Freedom is Just Another Word for Making

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By Gareth Branwyn
Posted 2012/07/04 @ 9:15 am
Category Home

Happy Fourth of July to all of our friends celebrating Independence Day. We might not think of this as a particularly “maker holiday” (besides the obvious excuse to indulge in rampant pyromania), but the independence that we celebrate (and that people across the world should, in general, celebrate) is the freedom to make the world that you want. That’s the independence that we as Americans won on July 4th, 1776 and that we celebrate today. It’s the freedom to make America (and ReMake America), it’s the freedom to hack, mod, beautiful, engineer, and build every aspect of your life, to make it better for yourself, your family, your community, and our world.

So, now that you’ve secured that freedom, what are you going to build with it? As the saying goes: It’s a high-level problem to have.

Happy 4th from all of the staff at MAKE.

BY Gareth Branwyn

Gareth Branwyn is a freelancer writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture, including the first book about the web (Mosaic Quick Tour) and the Absolute Beginner's Guide to Building Robots. He is currently working on a best-of collection of his writing, called Borg Like Me.

In the Maker Shed

4 Responses to Freedom is Just Another Word for Making

rocketguy1701 on July 4th, 2012 at 9:35 am said:

While I agree with the notion, I disagree that we’ve secured our Freedom. In a world of having to perpetually justify ourselves in the name of security, and being besieged by corporate vested interests, I think we have a fight on our hands still. I think it’s a fight we can win, but we haven’t won it yet.

I own a 3D printer, and corporate interests are only just beginning to realize what a threat it is. I can easily see a RIAA style legal obstruction effort to shut down thingiverse. Fortunately the legal ground favors us, but we will need to pay attention to it for the long haul, and legal experts will be needed.

I consider myself a maker, and a patriot, and a rational person. This may put me in the minority, put the principles are good and I will fight for them.

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- cody on July 6th, 2012 at 7:22 am said:
  
  I feel that we did indeed secure our freedom back then, however since then it has slowly been taken back from us in the form of laws that are stated to protect ourselves and our rights but in reality do nothing other than limit our rights and freedoms.
  
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  rocketguy1701 on July 17th, 2012 at 10:43 am said:
  
  Back when? 1776? (I’d agree with that…). After 2001, the slide into decline has been rapid and multifaceted.
  
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Gareth Branwyn on July 4th, 2012 at 9:47 am said:

You’re definitely right, RocketGuy, that “now that you’ve secured that freedom” might not be the best choice of words, as it implies a static state, a done deal. Securing that freedom is definitely a dynamic thing. And something we should never take for granted.

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