Dr. Shanon Brooks will be returning to So. California Jan. 17-23 for a follow up to his previous TJEd 1,000,000 Tour in November. This website will provide up-to-date scheduling and venue information. He will also be a presenter at the FATJEF in Rancho Cucamonga, California on April 24, 2010.
Freedom versus Liberty
Dr. Shanon Brooks
Liberty is a political state of being; freedom is an internal state of mind. To people who live in relative liberty, freedom can be a difficult concept. I recall somewhere in the hundreds of pages of his autobiography and numerous speeches, where Mandela suggests that even though South Africa may someday become a nation founded on liberty; true freedom comes from the mind and the heart. Frankl alluded to the same thing, when he related his story of life and death in a German concentration camp. A study of Mandela’s life is a lesson in living by a set of principles, understanding the brutal facts around you and then working to enlarge your personal freedom thru discipline and an adherence to truth. This is referred to as the Stockdale Paradox by Jim Collins referring to the story of James Stockdale in his book, In Love and War.
Liberty is an uncommon condition in world history. On the other hand, freedom has been as prevalent as the number of people who could see it and who had the will, knowledge and discipline to strive for it.
Today we have a very unique situation. Usually the struggle for freedom is outlined as a group that is suffering and has had their rights and liberties usurped and are now fighting back to regain them. The American situation is unique in that we have more freedoms—even now—than most citizens of any country on earth, but because of our lack of comprehension and daily discipline, we are on the verge of not only losing those liberties but also of losing the means of regaining or even maintaining that liberty.
We have ceased to think and act as a free people.
Free citizens live within their means, financially save for the future and are self-sufficient. Slaves must have most things done for them.
Free citizens look inward for solutions. Servants seek solutions from employers, the government or other sources outside of themselves.
Free citizens understand that society needs them to step-up and do their part. Subjects take little initiative and must be directed in all things.
100 years ago, Yankee Ingenuity and the American Dream were the stuff of legends. People flocked to this country at great sacrifice, not to join the ranks of welfare, but to live in a land of liberty and provide their children with a greater chance of experiencing freedom on a daily basis. In many cases, they had already mastered the “live-within-your-means thing,” they knew how to work hard and they adhered to a strict culture of self-discipline and morality. What they lacked in the “old world” was an environment of liberty in which freedom was the natural result of their chosen lifestyle and cultural mores. (customs)
We seem to have the latter but fall short of the former. Until we, the America people regain our sense of disciplined direction; until we grasp the reality of the brutal facts; until we re-embrace the concept of delayed gratification—we will likely not see much improvement and I can almost predict that our grandchildren will not understand nor enjoy the bastion of freedom in which we currently live.
Actions have consequences.
Shanon Brooks is the President of Face to Face With Greatness Seminars and is a co-founder of The Center for Social Leadership.
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