Some critics of capitalist globalization, with its "economics is king" mindset, have suggested that the only personal freedom really left is the freedom to consume, i.e. the freedom to choose from among the many products of technology.
When the economy is booming people are guided to become consumer animals. When the economy hits the skids, it gets even worse, as companies come up with all kinds of incentives and exhortations to get you to buy, willingly lending you the money to do so. After nearly 20 years of continuous prosperity, it is hard for people-and especially young people who have never known hard times-to bite the bullet and give up extravagant lifestyles. So even though the global boom is over, in Asian countries, which used to be famous for their high savings rates, we see a sharp decline in savings and a dramatic increase in consumer debt and credit card bankruptcy.
In rural societies, though people were poor, there was a sort of safety net, summed up in the phrase "There's always room for one more at the table." But nowadays in urban society you often see unemployed people having to use their wits to scratch up some cash just to eat and keep warm, even if this means giving up their dignity in the process. It makes it even harder for people to think of the possibility of other lives, other choices, other freedoms.
Recently there was a report about a doctor committing suicide, exposing to public scrutiny the fact that more and more doctors are suffering psychological problems. In fact, it's not only doctors. It's no surprise that an environment of individual powerlessness, layoffs and salary cutbacks, intense competition, and advertising bombardments should bring on psychological distress. The person who started the tragic subway fire in Korea was an unemployed person suffering mental illness.
But is there really no alternative to this modern way of life? As one doctor, explaining the psychological problems of some doctors, said: "Doctors are also people. When the economy is weak, incomes decline, and it is hard to avoid feeling depressed and low." To be sure, when hospital incomes fall, it's the employees who get surgically removed, and doctors also see their incomes sliced. But what does this mean in dollars and cents? Some with incomes of NT$180,000 per month are now making NT$120,000; others with revenues of NT$400,000 monthly are down to NT$300,000. Perhaps because of the relative difficulty and specialization of their jobs, doctors should make more than other people, but looking at these kinds of figures, as a taxi driver says: "For that they feel depressed and commit suicide? They really don't know what hard times means!"
People of the older generation still lit incense and prayed to the gods even when things were going well, because they genuinely appreciated their good fortune and knew that it might end any time. In the age of economic prosperity, in contrast, many people with high-income and high-status jobs never stop to ask themselves: Am I worthy of this kind of salary? Is my situation inevitable and permanent? Has past prosperity made us forget that change is very normal? It is only by recognizing such limits that we can really talk about the true meaning of freedom.
In fact many people know very well what's what. To paraphrase a doctor who participates in the volunteer overseas medical services provided by the Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation, no amount of material goods can bring the happiness felt upon seeing the smile of a happy patient. And there are many others-Theodore Kay, who for 30 years has been known as the father of Taiwan medical aid to Africa; the members of Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps; Lien Chia-en, a doctor doing overseas work in Burkina Faso in lieu of military service-who are enjoying meaningful lives because they have made different choices. This is real freedom.
Spiritual freedom is not an abstraction, nor does it necessarily require a religious motivation. You can see free spiritedness in the standards people set for their behavior, and in their attitudes toward life. Just as Mother Theresa said, spiritual regeneration begins with humility. She expected each of her followers to do whatever good they could, even if this was only something small.
As countless consumer products compete for your attention, don't assume that giving in to your desire to buy is freedom of choice. What we should do is simplify our lives, understand that in fact we need very little, and see that the problem is only that we want too much. In fact, we can be selective about our desires, our wealth, and even our exposure to market information. Just as in the case of those medical-aid volunteers who give up their vacations to work abroad, we don't need excessive material wealth, because what we really need is the genuine feeling of being alive.
