Zygmunt Bauman, following Schopenhauer, has pointed out that feeling free from constraint means finding a balance between one’s wishes and the stubborn indifference of the world to one’s intentions. This balance might be achieved in two ways – through either expanding one’s capacity to act or through limiting one’s desires.
He said this in Liquid Modernity, published in the year 2000.
I don't know why but this juxtaposition between expanding and limiting has stuck with me over the years...
A few thoughts...
Expanding one's capacity to act...
Here I think of THREE things...
- Expanding one's financial capital
- Expanding one's personal capital - skills and fitness levels.
- Expanding one's social capital (one's connections)
(There are different ways of breaking these down, but in my analytical framework there are basically three things.)
The first of these - expanding one's financial capital is probably going to be the most obvious one that springs to mind in terms of increasing one's freedom... I mean there's a whole FIRE movement based around this, after all! (Although in a beautiful symmetry extreme FIRE rests on limiting one's outgoings to achieve this!).
NB I'm not against expanding one's capital - it really is a viable method, and more accessible than ever in human history, these days.
Skilling up with sellable skills is another very common strategy for increasing one's freedom. The more scarce your skills relative to demand, the higher an hourly rate you can charge, the less you have to work, the more free you are.
And if you're skilled enough in terms of DIY you can live off-grid and free yourself in another way.
Expanding one's social capital is probably NOT going to lead to greater freedom in most cases, HOWEVER, knowing the right people and having access to them are often crucial links in the first two!
Limiting one's desires....
Here I simply think of the ascetic or the monk... sitting there breathing and realising happiness in what is rather than what could be.
In terms of the above the extreme versions of the above would be...
- Having no capital and minimal property, relying on the charity of others.
- Being completely non fussed about who you hang out with.
- The final one is harder... there is something of a responsibility around maintaining basic health, otherwise you're a drain on others, and obvs if you go full on Zen, that's effectively a skill!
(Naturally this assumes one is free from overt external forms of oppression - i.e. there's no one prodding you continually, or worse.)
The downsides of both
The problem with the former strategy is that expanding into the world means making connections... if you invest, in people, skills (acting on them) or financially, there are risks and consequences to be taken into account.
You're opening up an ethical checkbook, and opening yourself up to a potential fall.
Compared to just sitting there seeking happiness through what arises, limiting your desires, expanding is a minefield.
HOWEVER, reclusing yourself also feels a little unethical these days - there are shit ton of problems in this world, and just switching off just seems not quite good enough...
But I wouldn't rule this out altogether - a compassionate mindful individual with a clear mind can really help people, this could be the most precious skill out there in fact.
Both together, in the right way...
Ultimately I don't think it's about one or the other: one needs to both limit one's desires and expand into the world in the right way, in fact it is possible to do BOTH at the same time....
For example... crypto investments do VERY little harm, especially HIVE - the worst that can happen is people get wound up by the size of someone's rewards or burned on a second layer punt, VERY MUCH FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS!
And skilling up in DIY/ Green tech could be a good way of making money from ethical work.
And, as I've mentioned, calming one's mind with the long-term intention of helping others do the same, that's golden!