“(Political) words are often used in a consciously dishonest way. Without precise meanings behind words, politicians and elites can obscure reality and condition people to reflexively associate certain words with positive or negative perceptions…As a result, Americans have been conditioned to accept the word ‘democracy’ as a synonym for freedom, and thus to believe that democracy is unquestionably good. The problem is that democracy is not freedom. Democracy is simply ‘majoritarianism,’ which is inherently incompatible with real freedom…how many Americans know that the word ‘democracy’ is found neither in the Constitution nor the Declaration of Independence, our very founding documents?” – Ron Paul

“But for the age-old (psychological) question of free will…it looks as if the answer is that we don’t actually have it. Studies now show that the impulse to take the most basic of actions—the movement of a finger, for example—originate in the brain at least a full second before we’re consciously aware of our desire to move it! It appears that the unconscious mind, functioning with an understanding bereft of language, may control far more of our conscious decision-making than we ever imagined—if not all of it.

Philosophers and scientists are speaking out against these results, not so much to deny them but to try instead to salvage the notion of free will by redefining it…there exists good reasons to want them to succeed: studies also show that when we lose our belief in free will, our motivation to act diminishes as well.

…it’s tantalizing to imagine that the elephant of our unconscious mind that we’re all riding and that may be in charge…needn’t only be made to do our bidding against its will, but that we can also train it to want what we want. Perhaps then the greatest potential for freedom lies in creating as much unity between our conscious and unconscious selves as possible.” – Alex Lickerman, M.D.

“(Philosophically), freedom is not that complex of an ideal. But putting theoretical ideals into practice becomes much more difficult; the black-and-whiteness of ideals becomes muddled with the various gray hues of practice’s complexity. I still love freedom, and I adamantly support full-fledged freedom. No matter how you feel about freedom now, I recommend you consider supporting freedom even more. And I beg you to stubbornly resist those who suggest placing limitations on freedom.” – Scott Hughes