Two different types of Freedom

My real first post in this blog will be about this really delicate subject. I’ve had it in the corner of my mind for quite a long time now and now I’m finally having the opportunity to write about it. Anyway, let me go straight to the topic.
One of the first things I noticed after a few months in Beijing, China was that I was sort of exchanging the virtual freedom that I had in Brazil for the physical freedom I have here.

Well, let me explain these two concepts I’ve came up with. Back in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, we’ve had a pretty serious issue which is VIOLENCE. When you watch all those things on tv about “carnaval”, beaches, happiness and so on you usually have no idea of what’s really going on there. In Brazil we don’t have what I call “Physical Freedom” in a nutshell: We have to avoid places, we can’t go to the place we want whenever we feel like doing it simply because it’s too dangerous! Anything could happen! You can’t even be sure if you’ll be back home alive. Too dramatic? I don’t think so. Just check the news. No, no the REAL news. Just a few weeks before I left Rio I remember a helicopter was shot down by drug dealers! Amazing, huh? Now, here in China, I have the freedom to come and go wherever I want and be assured that most likely nothing will happen to me, guns are not even allowed here! This is simply awesome and it’s something that most people from other less violent places around the world don’t really care about. It’s gold for me, I love to go out the whole day and come back just at night to rest and use the internet a little.

On the other hand…

Not everything is a bed of roses here and China, many things make me even miss my dear country. Here, I don’t have the freedom to express myself the way I want. The problems start when I get back home and turn on the tv and all I have is 9 CCTV channels or more! Fortunately, I have cable tv so I can watch some movies but recently I found out that some movies also get censored here! Sometimes it’s so ridiculous that even a 5yo would note that it has been edited. TV is not my favorite thing anyway, so I turn on my computer and start to surf on the web. Since, I can watch TV here I try to go to youtube, but SURPRISE it’s blocked! But it’s ok! I can share my awesome news with my friends on facebook! Oh wait, dammit! It’s blocked! So I try to read some news about China in some sites, you won’t be surprised to know that they are also blocked , right? Seriously guys, there’s a serious information deprivation going on here!And that’s what I call “Virtual Freedom”

At first, I thought “Hey, it’s ok. At least, I still don’t have to fear violence”. I’m having second thoughts though as I think how bad it might be for people who were born here. They are kind of isolated from the outside world(I’d say completely isolated but I just haven’t been here long enough). I was surprised to know that my favorite music genre, heavy metal, is basically unknown here! Anyway, I have put myself in their shoes, just imagine how would it be if you didn’t know of anything that was really going on, it’s a nightmare!

So, I’d really like your opinion about this! Which is better in your opinion, “Physical Freedom” or “Virtual Freedom”.
I can’t really pick one just yet, but I’d really like to know your thoughts!

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