The Best of All Freedoms Is The Freedom of Mind [Archives:1999/36/Viewpoint]

Some think that freedom is only the condition of not being physically imprisoned in a cell, or anywhere else. However, even though the common freedom is physical freedom, its meaning goes beyond physical sense. 
The broader and more significant meaning of freedom is much more than words. True freedom is the freedom of mind, thinking, expression, action and also existence. Not everyone who claims to be free is actually free. Some are free in the sense that they are not in prison, however, they are yet mentally imprisoned, they are imprisoned in their own heads. They cannot act as they want, they cannot say what they want, and they cannot even think as they want. 
I remember my father, Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Saqqaf’s words at home. He used to explain why he refused to take any ‘gifts’ from any others without a reason, especially from top authorities. His words are still ringing in my ears, “Any money that I think I do not deserve I do not take. I believe in what I do, and what I say. Freedom is so valuable, if you lose it once, you could never gain it again. I know that peace of mind is more important than money.” In other words, he meant to say that giving him money he doesn’t deserve is some way of buying him. He resisted their attempts to buy his freedom and to hence, make him loyal in a way of another to a more powerful entity. 
Indeed, true personal freedom is very difficult to maintain, and if it goes, it is extremely difficult to regain. In politics, loyalty to a certain party (sometimes called partisanship) sometimes contradicts with the basic meanings of freedom and democracy. Unfortunately, many party members have become slaves to their parties’ leaders. They blindly surrender to what is being told to them and obey totally them without questioning the correctness of the decision. 
Not only are these people held captive in their own minds, but they are poor, no matter how much money they have, simply because they do not have the most important element of one’s personality, freedom of mind. Corrupt officials are always slaves to the upper units. The upper authorities do know that these officials are corrupt, and use this fact against them. Whenever they want to get their loyalty, they pressure them with the cards they have. The threats usually pay off and cause the lower ranking corrupt officials to obey, because they know that they can be kicked out of office or punished for a legal reason, being corrupt. In conclusion, it is like saying “You sell me your freedom, and in return, I will not punish you for your corruption.”On another level, there are unfortunately, hundreds of imprisoned writers and intellectuals. They are captive in their minds and writings. Their pens are not free to write whatever they want. They usually write praises for their bosses and higher authorities without thinking of their faults and mistakes. Let alone dare to criticize, they don’t even have the will power to stop praising them, or to write about the positive steps accomplished by their bosses rivals, etc. 
They cannot say to what is wrong, “wrong” even if they clearly see that it is totally wrong. This is what is called the captivity of thinking. This is what one of my friends working in the official media said the other day, “We feel captive in our minds. We read the news in a routine basis while hiding much of the information all people have the right to know what is going around them in full details. We are taught to do the job the way our bosses want. We feel that we are used as their propaganda puppets.” Indeed, I solely believe that even the TV announcer himself is not convinced with what he is reading. The program coordinator is not convinced with what he is placing in the program, and all workers are suffering from the imprisonment of mind. That even extends to the viewer who finds himself captive as well. Yet they all continue to do their routine job for a living. 
As a conclusion, one can conclude that the modernization level of a nation can be measured through how much freedom there is among its people. In Yemen, we have not reached a minimum level of freedom that enables us to say that we are on the way towards modernization. We have a long way to go until we reach true freedom. 
Whenever I remember the level of freedom my father had. Unlike other officials and party members who were loyal to their chiefs, my father was politically and financially independent. He lived without worrying that his words may harm his financing sources or position. He had been interrogated and harassed many times, yet he felt even more confident. His life was an ideal one. You may not have been accepting the valuable gifts, like the others, yet he felt as the richest man in the world. He may not have been pleasing his chiefs, also like the others. But unlike the others, he had a valuable element that secured him peace of mind and happiness all the way. He had the element that gave his life a true meaning, and which is missing in the lives of most officials and party members today. He had his freedom. 
Editorial 
Walid Abdulaziz Al-Saqqaf 
Chief Editor
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