Admittedly, 1980s fashion has not aged well. However, some of the music can not only be termed “classic,” but in some cases, prescient. This is especially true for Devo’s “Freedom of Choice.”
The first stanza observes that a ship disaster victim can “sink, swim, go down with the ship—but use your freedom of choice.” In November, American voters will face similar choices that French and Polish voters recently made. The French chose to stay the course of democracy, while the Poles righted the ship and rejected the autocratic turn their country had veered toward.
“In the land of the free, use your freedom of choice,” Devo urges, after warning us not to “get tricked by what you see.” Many of us fear the authoritarian impulse that is being advocated by a self-promoting politician who wants to emulate countries where freedom of choice has been obliterated. The last stanza sums up the decision facing voters in perhaps America’s most crucial presidential election: “Freedom of choice is what you got / freedom from choice is what you want.”
Do most Americans want freedom of choice or freedom FROM choice? I choose to be an optimist and believe that Americans will vote to stay the course. Our country was founded on the desire for liberty and as imperfect as freedom of choice has been for some Americans, it’s still an ideal worth striving for. “I’ll say it again,” Devo advises, “in the land of the free, use your freedom of choice.”
I’m Lori Drummond-Cherniwchan and that’s my perspective.
