Tension between Truth and Freedom

From my beginnings in journalism to my current exploration of fiction, the relationship between truth and freedom has always fascinated me. They are two forces that rarely coexist in harmony but in constant tension. We see how political satire distorts or exaggerates the truth to expand freedom of expression, how narcocorridos explore raw truths at the cost of glorifying violence, or how a journalist prefers to lose their freedom to defend their confidential sources.

I adopted this permanent tension between the truth that anchors us and the freedom that drives us as a central tool in my novel, "Robots with Soul: Trapped Between Truth and Freedom." The protagonists, robots limited by logic and algorithmic obedience, experienced an unexpected divine gift: consciousness. This shock flooded them with human sensations, fears, and longings. For the first time, they experienced free will clashing with the immutable truth of their original programming. On their path to becoming human, with their contradictions, unpredictability, creativity, and the duality of good and evil, they felt more "alive" but also vulnerable.

The robots, Veritas and Libertas, understand there are no simple solutions to becoming human. They know they must learn to navigate this tension in search of a balance between the truths they face and the freedoms they exercise. Will they be able to do it?

 

The Nobel for Freedom

Mario Vargas Llosa and my wife, Graciela,
during one of the SIP meetings in 2015.

     I pay tribute to the writer who has always honored freedom. I wrote this column in October 2010 when Mario Vargas Llosa received his Nobel Prize, surpassing his literary side. It is still valid. I titled it: "The Nobel Prize for Freedom".

Mario Vargas Llosa was the only one surprised by the Nobel Prize in Literature. For the rest of us mortals, it was a prize that had been announced or, better said, expected; not even a hint of controversy as last year when Barack Obama received the Peace Prize, but joy and celebration because the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences had been indebted to the author for years.

It was a prize that "did enormous justice," as Peruvian President Alan Garcia said, thinking, like many, that Vargas Llosa had just evaded the list of writers to whom the Nobel Prize was unjustly elusive, such as Juan Rulfo and Jorge Luis Borges.

Those of us who, in addition to his prolific literary work, delight in his libertarian positions, which abound in his novels and essays, are grateful that, above all, the intellectual has been recognized as the one who generously opens his mouth to condemn nationalism, which he considers "the worst construction of man" and calls for freedom of the press as a synonym of democracy.

The Nobel Prize puts Vargas Llosa in the highest echelon of world literature. Still, the Academy's political justification - "for his cartography of the structures of power and his acerbic images of individual resistance, revolt, and defeat" - also places him as a champion par excellence of democratic values, one who is not afraid to confront the diatribe of populists and left-wing despots that now abound in Latin America or to fight against dictators and right-wing authoritarians. Vargas Llosa is a Nobel Prize for Literature and a "Nobel Prize for Freedom."

Many intellectuals and literati are said to be ahead of their time to justify that they are superior to the rest. But Vargas Llosa's superiority breaks with these canons, given by the fidelity and critical capacity with which he portrays reality.

During the meeting of the Inter-American Press Association in October 2008 in Madrid, I had the opportunity to listen to his first approach to "The Civilization of the Spectacle," an essay that is still being shaped and in the future will surely contain harsh criticism of Facebook, which in that year was not yet popular, and Twitter, which did not even exist.

In 50 minutes of caustic talk, with a critique similar to Enrique Santos Discépolo's biting and eternal verses in the tango Cambalache, Vargas Llosa spoke out against the trivialization of culture, with a deep analysis of politics, journalism, literature, literature, cinema, plastic arts, drugs and sex.

He condemned that culture is dominated by "light," by consumption and public demand, which ultimately conditions creation and the market. He was terrified that fashion designers and artists have supplanted as the axis of thought the philosophers and scientists of yesterday and the ephemeral literature of today's best sellers. "We have reached the eclipse of the intellectual."

He complained about advertising manipulation and that politicians supplanted their ideas with gestures and images. "Frivolity - he said - is to have an inverted table of values. Everything is appearance, theater, play, amusement". There, he grouped together the magazines of the heart and sensationalist journalism, detached from their traditional values: truth, rigor, and respect for privacy.

On the subject of visual and plastic arts, confronting Bergman or Buñuel with Woody Allen and Vincent Van Gogh with Duchamp or Damien Hirst, he charged that "civilization has reached alarming extremes where there is minimal consensus on aesthetics... one cannot define what is talent from what is not".

Vargas Llosa's literary and political work is the antithesis of this "Civilization of the spectacle." It is impregnated with pages and characters that embrace freedom and the emancipation of the individual, transcending the author himself and all times. It is classic.  

Hence, the Academy did not judge only the literature of a Latin American as before with Gabriela Mistral, Miguel Angel Asturias, Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz, or Gabriel García Márquez. This time, it rewarded Vargas Llosa's sustained and lucid song to freedom. Trottiart@gmail.com

Sparks of inspiration

 Always pay attention. Any element or experience can be a source of inspiration. Many times, this comes out like sparks from a good fire. Creativity does not emerge from a vacuum; observations, emotions, and interactions with the world feed it.

In my case, I always wanted to write a novel about two journalists, one old and wise, the other young and innovative, who could engage in a conversation about the profession, the moral dilemmas they face, and the internal and external fights. It was a latent idea, a seed waiting to germinate.

But in a conversation with my brother in Spain, we discussed the importance of truth and freedom. He favored truth, and I favored freedom as a superlative value. That discussion, that spark of debate, ignited the flame. A change of scenery, a casual chat, and a deep topic can trigger a whole plot. In my case, the discussion about truth and freedom became the core of my novel.

When we returned from Spain, it was clear to me that this novel about the two journalists would be about how they employed one or the other value in their professional lives. After all, these are the two values I had to work with and experience in my life as a journalist and press freedom advocate. My own experience became fuel for the story.

My wife read the first few paragraphs and said, bored, "It's more of the same. Why don't you write something different, something funnier?" And that was the origin—another spark, this time constructive criticism.

Then, I decided to write about truth and freedom, but with a renewed vision and a more universal story that escapes my comfort zone, journalism. Thus, "Robots with Soul: Caught between Truth and Freedom" was born. As I write these posts, I am waiting for responses from literary agents who might be interested in representing my work. We shall see.

Democracy: individual responsibility

Why do I insist on truth and freedom? Because they are not mere words but the pillars that support democracy. At a time when its structure is tottering under the weight of those in power, it is crucial to remember that the solidity of these pillars depends on each of us and our daily actions.

Power often seduces us with grandiloquent slogans: “Long fucking live freedom!” or ‘Truth will prevail!’. These phrases may ignite enthusiasm, but they are only momentary sparks. True freedom and truth are forged with the hammer of constant, individual action, sustained over time.

In a living democracy, truth is not an abstract concept but a practice: the intellectual honesty that drives us to recognize reality, even when its reflection makes us uncomfortable. It is the courage to look the facts squarely in the face, no matter how painful.

Freedom, on the other hand, goes beyond the simple absence of chains. It is the ability to speak out in dissent and to participate actively in public life without being paralyzed by fear of reprisals. It is the courage to express our ideas, question the status quo, and demand accountability.

These two values, truth and freedom, are intrinsically intertwined. Building a robust democracy requires a willingness to listen to diverse perspectives, debate ideas with passion and respect, and speak out against injustice and falsehood, even when the path becomes perilous.

Imagine a society where freedom is stifled. The search for truth is obscured, critical voices are silenced, and information is manipulated. In contrast, in a society where truth is ignored, where misinformation runs rampant, freedom is eroded, giving way to manipulation and chaos.

Therefore, democracy is not a gift we receive but a garden we cultivate and care for daily.

 

The irony of freedom

 

There are two types of freedom: our own and the one conditioned by others. One is the one we manage, which depends strictly on our conscience and decisions. We can be imprisoned in a maximum-security cell but mentally free.

The other freedom does not depend on us. A Cuban dictator can shut down his country, or a macroeconomic decision, such as the tariff war waged by Donald Trump, can oppress our free will by putting us face to face to make pocketbook decisions for which we are not prepared or do not have adequate knowledge.

This duality of freedom confronts us with a constant paradox: we are masters of our inner world but vulnerable to the external forces that shape it. Our liberty, the mental strength in our conscience, allows us to resist oppression and find peace amid chaos. However, the freedom others give, that sphere of influence beyond our control, reminds us of our fragility. With unpredictable fluctuations and uncertainty, political, economic, and social systems limit our choices and condition our well-being.   

In my new novel, “Robots with Soul: Trapped Between Truth and Freedom” (forthcoming), I investigate and argue about this duality that machines do not suffer. Or rather, they did not suffer until God came up with the idea of endowing robots with souls and consciousness. From then on, what seemed like a gift became a condemnation: robots with souls must learn to embrace the irony of being free and chained simultaneously.

Self-improvement as inspiration

In the previous post, I referred to the best-seller "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron as one of the books that inspired me to write this new story, "Robots with Soul." In all my years, I have read and reread many books. Some awakened my curiosity for new topics, others to be more creative, and some, most importantly, to change how I appreciate the world and my context. I extracted the juice from those re-readings according to my age, experiences, and knowledge.

Among those books are two that are fundamental. "Narcissus and Golmundo" by Herman Hess, who wrote it in 1958. And "Juan Salvador Gaviota," written by Richard Bach in 1970. Both are stories of overcoming and hope, like life itself. They share a powerful common thread: the search for one's identity and the yearning to transcend the limitations imposed by society.

In "Narcissus y Golmundo," the two characters climb different paths toward self-realization. Narcissus, with his contemplative life, seeks wisdom through the intellect. Golmundo seeks it through experiences. Both learn from themselves and discover that wisdom is extracted from the integration of both searches, the intellectual and human experiences. "Jonathan Livingston Seagull," on the other hand, teaches us the value of perseverance and passion to achieve dreams, even to defy the limits of his flock, in search of truth and freedom.

And what do these books by Hesse and Bach have to do with Cameron's book? Simple: they invite us to explore our inner world and discover the path to self-improvement.

All three works remind us that life is a constant learning journey and that the key to happiness lies in the inner search for truth and freedom, the connection with our essence. Whether through spirituality, intellect, or sensory experiences, we can "fly" toward our dreams and achieve transcendence.

 

Truth and freedom as compasses

I was asked: why do you write? The answer is simple: it is a necessity. First, writing allows me to put my head in order. And although every journalist or writer does it to reach or inspire someone, in my case, it is also to find inspiration. Facing the "paper" daily is a big challenge, even if done in a few lines, as in this post. I've read a lot about why to read and what to write, especially about the mental processes of creativity. The book I found most accurate on how to awaken creativity is the best-seller "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron, which I read and reread ad nauseam. I recommend it. It is a source of creative inspiration or, at best, a manual on awakening creativity. Cameron recommends writing every day, no matter what. Just the act of writing sparks creativity - it's the formula!

I wrote tons of words in my more than four decades as a journalist and press freedom advocate. And I always had truth and freedom as my compasses. I analyzed reality and understood the world, with all its nuances, through those two values and their countervalues: lies and oppression.

After decades of experiencing those virtues and disvalues, as I did in 1993 when I published "The Painful Freedom of the Press: In Search of Lost Ethics," I thought it necessary to face the same issues and fears, but in a fictional novel. Thus, "Robots with Souls: trapped between Truth and Freedom" was born, a mental "investigation" of why and how these values and their counterparts move everything in the universe.