The illusion of choice

“Maaaan it must be fun being single!”

“Enjoy it! While it lasts!”

“Living in a democracy is nice, you get to choose 1 of 4 candidates every few years”

There is a difference between choice and options. The connotation of “im free to choose” usually means you have unlimited options. And this is the main cause of strife in the western world. We’ve been taught “you can be anything, buy anything, and do anything”

But just because something is available, does not mean it’s available to you.

Technically anybody can be prime minister in Canada. But before you can even be on the ballot, the party must choose you as their leader.

You can buy anything, date anything *technically, but that is far from the reality of the situation.

If the options open to you are drastically reduced, sometimes to one or two, then is this not similar to no choice at all?