A cycle
So, I continue to notice how the alternate forces of CognitiveDissonance and MemeticStagnation battle each other out.
I have previously generally referred to their interaction on the scale of the individual, but it has come to my attention that this also applies to how individuals interact. One way is with the following cyclic progression:
freedom -> protection of freedoms -> power -> corruption -> oppression -> rebellion
It is rebellion from the oppresive forces of MemeticStagnation that results in a desire for the freedom to have CognitiveDissonance. Freedoms, once acquired, one often wants to retain, and to that end, a system for setting up the protection of freedoms is often put into place - for example, some attempt to guarantee and enforce the freedom to speak what one chooses to, for example. However, freedoms have their limits, and to those with power, what those limits are is something to determine and act upon. Without those with power, such limits would not be enforced, and freedoms could easily disappear. But with those with power, not only must the limits be enforced, but also the power too. And thus we have the sort of power that can corrupt - because a perfect system of checks and balances has not been devised - and I have no idea if it ever will be.
Once a power, which is preserving its own power, gets corrupt, the abuse of that power occurs. When power is absued, those that are without the power are oppressed. Oppressed people desire freedom from how they are oppressed, and so cause a rebellion.
Note that this may all be in a memetic scale - oppresive ideas, for example, or someone who has power over ideas, or rebellion against ideas. While this cycle is often seen on the political scale, I believe that seeing it in a memetic manner can be quite useful.
That moment of freedom would then be the one moment to enjoy and savor.