Bumper Sticker Philosophy

I like bumper stickers. Some say some very witty things, some are wise, and some just piss me off. There are two that have bugged me for a long time, and I think I’ve finally gotten it. You see, while I like bumper stickers, I don’t necessarily approve of the pithy sayings on them just because they’re catchy…I like to apply a bit of critical thought to them. The first, ‘Minds are like parachutes, they only function when they’re open,’ is a load of hoohaa to me. Sure, it’s cute, and we’d like to believe it’s true, but to me it just shouts naive, it is too catchy, and not really arguable (the comments are there…). On the other hand, I’d had difficulty with ‘No one is free when others are opressed’ also. It seemed pithy, but arguable. This morning on my way in to the workplace I saw that sticker again and gave it some actual thought. And it struck me what it means, at least, what it means to me. Sure, you may feel free, but as long as some persons are being opressed you are not truly free because the opression may spread and envelope you, and while the opportunity, the threat of opression exists, you are affected by it, the shadow looms. If you are one of the oppressors you are not free because you are as obligated to the oppressed as they are to you, as you have no freedom to let things fall apart…if they do, you may well find yourself running. Makes sense to me.