Imagine a star-lit night sky in all its glory. Spread out before you, upon the widest canvas of them all, amidst the dark depths of space’s infinity, are countless stars, each in their own niche, twinkling and gleaming. Each and every night, they remain still, watching as the earth goes upon its path, year in, year out.

In the same way, society is filled with people, each of whom have their own little niche in society. However, the differences are far more striking; these niches are far from natural, and as a result, many people cannot twinkle or gleam.

 An artificial construct, hideous in its twisted beauty and supposed perfection, despite its manifold branches, spreads out across our world today. Humanity has been caught up in a pointless struggle to outdo itself, and whilst this may have brought about the many scientific and technological advances that make life as it is today possible, it is at the expense of some things that should be and once were considered priceless.

For example, the very concept of modern democratic society is based upon freedom of choice and every citizen’s ability to influence the goings and doings of society. Idealism is one thing, but the sheer irony of the situation cannot be denied when the very concept of choice is undermined from birth, when a child’s destiny will be shaped not by his or her experiences, but the opinion of the academic apparatus into which this baby child has unwittingly plunged into. From the beginning, to the end, the child’s life will be run by social opinion and system-based allocation to society; until the child is an adult, and until the adult lies in a grave, there will be no true freedom from the grasp of society’s long standing roots.

In itself, from a detached point of view, this is not as bad as it seems. After all, society is an instrument formed for the sole purpose of facilitating humanity’s existence through unity (in many varying shapes and sizes, of course), and thus, in theory, human existence within society is one tailored to achieve maximum efficiency within an allotted time. Such efficiency generally ensures that the weak are rooted out, while the stronger enter society and are given the opportunity to expand their line. There are, of course, exceptions, but in a network that numbers billions, the few who object are but a speck on the map, an annoyance to the regular flow of events; it seems to be the perfect system, constantly improving and rebuilding as new ideas enter its flow, building upon it and allowing it to expand to previously unknown sizes, spreading into the far corners of the world, whether it is at the end of a book, baseball game or bayonet.

 And yet, this perfect system contains an inherent flaw. Humanity is unable to take a detached look at a situation and satisfy itself with such things. The concept of emotion and free will is embedded in the democratic values found so often in modern society, and although bastions of dictatorial rule like North Korea still stand proud, the inevitable truth is that, as can be seen in nations like the former Soviet Union (as well as its satellite states), dictatorial rule is almost always abandoned in favour of the idealistic principles that are free will and speech. Humanity will lean towards the provision of free will and rule by the people if they are offered a chance to attain it; many will sacrifice an operational social structure in order to attain an illusion of free will. Whilst the political rationale behind such decisions is a completely different argument, this simple fact shows that the human mentality tends to prefer the idea of choosing what to do with one’s life, and although exceptions exist, they are, again, but specks amongst the billions. Thus, it can be said human beings cannot look impassively and completely practically at the choice between freedom and direction.

    The irony is that the social system through which the democracy of a modern nation is exercised is simultaneously the engine through which a governing force placates and manipulates its citizens as situations demand. The social engine, whilst offering the common man a voting apparatus and a variety of different governments, takes every man, regardless of their free will, and creates a situation in which the average man has no option but to conform to society’s whims, from education to employment. The average human being is provided an illusion through which to view the world by one hand, whilst the other directs him along a pre-determined path that no amount of voting can change conclusively. The average human being crawls through an educational system into employment, from which he retires, and eventually dies. The average human being will always harbour doubts and complaints, but no means through which to express them in a lasting manner. It is a brief, meaningless existence, fought long and bitter for sheets of green paper. In a world of information exchange and opening horizons, humanity itself closes its own windows and boards up the doors in a relentless hunt for hard cash, for money. In the materialistic society of today, valuing one’s life has become an anachronism, a thing of the past in an age where people were not mindless drones. The irony is that the easier life has become to live, the less people actually live their lives. It is a bitter irony, but a fact of life nonetheless.

    To fulfil life’s responsibilities and to perform a vital role as a contributing member of society is a just and noble thing. However, in this time of conformity, the human being must realise that there is more to life than materialist desires, and that its free will must be manifested in its purest form, within the human being’s rationale, not solely as part of the illusion of democracy. Then, and only then, will the human being break free from conformity and appreciate the nature of life as it is, not as others want it to be.