The Freedom Twins

Once upon a time there lived a modern girl named Dolores Emma Cracy. She was so modern that she disliked her first name, Dolores, thinking it to be rather old-fashioned. That is the reason she chose at an early age to go by her middle name, Emma. However, this was not customary for young girls at the time, and it created much confusion for others. You see, for a child to use their first initial, D, along with their middle name, Emma, was something expected from a boy, or a young man, not a girl. But Emma was an unconventional, open-minded girl who would not tolerate being pigeon-holed by such tired misogynistic tropes. Though her parents and schoolteachers disapproved, they obliged the girl and allowed her official records to read D. Emma. The girl didn’t care. She was Emma.

Emma was also unconventional as a young woman by way of her eschewing marriage. Although she had many suitors and was quite fond of some of them, she never found a partner, male or female (oh my!), who could stand as an equal to her. Emma wasn’t snobbish or prudish. She was simply a confident woman who found no particular interest in having her desires thwarted by the whims of a partner. She was uncompromising. She was also uncompromisingly beautiful, graceful, and wise. Emma’s independence only became a quandary for her when she desired to have a child. Fortunately, she succeeded with an IUI treatment, and with delight she set herself onto the path of single motherhood. After carefully considering several options, she chose a name for her baby: Freedom.

Before long, it became obvious that she was not carrying one fetus, but two. Twins! This was not surprising. No one doubted that when Emma set her mind to doing something she didn’t hold back. What no one knew for sure was how the twins’ actual names were established after their birth. Emma had chosen the name Freedom without consideration that she might need a second name. So, when she delivered the first child, she said to the attending mid-wives, “He will be named Freedom One.” When the second child came shortly after, she told them all, “He is Freedom Two.”

When these names were told to the recorder of births, who was aged and hard of hearing, he had written the birth certificate as:

D. Emma Cracy, a single woman

has given live birth to

a boy named Freedom From, and

a second boy named Freedom To

That’s all there was to it, and no one questioned it any further.

Emma, being of liberal mind, was a very permissive mother. She allowed her toddlers to learn by their own trials and errors. As soon as they could walk, they wandered the world together exploring, discovering, learning, and growing. She did not lay down strict rules for them but rather constructed a loose constitution of guidelines which were always open to interpretation. This often made for lively dinner conversation each night. Which reminds me of the one rule she did set: the boys must be home by dinnertime.

One such dinnertime conversation started with Freedom From declaring that Freedom To spoke lies about him to others. This was quickly rebutted by Freedom To who exclaimed, “Everyone should have the right to their own opinions, beliefs, and speech without restriction!”

To which Freedom From objected, “Everyone should be protected from false accusations and attacks on their honor and reputation!”

Emma smiled at the young twins and reminded them that with all rights and privileges come inseparable responsibilities. These responsibilities obliged them to act with trustworthiness and credibility when expressing their rights. “To wield your rights like a sword may be a mistake,” she told them. “Because the sword is always double-sided.”

In another instance Freedom From, who was developing into more of an introvert, objected to Freedom To spying on him when he wanted time alone. Freedom To simply explained that he wanted to live in community, in brotherhood, where everyone was trusting and honest. “I have nothing to hide,” replied Freedom From. “I just want to be free from unwanted intrusion of my privacy from time to time.”

Such were the types of conversation in the Cracy household.

From such conversations, and the careful instruction Emma provided, the boys learned how important their ideas were. They embraced every opportunity to share their principles with anyone they met during their daytime adventures. The twins, while still barely school-age younglings, quickly gained the respect of the many older people they encountered. Freedom From and Freedom To would often debate between themselves in front of any audience they attracted. Other times they would engage in deep conversations with individuals explaining important standards for effective human collaboration. They sometimes settled disputes. Like the time when one person walked along a fenced path, moved the property owner’s fence, and declared ownership of the land between the sidewalk and the new fence line.

Freedom To explained to them, “Yes, everyone does have the right to travel freely and own property…”

Freedom From then continued, “…but everyone also has the right from being ransacked and colonized by one who is traveling.”

Emma had often reminded them that coexistence is a delicate balance of personal desires and actions. “Where do your rights end and his begin?” she would often ask them rhetorically. Then she would repeat a fundamental lesson: “Your guiding principle in discerning this harmony will usually fall in the answer to this question: Where is the greatest good for the community?”

Emma was proud of her boys and confident in their wisdom and perceptivity. She relished her evening conversations with the children upon their return from their outings. Over time though, Emma grew lonely and bored during the daytimes. Until one day some rich men came to her doorstep and knocked. She invited them into the parlor and served them tea and biscuits. They brought with them some amazing new things which mesmerized Emma; things like Fantasy Football Leagues, Netflix, and Facebook. They introduced her to habits like doom scrolling and binge watching. Emma was hooked, and the men quietly let themselves out. She didn’t even notice them leave. Nor did she notice the time pass. The day evaporated into evening, and the boys were not home for supper. She failed to notice this as well.

Earlier that same day, the young boys were out exploring their world and engaging with others in their usual fashion until they too were approached by a group of rich men. They lured the twins into an abandoned warehouse with the promise of rich conversation and debate. Once inside, however, the men easily overpowered the small, young children and tied them up on separate chairs. The boys protested vigorously.

Freedom From shouted, “This violates our rights from arbitrary arrest, torture, and slavery!”

Freedom To added, “We have the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness!”

The rich men laughed with delight and gave the boys’ petitions for redress no consideration. One of the men casually told the boys, “We want the freedom to make large profits and the freedom from any regulations or constraints that reduce those profits!”

The boys, being twins, understood from birth the significance of their relationship. They respected the important nuances between them: the freedom to do something is always offset by the freedom from imposing something else. But these men didn’t share that respect. It was obvious that these men wanted all the rights and entitlements for themselves only. They were going to do whatever they wanted, no matter the cost to other people. This realization shocked Freedom From and Freedom To deep into submission.

After what seemed like a long time, Emma grew weary and anxious from all the distracting images and videos pouring out of her media feeds. When she started regaining her senses, it was after sunrise. Bleary eyed she looked around her home and panicked upon realizing that her twin boys were nowhere to be found. Only now could she see the double-dealing tactics of her visitors from the day before. Emma, now feeling an unfamiliar sense of vulnerability, ran out of her house and onto the streets of her neighborhood in search of help. What she found were her neighbors aimlessly wandering the streets. They mindlessly scrolled on Amazon thumbing through cheap products they didn’t need while salivating over the promise of 30-minute delivery. They wore new Bluetooth headsets which insulated their ears to only the sound of their guru podcaster telling them how they should think, how they should feel, and what they should buy from the show’s embedded product placements. They didn’t notice Emma, nor did they hear her pleas for help. She dropped to her knees and sobbed.

After a long time of emptying her sorrow, she recognized that her only savior was herself. Only she could rescue her Freedom From and Freedom To. She simply had to muster her courage and strength that came so naturally to her in her youth. She dug; past all the complacency, past the inalienability she had taken for granted, past all the new distractions. She finally remembered. She remembered how fragile her existence had always been in standing against the forces that wished to put her in her place, to subdue her into subservience of their control and desires. She remembered the vigilance she maintained in those days; a vigilance which she had let slip.

She picked herself up off her knees and stood, unsteady at first, but then more confidently. Emma began the process of reclaiming her two boys, her young children, her legacy. She started with her neighbors. She took the nearest person by the arm and whispered into their ear, “You have the freedom to your own thoughts.” In another’s ear she said, “You have the freedom from being manipulated and deceived.” And so she went, one by one, reminding each neighbor of their agency, of their ability to choose. Before long, neighbors began dropping their devices, cancelling their Amazon purchases, and dialoguing with each other again. Neighbors helping neighbors. Strangers helping strangers.

As she intensified her search for her twin boys, she came across a warehouse that appeared to be a hive of unusual activity. Men, like those who came to her house yesterday, were milling about outside. Emma knew her boys were inside. She watched carefully and planned her approach. She noticed a peculiar behavior by these rich men. While they all appeared busy being industrious, being productive, actively talking, none of them were in dialogue with each other. They were all monologuing to themselves under the delusion that the others were listening. All they knew was how to give orders. They weren’t doing anything!

Emma realized this was her chance. She simply walked right up to the warehouse door and entered under the protests of every rich man there. Each of them shouting in their own way, “Stop her!” or “Don’t let her in!” But not one of them heard or obliged the commands of the others for in their minds only their command was the valid one.

Inside the warehouse, the boys remained tied to their separate chairs; silent and afraid. Dumbstruck by the absurdity of the rich men, they fell for the false belief of their own disempowerment. When Emma appeared before them, they snapped out of their bewilderment with great relief. Emma hugged them deeply with tears of joy. Still, the children remained speechless. Emma looked deeply into their eyes, smiled reassuringly, and said, “Boys! The world needs to hear your voices, your discussion, your dialogues now more than ever! Speak up! Let me hear what you have to say about all this absurdity before you!”

The boys turned to each other. Then, Freedom To spoke slowly while Freedom From listened. “I have the right to quality education and access to accurate information so I can make decisions based on truth!” Freedom From replied while Freedom To listened, “I have the right from exploitation as a worker and a customer!” And so, they spoke out loudly, unabashedly proclaiming the many self-evident truths of basic human rights. Then they turned to the deeper conversation and debates they were known to hold. All within earshot of the rich men. Unbeknownst to their captors, the boys’ words acted like a spotlight on the rich men’s motives. The boys’ dialogue revealed the source of their behavior: their greed.

These men, who knew the nature of their own hearts, saw the same greed in each other. They simultaneously realized that they each desired the same thing: to be the richest and most powerful of all. They each realized that the others must be annihilated before they themselves were annihilated by the others. The resulting battle between the rich men was astounding to watch. Suddenly, men angrily clawed at each other like dogs eating dogs. Thousand-dollar bills floated in the air as evidence of their ferocity toward each other. The mayhem even captivated the brothers, but this motivated them to amplify their voices even more.

“I have the right to equality before the law and a fair trial!” said Freedom To. Freedom From added, “I have the right from discrimination, prejudice, and bigotry!”

Emma seized the opportunity to untie her twin boys and lead them from the warehouse through the front door. Their rich captors didn’t even notice as their only focus was their own interest.

Days later, after the dust settled, nothing remained of the warehouse. Only a large crater was found in the ground, so destructive was the fighting. Emma and her two boys viewed the scene with awe. They marveled at how easily the balance they had always known was destroyed. Emma congratulated the boys on their wisdom and skillful use of their dialogue to establish a new equilibrium to the world.

“We must remember these events and learn from this experience,” Emma said as she looked at her boys. “I took you two, my Freedoms, for granted. I thought you were strong enough on your own. That was unfair of me to expect you to do everything by yourselves. I let you down. I’m sorry for that,” Emma said solemnly.

“We do need you as part of our dialogues,” Freedom From said.

“We need your participation and guidance to structure the dialogues we have,” added Freedom To.

“I understand that now,” Emma admitted. “I commit to engage and take action with you both. We must remind the others of their part in this process.”

With that goal the three of them told the tale to their neighbors and to anyone who would listen. Their message centering on the fragile nature of human rights. That the balance of those rights requires robust dialogue between everyone, not a monologue from a single authority. And while there can be disagreements and debate in those dialogues, it’s the participatory process itself that is the heart of democracy. From that comes the impactful actions necessary to uphold and preserve those rights.

---

“Well Doctor, what have we got a republic or a monarchy?” asked Elizabeth Willing Powel of Benjamin Franklin.

“A republic,” replied Franklin. “If you can keep it.”