If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am for myself only, what am I? If not now--when?
Talmudic Saying Mishnah, Abot
* This is a series of three pieces, together telling the story of humanities quest for freedom.
* Each piece will be minted as a limited edition of only 10 NFTs.
* One NFT in each edition includes a physical counterpart - either the original oil painting! Can you guess which one it is?
* The winning NFT will have a code in its unlockable content, viewable after purchase.
Link to drop: https://opensea.io/collection/design-the-future
Join me as I travel back and forth through time in the search of freedom and liberty...
What is freedom as a human experience? Is the desire for freedom something inherent in human nature? Is it an identical experience regardless of what kind of culture a person lives in?
Why is it then for many a cherished goal and for others a threat?
Freedom is so personal to our sense of self, that it is also the most controversial to define. Humanity and culture have developed from societies with centralized powers and little individual freedom into growing decentralized ways of governance and distribution of information. For much of human history, people thought of freedom not as protecting individual rights but as ensuring self-rule and the just treatment of all. The rise of modernity brought about the triumph of a new idea of liberty. Today most people think of freedom as a matter of individual liberties and, in particular, of protection from the intrusions of big government and the state.
This quest has become so deeply rooted in the human experience that many symbols, Gods and stories have been devoted to convey it.
The Roman Republic - The Aventine Triad
by Yonat Vaks
The Roman Empire represents two centuries that brought peace and prosperity to the world by extinguishing national and political freedom, but in which individual freedom flourished as it never had.
After the collapse of the old monarchy and the foundation of the Republic, the control of the government was restricted to a handful of great families.The remaining citizens were called plebians. Soon, however, these plebians or plebs began to resent their second-class status and rose up, demanding to participate in the affairs of state and exercise their rights as full citizens of Rome. After rising up, they managed to create the Council of the Plebs. It enacted laws that eventually became binding to all citizens, including the patricians.
This painting is of the Aventine Triad, also referred to as the plebian Triad. It is the joint cult of the plebs. The cult of the the Roman dieties Liber, Ceres and Libertas. It served as a focus of plebian identity, sometimes in opposition to Rome´s original ruling elite, the patricians.
Liber, ´the free one´, was a god of wine, fertility and freedom. His festival of Liberalia became associated with free speech and the rights attached to coming of age. Libertas is the goddess of liberty. She became a politicised figure in the Late Republic, featured on coins. She is also the inspiration for the statue of liberty and many paintings. Ceres was the goddess of agriculture and fertility.
The American Revolution- A Tea Party for All
by Yonat Vaks
The founding fathers and the Statue of Liberty all invite you to their tea party. The American Revolution is one of the biggest symbols in the fight for freedom and individual liberty. It wasn´t perfect though as liberty for all wasn´t completely acheived, some people were left on the other side of the fence.
The Libertas coin, the coin of the people, the Bitcoin bags and the Cuckoo bird invite us to reflect.
The French Revolution - Off with the Crown
by Yonat Vaks
The French Revolution put an end to the French Monarchy, feudalism, and took power from the Catholic church. It brought ideas of liberty and freedom to Europe. General eagle and General Cuckoo are ordering the money of the people to cut off the head of the crown. The butterfly symbolizes transformation and change.
Will crypto and the path towards true decentralization be the next battle in the quest for freedom?
In 414 BC, the Greek comic dramatist, Aristophanes, wrote ´The Birds´ - a political fantasy about two Athenians, fed up with taxes, over regulation and life in the city. The two set out to find a better place to live. They end up negotiating with the leader of the birds to establish a ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’ in the sky.‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’ has since been used as an expression meaning a state of absurdly over optimistic fantasy or an unrealistically idealistic state.
The society we live in is headed for a massive change in many ways and no one really knows what will happen. In times of great change, the forces of good and evil fight to determine the future. Will you help build the next Cloud Cuckoo Land?
From ´The Birds´
-Leader of the chorus: Who are they? From what country?
EPOPS: Strangers, who have come from Greece, the land of the wise.
LEADER OF THE CHORUS: And what fate has led them hither to the land of the birds?
EPOPS: Their love for you and their wish to share your kind of life; to dwell and remain with you always.
LEADER OF THE CHORUS: Indeed, and what are their plans?EPOPS: They are wonderful, incredible, unheard of.
LEADER OF THE CHORUS: Why, do they think to see some advantage that determines them to settle here? Are they hoping with our help to triumph over their foes or to be useful to their friends?
EPOPS: They speak of benefits so great it is impossible either to describe or conceive them..
LEADER OF THE CHORUS: Are they mad?
EPOPS: They are the sanest people in the world.
Let yourself be cuckoo.
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