Liberté, égalité, fraternité

Way back, I mean way back, in the ninth or tenth grade when we covered world history, we learnt about the French Revolution and the storming of the Bastille.  Suddenly the phrase "liberty, equality, fraternity" became familiar.

However much I might complain about the contemporary world, I am equally convinced that humans have never had freedom at the individual level as we do now.  With more and more countries transitioning to liberal democracy, the number of people with liberty will only increase.  We owe a huge thanks to the Magna Carta, the American Revolution, and the French Revolution, that got this liberty ball rolling.

The turmoil in the Arab world or Myanmar or Tibet are all nothing but examples of people fighting for their freedoms.  Whether it is societies like those where liberty is highly restricted, or here in the US or in France, the rally for liberty depends on we the people. It depends on us.  We worry about the NSA snooping around, for instance, because we understand how much the liberation of individuals could be easily reversed.  The quieter we become, the odds of freedom getting restricted rise, and rise rapidly.

Here is the late poet, Faiz Ahmed Faiz on the urgency of it all:

Speak, by Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Speak, your lips are free.
Speak, it is your own tongue.
Speak, it is your own body.
Speak, your life is still yours.

See how in the blacksmith's shop
The flame burns wild, the iron glows red;
The locks open their jaws,
And every chain begins to break.

Speak, this brief hour is long enough
Before the death of body and tongue:
Speak, 'cause the truth is not dead yet,
Speak, speak, whatever you must speak.