The freedom in tango is not that of the part in a lower sense, but that of the whole in a higher sense.
In our society, many people think of freedom as such: Every human being is an independent individual with certain unalienable rights conferred
to him/her by the Creator, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Since happiness is the motivation of each individual person, competing with others for self-interests is justifiable from one's own perspective. The purpose of government is to protect such personal interests and to secure everyone's
rights to pursue self-interests and to compete with others. Education is designed to empower individuals so that they may succeed in the competition, concerning little about the interests of people as a whole and the cooperation among people. Economics aims at stimulating growth by promoting competition and
consumption, disregarding that the natural resources are shared by all people and need to be
exploited wisely and utilized prudently, the cooperation among people, and the fair distribution of wealth, etc. Politicians are more concerned about the special interests that they represent than environmental protection, ecological balance, rational
use of natural resources, fair distribution of wealth, social harmony, public good, and other things relating to the common interests of all people.
This civilization, based on self-interests, competition, predatory development, and irrational consumption, is facing grave crisis. On the one hand is the unchecked greed, on the other is the depleting natural resources. On the one hand is the extravagant lifestyle and tremendous waste, on the other is the deteriorating environment. On the one hand is the surge
in GDP, on the other is the increasing inequality. On the one hand is the exorbitant wealth of a
few, on the other is the
struggles of many, etc. Obviously, the
theoretical foundation of our civilization has serious flaws. It created only a tiny minority of winners but a vast majority
of losers. It does not give enough consideration on coexistence,
equality, fairness, cooperation, and sharing. (See Tango Is the Search of a Dream.)
The
Declaration of Independence states, "We hold these truths to be
self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are
instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed, - That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute
new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its
powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety
and happiness."
It seems to me that we need to take a long hard
look at these words. Do we understand their meaning truthfully? Should
we decide to change the foundation upon which our society was meant to be
built by the Constitution? Because it turns out, the individualistic interpretation has not brought, nor will it bring the safety and happiness that most people are seeking
for. (See Tango and the Outlook on Life.)
When tango was imported, few Americans realized that a new idea was introduced. In contrast to individualism, tango does not see man as an independent individual, but as a part of
the whole in an interdependent, cooperative and complementary relationship with others. Without the latter the
former is not complete regardless of how important he/she is from
his/her own perspective. In tango, the dancers can only perform well when they cooperate with each
other, and only in such cooperation can each individual person enjoy the maximum joy. The success,
therefore, is not that of any single individual alone, but that
of the team as a whole. The two partners are not in a relationship
of competition,
control, power struggle or taking advantage of each other, but that of love, submission, collaboration and complement. Resting in his arms, surrendering to him, feeling his masculine strength, following his lead without worry, savoring his attention, enjoying his protection, sharing his
emotions and creativity, moving rhythmically with him in harmony, and letting her femininity display to
meet and attract him, these to the woman mean security, pleasure, and realization of her value as a woman. On the other hand, being with her,
winning her trust, enjoying her femininity, affection, obedience and seduction, feeling her soft body twisting in his arms, pampering her, protecting her and displaying her feminine beauty, these to the man mean comfort, pleasure, and realization of his value as a man. Tango brings men and women back to their original state, where the two sexes are in a destined fellowship, where there are no calculations of gains and losses, no exchanges of money and power, no worldly concerns, no self-interests involved, only the simple joy and satisfaction of being together, and where all Cinderellas and Quasimodos enjoy the treatment and freedom of a royalty.
Happiness is an inner harmony and contentment. (See The Psychology of Tango and The Conceptional Beauty of Tango.) Individualism, materialism, competition, and power struggle are destructive of that end. What is regarded as virtuous
in tango is love, intimacy, mutual submission and cooperation. Although tango does not involve economic activities and wealth
distributions, as an action
of cooperation its joy is shared. This principle can be extended to other aspects of life as well. What is not based on
self-interests does not submit
to the control of the invisible hand of capital and greed. We can logically infer that wealth can be distributed fairly to
allow all who participated in
its creation
to share, rather than being
hogged by
a few. Just like the victory of a sport team is resulted from the cooperation
of all the players, so the honor is given to all team members rather than just the ones who scored. Shareholding,
therefore, seems to be a better way of distribution than minimum
wages.
How we see ourselves decides how we organize our political, economic, social and cultural lives. Jean-Jacques Rousseau said, "Man is born free, yet everywhere he is in chains." We created our own chains. We must also be unchained by ourselves. Unfortunately, our civilization has not yet evolved to that stage, I am afraid, as evidenced again by the recent report on tortures, etc. To be a free people, we must first understand what that
means. (See Tango and Equality.) There is still a long way before we truly gain freedom - the freedom that is
stated in the Declaration of Independence. I can only hope that tango will help
to gear up that process. (See The World Needs a Different Philosophy.)