“Freedom is acquired by conquest, not by gift.”
—Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968)
This striking assertion by the Brazilian philosopher Paulo Freire invites deep reflection. Throughout history, it is often the conquerors and oppressors who have written the most eloquent treatises on freedom. They extol its virtues even as they use force to dominate others—waging wars, subjugating nations, and imposing their will upon the defeated.
There is a paradox at the heart of conquest: the conqueror, in the act of denying another man his freedom, becomes acutely aware of the power and privilege that freedom confers. Freedom becomes not a universal right, but a private possession—the exclusive domain of the one who commands. For the conquered, freedom is no longer a lived reality but a distant, almost unimaginable possibility.
The vanquished may speak of liberation, but liberation alone is not freedom. The psychological and political chains remain. To the oppressed, freedom often appears attainable only through reversal—by seizing power, by conquering the conqueror. Until that moment comes, they remain ensnared in a world defined by someone else’s terms.
In such a world, the path to freedom is not paved by moral appeals or generous concessions. It is won through struggle, resistance, and the assertion of agency. As Freire reminds us, freedom is not a gift handed down by the powerful—it is a conquest wrested from them.
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