Questions of Conquest and Freedom and Democracy both deal with mans’ attainment or loss of freedom and its subsequent consequences. Freedom is defined as the right of self or the individual, to express himself without any pre-conceived notions, and to follow his own desires and dreams without influence. Freedom means choice and decision making without burden and being an individual.
In Questions of Conquest the author discusses in great depth how the ancient civilizations of the Aztecs and Incas were destroyed ruthlessly by Spanish invaders. This was preceded by Columbus stumbling upon the Americas in his search for India. The writer, a native, questions how life would have been different for his country if these ancient tribes were left alone, and if the modern day creation of Peru was for the best. The question is rhetorical, but a deeper understanding of mans’ freedom is brought to the forefront. The tribes though primitive and archaic were still developed and sophisticated in many ways. However, they were ruled by their leaders and their way of life and acted as a whole and not as individuals. Upon loss of their leaders in battle they effectively gave up to their Spanish aggressors. Like children, they could not think for themselves and faced insecurity without authority. Invasion meant their ant like society was destroyed and freedom in its infancy was born. However, today modern day society in Peru is happy to be the new invaders. With their own hands they do not want to preserve their tribes and traditions, as they feel it is a handicap to progress. They embrace westernization, little realizing that they are still held captive, figuratively speaking by their invaders. There is little freedom when they have to conform to white mans ideals for success and acceptance globally.
In Freedom And Democracy some of the ideas above is discussed but on a more general level relating to man kind in general, and his socio development and how it relates to the notion of freedom. The article states the opinion that modern democracy has meant the loss of the individual. Every thought or desire we have comes with pre-conditioning, and that we are automans who have lost their self worth. It discusses that this conditioning begins in our childhood with our parents and teachers, and that education robs us of the right to think for ourselves. In fact, we learn to conform to what society expects of us and deviating from this means being classified as ‘abnormal,’ which in turn leads to self doubt and insecurity. We are suppressed of our rights to be our true self. This suppression takes many forms such as sexual, emotional sense of tragedy, original thinking, truth etc. We have in effect given up on spontaneity and our individuality to be part of the pack, and have no free will, but convince ourselves we have to keep our peace of mind.
In essence, man from the Ancient tribes to the present day has not been able to achieve ultimate freedom. The tribes of South America were invaded and lost their way of life to become puppets in the hands of their invaders, and today we still dance to the tunes of others expectations.
The connection made between "Questions of Conquest" and "Freedom and Democracy" is simply a direct link established between the two texts and how both refer to the loss of freedom and individualism. While this is a simple connection that can be easily made, it is the most important one and needs to be made. This link between two texts that refer to totally different eras is incredible because it means that even a few hundred years of evolution in between the two civilizations, Inca and contemporary, we are still familiar in the sense that we are losing our freedom and possibly always will be. An interesting observation is that, while both the Incas and ourselves are losing or have lost our freedom as suggested in the texts, but we are losing it in two different ways, first as a society but more recently, as individuals. This connection is vital because it proves that we have changed, somewhat, from ancient civilizations.
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