Freedom From Choice by zyx066

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· @zyx066 ·
$5.84
Freedom From Choice
### Yes, that's right, even though it might not seem right; it can be liberating to not have to make a choice, or to limit the amount of choices to a number that that doesn't drive the average mind insane. Who among you are 100% sure you made the perfect choice when you bought your latest mobile phone?<br>

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![Choice_small.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmQxFPcw4takyocr8NDyBMvvufb2FFRWKaYrXq6EhT4qfG/Choice_small.jpg)<br><sub>source: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Choice-2692466_960_720.jpg)</sub>
</center><br>

Anyone who answers that question with anything else than "I'm not sure, I don't know", isn't honest with themselves. You can't know unless you've dug through all the specifications of all the current models, compared them to each other and to your very personal needs and wants; chances are that when you're ready doing that, the new models have already been released as the number of available mobiles is virtually infinite. Okay, okay, I'm exaggerating, but just a little bit; which one takes the best pictures (image quality, lens quality, memory, light sensor...), how much memory is needed, is the antenna for both WiFi and GPRS any good, what's the quality of sound in conversations and while listening to music or watching a video, is it the right size for my hands, what's the battery life, and the list goes on; every slot in this Swiss pocket-knife from the digital age needs to be scrutinized to make the aforementioned choice in an informed and responsible way. None of us can do that, so none of us know if we've got the perfect mobile. This is called "[overchoice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overchoice)" or "choice overload":

> The phenomenon of overchoice occurs when many equivalent choices are available. Making a decision becomes overwhelming due to the many potential outcomes and risks that may result from making the wrong choice. Having too many approximately equally good options is mentally draining because each option must be weighed against alternatives to select the best one. The satisfaction of choices by number of options available can be described by an inverted "U" model. In this model, having no choice results in very low satisfaction. Initially more choices lead to more satisfaction, but as the number of choices increases it then peaks and people tend to feel more pressure, confusion, and potentially dissatisfaction with their choice.<br><sub>source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overchoice)</sub>

This phenomenon has been studied extensively, and the outcome is always the same: we're happy and comfortable when there's some freedom of choice, but stress out when confronted with too many options to choose from. To stay with our trusty mobiles for a second, I'm sure they're aware of this and that they are very content to add to this choice-induced stress; because no one can know they spent their money right, there's always going to be this subconscious dissatisfaction, which adds to the customers' willingness to go out and buy a new phone very soon. Overchoice is an enormous boon to the corporations' strategy of [planned obsolescence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence). To be able to make a choice, any choice, lays at the foundation of our agency and our very being: we help define who we are by the choices we make in life. It's not that our choices define us completely, but they are an important part of who we've become and are always becoming. So choices are important, even if they're an illusion, no doubt, but not so important as to be overwhelmed by a multitude of ultimately meaningless and artificial choices that only results in increased stress and nagging dissatisfaction.

<center>
<iframe width="1907" height="1038" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MHnGVaKmiv8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br><sub>How US Tax Money Funded The Taliban</sub>
</center><br>

Also there are some choices we simply don't want to have to make, and we've since long identified those choices as a society, and made them universal. We don't want to choose which parts of our house are protected under the fire insurance for example. Imagine how that would work: "hmmm... I want the bedroom and living room covered, but when fire breaks loose, to hell with the kitchen and bathroom." The same goes for health insurance; it's an impossible choice, to have to choose which illnesses and ailments you want to be covered, it's stupid. No, when I'm sick, I want to get healed. Period. No choice whatsoever. The choice was impossible to begin with because no one knows if they get sick at all, and if they do, which illness will strike them down. This leaves open many possibilities for the insurance company to deny claims, which is what their default method of operation is; the profit motive is literally killing people because claims are denied routinely and customers must almost always appeal against these denials. A human life's worth can not be expressed in a dollar-amount; this should be the default assumption in any society that wants to be labeled as civilized, which is why in most modern western societies healthcare is provided for free at the point of service through a universal program that's funded by *everyone*.

I really can't fathom why this is still discussed in America. Or maybe I can: even the American military, the institution that's supposed to protect the nation from external threats, to keep its citizens safe from them, is slowly but surely privatized as more and more mercenaries are hired to do the American soldiers' jobs. Unfortunately, armies have never been the protectors of borders, peoples or nations, which becomes more apparent with this fairly recent privatization of the armed forces; the military industrial complex always made huge profits by supplying the tools of war, they've now expanded into also supplying the personnel for war. Yes, [War Is A Racket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Is_a_Racket). Notwithstanding that, I believe we can all understand that in a perfect world we do not want to mix war with a profit motive; war for profits has a name, and it's called imperialism. Watch the above linked video about how that works in this millennium. Some things can't be run like a market in civilized societies and the only reason I can imagine that they still are, is a collective mindset that's been drenched with capitalist propaganda.

Freedom of choice, especially as presented by the "free market", often isn't freedom at all, and oftentimes *real* freedom is attained through freedom *from* choice. Seeing how important freedom from choice in healthcare is, you Americans are so damn lucky to have that freedom from choice during the coming primaries and national presidential elections; there's no choice but [Bernie Sanders](https://voteforbernie.org/). To the broader point of freedom of choice, please watch this classic TED talk by American psychologist [Barry Schwartz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Schwartz_(psychologist)); it's only 20 minutes short and might shed some new light on this highly praised freedom.

<center>
<iframe width="1907" height="1082" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VO6XEQIsCoM" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br><sub>The paradox of choice | Barry Schwartz</sub>
</center><br>

***

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and reading my posts dear reader, I appreciate that a lot :-) If you like my content, please consider leaving a comment, upvote or resteem. I'll be back here tomorrow and sincerely hope you'll join me. Until then, keep steeming!

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@informationwar ·
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@zyx066 ·
Thanks so much, as always, @wakeupnd and #informationwar! :-)
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@politicus ·
> Freedom of choice, especially as presented by the "free market", often isn't freedom at all, and oftentimes real freedom is attained through freedom from choice.

***War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength***

 *George Orwell, 1984*
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@zyx066 ·
Yes...? And...?
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@pandaparker ·
$0.08
I think with STEEM we are at the right place to defend or right to choose.
![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmPGJ85iwNGNLrJSZK1THty6NovTqP7wPvkxnNJQYnZLhc/image.png)
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vote details (5)
@erh.germany ·
$0.09
This is a refreshing formulation: "freedom from choice", something quite different from a "right to choose". 

"The right to..." has become such an inflationary term that it's become absurd for me. What I'm supposed to be entitled to really doesn't fit into a skull. In any case, most of the things that excite my mind in daily life are not worth mentioning or my thoughts, because they have already lost their meaning in intervals of two days or four weeks. This is clearly to be seen in my own irritation about a heated argument, which I continued inwardly, while some time later the events took on their own dynamics and change changed my view of a topic or rather irritated me with my own excitement. 

I found your comparison with the health insurance very vivid and accurate. What a successful example to illustrate your topic. 

How can nations actually be in conflict with each other? After all, they are not individual entities that can live, breathe, feel and think independently. Which identity is in conflict are probably individual mentalities, which by their political existence and choice feel entitled by the people to start a war. The necessity of warfare is heavily defended by many people. 

Meanwhile I am imbued with the matter that actually not a single person wants war or welcomes it joyfully. Why it is practised, however, is a great riddle.  After all, people or even the decision-makers themselves do not stand up and blissfully shout: "Hooray, we have war! Let us celebrate! How wonderful that people and living beings are guaranteed to die, such a festival! Let the games begin! ... 
... Perhaps the better variant, where only those who want to risk their skin and take a frivolous approach to the battle, where they can safely assume that their opponents will play the deadly game with an equally light heart? Of course, weapons of mass destruction should not be used, that goes without saying. 

Making profits through war or illness or any kind of dysfunction is a strange thing to imagine. In a text that is based on Buddhism, I read the following (to get serious again): 

> The monotheistic world religions but also the world view of modernity are fatally influenced by this philosophical heritage of Greek antiquity. They are caught in the illusion of being able to take hold of, control and appropriate reality itself as "being" (the concept). According to Buddhist view, however, this is precisely the mental basis for war and violence.

> The religious form of this today is fundamentalism. Fundamentalism believes to know how God and the world is and what is good and right for all of us. It makes itself the trustee of God. Fundamentalism is a juxtaposition of either/or, emphasizing enmity and readiness to fight, making its own claim to truth absolute. That is why fundamentalism claims that peace and non-violence means to relativize everything and to say yes to everything.

> But this is not peace, but arbitrariness. And arbitrariness is an expression of disinterest and ignorance. Intolerance and ignorance, aggressive fundamentalism and unbridled liberalism belong closely together, produce each other. This is clearly shown by the current state of the world in the global war between Islamist fundamentalism and missionary anarcho-capitalism.

source: http://www.buddhanetz.org/texte/texte.htm

Happy new year to you. Greetings from Germany.
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@zyx066 ·
Thanks so much for this wonderful response my friend :-) Happy new year to you, with greetings from The Netherlands.
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