So what, in your opinion, is freedom anyway? 

It seems to me that there are *many* versions of what people think freedom is. Previous generations have thought about  freedom in very different ways than we do today. This considered, the world over, there are many different types of freedom being lived out  every day. <div class="pull-left">https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a27d24_0302b313bc614ed9a53f5051b6020498~mv2_d_1920_1287_s_2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1920,h_1287,al_c,q_80/file.png</div>Even in our own country of origin society seems to layer out into different constructs of what people think living a free life is and aught to be. But one thing is certain, some people's version of freedom would be completely *unacceptable* to others. I believe that, fundamentally, this is where most societal *conflict* and *unrest* stems from.


&ensp;
So again, what is freedom and why is it so important? 

I will do my best to begin this discussion and, of course, I am very interested to hear the thoughts and opinions of all of you reading these words.

My own personal search for freedom, liberty, and independence ignited 10 years ago. After the 2008 financial crash, I realized that understanding the money I exchanged for the vicissitudes of life <div class="pull-right">https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a27d24_f1679995e9f04017b5e8072d9cbbda94~mv2_d_1920_1280_s_2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1920,h_1280,al_c,q_80/file.png</div>was vital to understanding the *system* that *allowed* or *disallowed* our current societal versions of the free life. 

We have been told that freedom is maintained by democratic vote but what I saw was that we  were voting every day via the mechanism of what people deemed to be *money*. In a *capitalistic* society money implemented consumption and investments in the *future* we would all *soon* be living. It was both a *system of control* and, as so often is the case during an economic bust, it was a *system of wealth transfer*.

<div class="pull-left">https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a27d24_60bd18af06604171ad58f9e2ab9892e5~mv2_d_1920_1439_s_2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1920,h_1439,al_c,q_80/file.png</div>I knew that, if I was going to live a life worth living, I was going to have to really dig deep into what it meant to be free, what it meant to be a slave, and how money is and has always been engineered to implement these realities into the fabric of our every day lives. I finally understood that it would be impossible to understand freedom without first understanding money.

&ensp;

In physical terms, freedom of the body would be the ability to move *pain-free  and unrestricted through ones full range of motion and in the direction that one intends*.    <div class="pull-right">https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a27d24_080bf49a5a6b453bb02fe1cd8bd8b4fa~mv2_d_1920_1280_s_2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1920,h_1280,al_c,q_80/file.png</div>

A parallel can be drawn when we consider the current extent of our own personal economic situations.

Our freedoms can be measured by *paying attention* to where we are currently feeling *financial pain* and where our intention and movement is *restricted* by centralized authority structures.

<div class="pull-left">https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a27d24_16b2b18c66ec44e6bd5ba8d672212e36~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_655,h_749,al_c,q_80/file.png</div>Learning about the specifics of how our current financial system is engineered brought me face to face with our current Slave System. Sure enough! Slavery had NOT died with that notable figure in history, Abraham Lincoln. SLAVERY WAS VERY MUCH ALIVE! Only it had morphed into something far more subtle and controlling than previous generations had witnessed.  

&ensp;

I learned that in order to avoid the entrapment of debt and slavery I would have to learn as much as I possibly could about the money we all used every day *but did not question*. Money that *no one* taught us about during our public education years. Money that was now moving globally (although restricted nationally) at *the speed of light*. Invisible money that, to those who do not understand its underpinnings, is running over the average person still living their *tangible* lives based upon *the old rules of money that no longer exist*.

I found out about about *inflation* and money creation, fractional reserve banking and the FED, national debt and fiat currency. I learned how Richard Nixon decoupled the trusted U.S. dollar (the reserve currency of the world) from the limits and worth of gold in the year 1971. 

Studying money fundamentally lead me *down the rabbit hole* in a way that I never imagined possible. <div class="pull-right">https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a27d24_a9b3b9168aeb4cc2a88b26c16f946d0e~mv2_d_5069_5077_s_4_2.png/v1/fit/w_5069,h_5077,al_c,q_80/file.png</div> It was then that *I became the right person* (on the inside) to be receptive and open to a new and *revolutionary* idea. An idea, that once planted, would change the way I thought about my life and even my future. 

I found out about *Bitcoin* during the summer of 2012... and now here I am today... taking this journey with you all here on *SteemIt* and I can't think of anything more *exciting*!

And the best part... *We are still early to the party*! This is only the beginning! There is still so much *more* to learn and I hope that we all can live more *free* and *fulfilled* lives as we explore further into this subject. 

Ultimately what we trust as money will end up shaping the trust we have in each other. Trust is the foundation of freedom and that is why understanding the infrastructure of money is so critically important. Will we use it to build a golden age of freedom? Or will we use it to perpetuate a system of scarcity and slavery? 

I guess time will tell.
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a27d24_a03aa7679efc491a8d0ceb298315ed0a~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1175,h_291,al_c,q_80/file.png

<div class="pull-left">https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a27d24_f8d9dba17ea2485d9cccb391019841db~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_380,h_380,al_c,q_80/file.png</div>

&ensp;
Guys, Girls, Everyone!
I believe that freedom is a worthy *life study*. How about you?

Thank you for taking the time to *read*.
Thank you for taking the time to *think*.

Wil Metcalfe


&ensp;
"Freedom at the expense of others freedom is no freedom at all." 
-Wil Metcalfe
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a27d24_dc2b9bcbd4a64e68a667f1e4b25c5fc1~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1175,h_310,al_c,q_80/file.png<center>If you enjoyed reading this I would love to hear about it! Please feel free to leave a comment bellow, share with your friends, and up-vote! 
Thank you all!</center>