Freedom is, an ongoing, process, that's continued to be, worked on, and we will, never really quite make it, perfect, because this is, an eternal, struggle…translated…
"Do start performing!", "I'm about to start, how do I begin, if you won't be, quiet?" can you imagine, this was, the shouting match between a street performing artist and a passerby? In the Dam Square, this is, highly, probably, and these arguments had attracted the crowd for these, street performers, making the passersby, that this, was a, scheme of the tourist, the visitors!
Last year I'd found the cheap fare, and, in an impulsive moment, I'd, signed up for a trip to Europe, with my work away from home. To make the cheap cost-efficient, my friend and I selected to enter into Europe from England, and exit out of Amsterdam, the Netherlands—the placement of Amsterdam in this trip, was only, the location of our export to fly out, and yet, it'd turned into, my favorite city that I'd, traveled to on this trip.
the busy Dam Square in Amsterdam...photo from online
On the Netherlands, many would think about "freedom", but what is, freedom? Mostly, when people refer the Netherlands in regards to freedom, because there's the red light districts, the legalization of marijuana, not oppressing the desires of man; from the historical, there were, the theories, and applications of the means of freedom, discussing how the people of Netherlands banded together, to fight for land with the seas, the business developments, how all of this, gave way to tolerance to various religions, artistry, and race as well. While soon as I arrived, I was culturally shocked by how many bicycles that are, all over the places, that don't follow the signals, and can't help but make fun—could this be, a form of, "freedom" too?
But all jokes aside, the most deeply impressing freedom to me, or rather, the conflicted freedom, appeared on the Dam Square, the square is in the center of Amsterdam, with the many government offices, facilities close by, it'd been the center of the country's politics, culture, and business since the end of the twelve century. The dam is often used to welcome the foreign ambassadors, foreign guests, bore witness to many historical events as well. The most famous being, after Germany surrendered post World War II, the residents in the shortest time, came here to gather to celebrate, and it'd, caused the Germans who weren't captured to open fire, causing that chaotic battle.
The moment I entered into the Dam Square, I'd not needed to read my map, nor use the road signs, I'd known that I am, here: the magician with the cup and the ball in his hand, performer who blew out that oversized bubble, those who were passing out the flyers of Falun Gung, the protests to help Palestine, the coming and going of the adolescents and children…….and all of a suddenly, the locals who leaned toward Israel stopped, and started a rational debate with those who supported the Palestinians, not long thereafter, more entered into the arguing debate; at the same time, on the other corner, the shouting match between the performer and the tourists, here, it seemed, that by the second, many things are, happening, all at, once.
The arguments of the performers with the tourists, the protesters with the passersby, this acceptance to the fighting, finding that middle ground, it'd become, the new impression of "freedom" that I formed of the Netherlands. But, with getting deeper into exploring the Netherlands, I'd felt, that this freedom isn't, all, positive: outside of being the victim of World War II, the Netherlands is also, a colony, the freedom that's, built upon someone else's, freedom, and now, this is still a debt, not yet, paid up; while accepting the multiple cultures, isn't like so, just like the U.S., the police entered into the university campuses, to arrest the students protesting for Palestine, the memorial held for World War II at the Dam Square this year, the government also worried about the citizens rioting, the layers of protective measures had been, taken.
My Taiwanese friend who lives here told me, these past years, the extreme right wing is growing stronger, and as she walked down the streets, she'd wondered, "is the person walking adjacent to me, anti-immigrant?" My freedom may not be the same as your freedom, wherever there's freedom, conflicts can't be, avoided. Even so, in my friend's college, there were, many students who put faith in freedom, they keep on organizing the protests, the smaller matters of renting the library out to the businesses to make a profit, and worldly matters of the fight of ideals in the world, continuing to use their actions, to attempt to bring about changes in the world.
After my visit to the Netherlands, I'd wondered, maybe, the road to freedom, is one that's formed, with many opposing beliefs, ideas, battling each other out?
This is on the conceptualizing of freedom, of how freedom is a struggle, how people, are fighting for what's right and just every day, and this is going on all over the world right now, and, the shock that the writer experienced, in the Netherlands serves as a wakeup call, in helping her to realize, that even in the "freest country" of the world, there are still, oppression, discrimination, racism that's, going on, it's just, reduced compared to other countries in the world, due to how open the country is, how accepting the country is, of those who are, different from each other.
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