>>2275633We are going to argue that industrial-technological society cannot be reformed in such a way as to prevent it from progressively narrowing the sphere of human free- dom. But, because “freedom” is a word that can be inter- preted in many ways, we must first make clear what kind of freedom we are concerned with.
94. By “freedom” we mean the opportunity to go through the power process, with real goals not the artifi- cial goals of surrogate activities, and without interference, manipulation or supervision from anyone, especially from any large organization. Freedom means being in control (either as an individual or as a member of a SMALL group) of the life-and-death issues of one’s existence: food, clo- thing, shelter and defense against whatever threats there may be in one’s environment. Freedom means having po- wer; not the power to control other people but the power to control the circumstances of one’s own life. One does not have freedom if anyone else (especially a large organi- zation) has power over one, no matter how benevolently, tolerantly and permissively that power may be exercised. It is important not to confuse freedom with mere permis- siveness (see paragraph 72).
