t care about their concerns. 

6) The notion of freedom and risks of harm

We spoke about how we are experiencing diminished humanity in terms of reduce imagination, less likely to take risks, explore things etc. In the past parents and schools would tell children to overcome their fears, whereas now there is a notion that children’ fears are affirmed and validated. 

We seem to have a promiscuous notion of harm in today’s society. There is a lot of talk around psychological safety and how people don’t feel safe anymore. For example, the state is making us suspicious about one another, such as the ‘see it, say it, stop it’ adverts everywhere on public transport as well as the don't harass people messages everywhere we go. The state is trying to warn us about things like gambling, not eating too many chocolate bars, not smoking etc. but some would argue ultimately it should be our choice how we live our lives.

Sometimes you meed to take risks to get rewards which are worth it, for example, love is risky you need to take this risk to find a partner in the long run. In this example you need to kiss a few potentially dangerous frogs to find the right person. Camille Paglia famously said that she personally feels women should risk potentially dangerous encounters but be able to have romantic relationships with who they want and when they want etc. Without agency risk becomes unbearable. After the Sarah Everard murder, a number of young women expressed a fear to leave their houses, distrust in police men, men in general etc. even though research shows incidences of violence from random men against women are much lower than say domestic violence, but so many people are now expressing a fear of random men, which some people would say restricts their freedom and ability to live their life fully. 

The ability to take risks is rooted in human rights, for example the right to have sex, freedom, reproduce etc. If you are always cushioned from risk you have no freedom.