Tags
Airplanes, Anarchism, Bmv, DMV, freedom, Hitchhiking, Philosophy, Travel
“There is no road to freedom, freedom is the road.” — Mohandas Gandhi
Most teens are rather excited when they first get to drive the car without supervision. It’s quite understandable. A whole panorama of freedoms open up and it’s easy to forget that one has been given permission to have all this freedom. Permission from the parents is necessary. Yet permission from the state, while one is fully conscious off, is oft forgotten.
Yet there are those who would say that there must be some sort of governing authority to decide when a child is mature enough to drive. Who gets to make the decision? Some arbitrary self-seated authority? It is absurd to think that in one place one can be mature at sixteen and another at fifteen and a half. The only real measuring bar when it comes to legislation is its measure of imposition and its level of efficacy. As soon as a speedier “freedom” is available, then the rules and regulations and fees pile on like a mindless herd of football players.
If one desires to move even faster, then one must check his identify at the door and be subject to a possible strip search. Do people love lining up in queues that much?
If one wishes to truly travel freely, one must remember the means of one’s youth. That’s right, pedestrianism. One can go near anywhere on foot. Just point and step. You decide! No speed limits are imposed on you. No taxes, no age limit, no required insurance, etc. Pure traveling freedom.
Patience is a virtue, they say. There is only one way to freely travel faster. But there is a catch, and a mighty one it is. One must overcome one’s paranoid vision of strangers and even come to trust one’s fellow man. Hitchhiking is the best mode of travel for the pure adventurer. Travel to strange places, meet interesting co-travelers, smell things in cars you can only guess. What a way to travel!
Walkabouts are for those who can’t stand their fellow man. The braver of hearts will do rideabouts, and see the world through the eyes of strangers who become friends.
I would hazard to guess that there is direct correlation between the number of people airing out their thumbs with those willing to pick them up and the amount of freedoms that the people truly enjoy.
“It’s a dangerous business going out of your door. You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.” – Bilbo Baggins