Freedom and Capture
One feature of human behavior is the capture and
imprisonment of animals and fellow humans. One of the most frightening prospects
for a free human is to be captured and imprisoned. Among the worst atrocities
that humans commit is the unlawful detention of citizens who are deprived of
civil liberties, beaten, raped, forced to work and killed. Legal systems in
free, democratic countries attempt to protect citizens from unreasonable
imprisonment. Protections include the right to be represented by a lawyer, and
the right to appear before a judge for an impartial hearing within days of
detention. The capture and imprisonment of animals was part of a transition from
nomadic, hunting-foraging lifestyles to more settled and agrarian lifestyles.
The domestication of plants and animals provided food surpluses, the basis of
wealth and the development of civilizations.
Animals can be captured in traps that are designed to kill or designed for
live capture. The hunter kills the animal. The farmer captures and imprisons the
animal who is fed, bred, used for labor and then killed and eaten. Imprisonment
requires the construction of and maintenance of containers, the supply of food
and water, and the removal of wastes. The attitudes, skills and habits that
support animal capture also support human capture and imprisonment. Animals can
be trapped by offering free food as reward, even with conspicuous devices, if
the food offering is tempting enough. The animal approaches the trap with
caution; however, not understanding the mechanism of capture, an animal who goes
for the food is caught. Humans are skilled at making traps to catch animals and
use the same strategies to trap each other.
The program for a trap is:
1. Excite approach behaviors by offering a reward
2. Minimize avoidance behaviors by concealing and disguising danger
3. Spring the trap suddenly to defeat the attempt to flee
Since humans are gregarious animals who tend to form herds and follow
leaders, the polite imprisonment of human volunteers is a routine feature of all
societies. Humans volunteer to enter enclosed spaces and are often controlled as
herd animals, by fences, gates, doors, buildings and herders who use rewards and
punishments. Understanding human behavior cannot proceed without an
understanding of these group dynamics. The most important determinants of human
behavior are not the tendencies of individuals acting alone, but individuals
interacting with each other.
Unconditional freedom has been described in individual terms. The free and
unfettered movement of body and mind and the privilege of self-determination are
freedom fundamentals.
For most humans most of the time, individual freedom is limited by both
voluntary and involuntary capture and imprisonment. The real determinants are
group dynamics.
