TEDxSalford

Free Your Freedom

When you woke up this morning, you were free.

It may not always feel that way when you work 9-5 and spend the rest of your time worrying about outstanding bills and jumping the hurdles that life likes to throw at you, but when you take a step back and view all the different microcosms around the world, all the different systems and societies that fill this planet, there is one thing that should keep the fire of life burning bright inside of you;

When you wake up tomorrow, you will be free.

We feel the constraints of daily life, and we hate the constant grind of doing just enough to put a roof over our heads, but with Wael Ghonim’s talk at TEDx Cairo [March 2011] you can experience a moment of clarity and begin to see things in a new perspective.

In regards to Ghonim’s speech there was something in the words he spoke that has inspired a lot of what you are reading now.

In Britain (Salford in my case) we see injustice as taxes and bankers’ bonuses, sleazy politicians and the constant high price of living (as well as contentious refereeing decisions in big football games) – we see these as the ultimate wrongs in our lives.

For every person in Britain who moaned about MPs’ expenses, there is someone in another land who is being subjected to police brutality or a ‘disappearance’ after voicing anti-government ideas, or simply losing their right to freedom of speech.

It’s weird to think that people can be treated so differently despite living on a planet where everyone is so connected.

We might complain about how our country is run, but if we want to protest about expenses, or going to war in the Middle East, we can, and we do so knowing that we can do without fear. Ghonim’s talk makes you realise that having that opportunity is a privilege.

 “We’ll win if we work together as one. The power of the people is so much stronger than the people in power”

A lot of what Ghonim says in his talk is obviously related to his personal experiences in Egypt, however, the ideals of which he spoke have greater and further reach and implications.

We want change when it comes to many things in our lives, but we seem to stop ourselves from achieving it due to the psychological barrier of fear instilled in us by the authorities. We must turn that fear into empowerment as we strike at the heart of the injustices people face every day, but this fear is embedded deep within us, and as the days roll past, we wonder why nothing changes when we don’t act.

 ”No ONE is a hero, because everyone was a hero”

With the ever increasing development and use of social networking and communication technologies, an idea has the power to spread instantaneously.

(Unfortunately that idea at the moment is the Harlem Style, or Gangnam shake…or whatever it’s called!)

Perhaps it’s true that individually we don’t have much power, but like a jigsaw, start piecing together all those individual people and you start to see the bigger picture – one of a place where we are one entity and as Ghonim says; will become more powerful than the people in power.

Obviously, it’s not every day one can start a revolution and I hardly expect this to be the cause of an uprising!

When it comes to wanting change, hegemony always seems to rule within many people and these people live in societies that prefer moaning to action, and what was inspiring about this talk and the ideals of the Arab Spring in general was the thought that people were just not going to take it anymore. People were fed up living as supposed equals, but were, in fact - as George Orwell once wrote – living a life where some people were more equal than others.

“We’re going to win because we don’t understand politics.

We’re going to win because we don’t play their dirty games. We’re going to win because we don’t have an agenda.

We’re going to win because the tears that comes from our eyes actually come from our hearts.

We’re going to win because we have dreams. We’re going to win because we are willing to stand up for our dreams.”

Ghonim – TEDx Talk March 2011

We all have our battles to face and wrongs to right, but from events that have been occurring over the last few years – whether it be the Arab Spring or Occupy Wall Street – it seems people are starting to realise en masse that a single voice can be heard in a crowd, and even as a collective, we can act as one.

There is one thing that we all share and will always continue to share no matter who or where we are  - we all believe that when we wake up in the morning we should be free.

We’re all fighting our own injustices every day no matter how big or small, but we believe and hope that we will see the fall, the fall of the fools, who think they have the right to tell us to believe, that we don’t have the right to be free.