«A man who has a why to live for, can bear almost any how.»
«Man’s Search for Meaning» by Victor E. Frankl
My daily calendar contains quotes from Drucker’s «The Daily Drucker» — a book of 366 quotations (February 29th included). One quotation, or rather a single line, perfectly explains the difference between those who seek safety and security vs. those who seek freedom:
The masses will not revolt; they will sink into lethargy; they will flee the responsibility of freedom, which without social meaning is nothing but a threat and a burden.
Drucker (2004), from «The Future of Industrial Man»
And dang, yeah, without (social) meaning freedom is nothing but a threat and a burden. And given the lack of meaning in many people’s lives (as, among others, family and religion decreased in importance, and it’s replacements are more of a hysterical, high-fructose corn syrup kind of quality like «saving the climate» or «stopping Covid»), it’s no wonder that many people do not like freedom.
And I guess, if you want to destroy a society or even a civilization, taking its meaning is a devastating move. You cut off the roots and the whole tree withers away.
Makes me wonder — how many people do have a strong, enduring, robust, nourishing meaning in their lives? Something that is yours and not captured or controlled by other people.
Something to think about.