essay outline

Crisis of freedom

social media, education, internalized expectations

Definition of unfreedom

societal coercion and pressures to fulfill role

Gan’s situation

what is bloodchild world and his role within it

Thesis

han say no because of systemic coercion masked as voluntary participation, plato could say yes if gan is contributing to social harmony within a fair society by fulfilling his role

Han’s free

to be free is to be free of external and internal pressures and have self realization in an open future

Han’s evidence

Auto-Exploitation: When individuals internalize systemic pressures and willingly work within their own oppression + Lack of Resistance: The inability to resist oppressive systems because failure is internalized as personal fault (Psychopolitics, 24).

Han’s evidence with gan

Gan’s Decision to Accept Implantation + Gan’s Use of the Rifle+ T’Gatoi’s Offer to Use Xuan Hoa

Han’s conclusion

To be free, Gan’s participation must come from genuine choice, requiring the dismantling of systemic coercion in the Preserve.

Plato’s free

Plato believed that freedom isn’t just about doing whatever you want—it’s about living in a way that keeps everything in harmony and balance

Plato’s evidence

Kallipolis: justice, class division, collective over the individual, conditioning, censorship, sacrifice for stability, no private families, interdependence

Plato’s evidence with Gan

the preserve, Public vs. Private Birth, Gan’s Relationship with T’Gatoi

Plato’s concession

undistributed benefits

Plato’s conclusion

Plato would say that Gan could be free, but it depends on whether the society (the Preserve) is fair and just.

Han on Plato

Han would critique Plato’s Kallipolis as perpetuating unfreedom through rigid roles and censorship.

Plato on Han

Plato would view Han’s focus on individual autonomy as neglecting the importance of societal harmony and collective good.

Conclusion

From Han’s perspective, Gan is unfree due to systemic coercion. From Plato’s perspective, Gan’s freedom depends on whether the Preserve is structured as a just and mutually beneficial society.