Disruption Test

Restricting freedom is like poking the bear. If the bear is poked, it will inevitably wake with fury and exasperation. Just as if freedom is restricted, it will unavoidably lead to protests, to use any conceivable action to achieve freedom. Think not of freedom as suppression of rights to maintain order and stability, but as egalitarianism and self-expression, despite dissent and controversy. Freedom is not restriction of civil liberties to maintain order and stability. Take for instance Colin Kaepernick. To protest African-American mistreatment and police brutality, Kaepernick, an NFL quarterback, began to kneel during the playing of the national anthem, spreading uproar and outrage throughout the country, with many calling for punishment

In the Supreme Court Case Tinker V. Des Moines, the “disruption test” was first established, ruling that self-expression is unlimited as long as it “doesn’t disrupt classwork or school activities or invade the rights of others” (Article of the Week). Hence the name “disruption test”. Who is the Supreme Court to determine what does pass or does not pass the disruption test? Freedom is not filtration of speech and expression in schools, work, or any place in the world. The restriction of freedom is no longer justifiable with the hackneyed excuse to maintain order and stability. If so, true freedom will never exist as long as this filtration and injustice

Freedom to pursue happiness is like cocaine. Once ingested, the urge and hunger is unquenchable. “Freedom to” is the ability to speak freely, live life, have free belief systems, and pursue happiness. Both “freedom to” and cocaine are often times taken for granted, and when they are gone, there is a burning feeling and desire to reclaim the missing piece of the puzzle taken away. When the freedom to pursue happiness is taken away, worlds come crumbling down as the realization of how essential and necessary freedom to pursue happiness truly is. Freedom is cocaine; unquenchable; missed after consumption; irreplaceable. Whereas, freedom from autocrats and oppression is like leaving prison. Escaping the walls of confinement is the same as escaping an autocrat, it is only the beginning, and it will forever haunt. A higher freedom will always be achievable, once out of prison a time will come to face the reality of the restriction that come with the release, just as escaping autocracy will forever burden the soul. Freedom from is only the beginning. True freedom is the freedom to live with no restrictions and to pursue happiness. Freedom from is only the beginning; the bridge; the pathway; the road to true freedom; freedom