The Place of True Freedom

This is a piece I wrote for an English class my second year at junior college.  After we had read Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels", we were assigned to write a satirical essay.  This is the product of that assignment.

The Place of True Freedom

Walking home from work one night, feeling depressed at the state of the world, I saw a sign saying that a man who knew the secret to fixing the world’s problems was here tonight to share his knowledge with us.  Curious, I ducked into the theater where he would be speaking and took a seat.  The man came out to the podium set up on the stage and began to speak.  I leaned back in my chair, eager to listen to this marvelous man who held the secret to a peaceful and contented world.  This is his speech.

On Politics and Policies 

A Treatise on How to Make Our Country and World Safer and More Fair.

Our world today is filled with injustices and hatred.  People are fighting in the streets; children are going hungry while the big-shot CEOs are buying new cars and bigger houses; businessmen and policymakers are showing favoritism when they make decisions.  This is absolutely not right.  All humans are created equal.  We are all brothers and sisters in this world and as such we must join together and help each other, refusing to show favor or preference to one group or another.  If we want to make our world a better place, we must embrace unity, tolerance, justice and freedom.  Everyone must be free to express themselves without fear of censor or ridicule.  All are entitled to have freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and freedom to do and think as one pleases.  We must have freedom from
rules, freedom from tradition and freedom from differences.  All humans are the same.  It does not matter what your background is, all humans have the same needs and same desires.  America has always been the land of freedom and promise.  She has always accepted those who were rejected by others and offered freedoms denied by others.  America has always offered opportunities, but she has never guaranteed success.  Now is the time to go further.  Take the opportunity of America and make it a guaranteed reality.  We must create a society in which humans can live in the perfection of their equality - a place where all can come and feel safe, accepted and taken care of.  The creation of such a society should be our first and foremost concern for once it is attained, it will eliminate many of our modern problems.  Towards this end I have created this treatise on how to go about building such a society.

Firstly, it is important to understand that tolerance is an important essential of unity.  To maintain that precious unity, we must make sure that all people feel free to practice their religion as they see fit.  In order to ensure this, we will eliminate all religious symbols and actions from public places.  No one - whether he subscribe to Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam or any other religion, may pray in public; he must hide himself away in his home or a designated place of worship and pray where no one can see him.  Also, to ensure that those who claim no religion do not feel like they must, it shall be illegal to talk about religion.  No one may proselytize, nor may they speak about another religion in a demeaning way.  Conversation about religion will take place privately in one’s home or in designated places of worship.  This is how we shall ensure absolute freedom of religion and its uninhibited free practice. 

Secondly, a free market is essential to the building of a free people.  Entrepreneurship and  invention are to be commended and encouraged.  The building of businesses and hard work is to be rewarded.  All people should be given equal opportunities in work, for another essential of unity is equality.  To created equality, we must work hard at eliminating classes.  No longer shall there be rich or poor.  Everyone shall have the same wages and earn the same amount of money.  We shall establish a maximum earning per capita, and those who exceed it shall be made to pay all excess funds as a wealth tax to be used for the public good.  There shall be similar laws for businesses.  No longer shall there be big corporations that make so much money at your expense.  We will even the playing field, make room for the little guy and give him a sporting chance in the game of business.  The government shall enact laws to help control and keep the economy stable and ensure that there is no unemployment - all those who desire work shall have it.  Businesses must hire and pay a minimum wage or pay an additional “workers turned away” tax.  For those who are unable or disinclined to work, the government shall use the taxes raised from the overly wealthy to ensure that they are taken care of. 

Lastly, peace is the third essential of unity.  We must adopt a stand of peace and gentleness towards all our fellow creatures.  All humans are our brothers and sisters and as such we must strive to protect and help them and refuse to do anything that might harm them.  Animals too are our brothers, and so we must slowly eliminate the killing and eating of them from our lives.  Instead, we must nurture and care for them, for they are weaker than us and must be protected.  To help ensure our policies of non-violence, we shall outlaw guns and all other products that could be used as an instrument of violence.  This shall ensure that no one is hurt by the hand of a fellow creature.  We must also have peace of speech.  No one may speak a harmful or unkind word to or about any one or anything, for this would cause disunity and intolerance. 

We must build this utopia here in America, but we won’t stop there.  Once America has attained perfection, the whole world will join us and we will be one unified human race with no differences of nationality, class, economy, politics, dress or religion.  Our perfected state of being will eliminate the need for politics, for we shall all agree and rule ourselves peacefully with no declared ruler.  No man shall raise himself above another for it is by lowering oneself and performing acts of service to society as whole that one may obtain honor.  We shall finally be a world that has freedom, liberty and justice for all! 

I walked out of that theater with a smile on my face and a spring in my step for in my heart burned more hope than I had felt in years.  Finally, there was someone who was speaking sense and could make our world a perfect place, eliminating all conflicts.  Someone who knew how to ensure that our rights and freedoms would not be taken away.  What better way to ensure freedom of religion then by making it illegal to publicly practice religion or ensure free speech by making it illegal to speak ill of anything or ensure equality by eliminating classes and taking money away from those who have more than enough and giving it to those who have too little?  This man spoke of a place off the coast of Florida where his treatise is already being put into practice.  I am tired of living a life where I have no freedom.  Here, in America we have so many restrictions and rules.  I bought my ticket today.  I am going to his country, the place where there is no conflict.  Maybe there on the island of true freedom, I shall find peace.