Is Free Will Really Free - Amelia Margolies

The following is a transcript of a speech delivered at the Lycée Concours D'eloquence, which took place on February 5, 2026.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,

We’re told we’re free.

Free to choose our future.

Free to become anything we want.

Apparently, I’m free,

But freedom is limited; it doesn’t come with any old get-out-of-jail-free card.

And if we’re really so free,

why does choosing feel so terrifying?

Before we argue about free will, let’s define it.

Free will usually means the ability to choose otherwise.

To act as if our decisions are truly our own.

Allow me to reiterate:

The ability to choose otherwise.

But are we actually able to?

Are our choices individual,

Or are they collective, shaped by culture, money, history, fear?

We like to imagine freedom as something pure,

Something untouched

Something we automatically obtain just by being human.

But from the moment we’re born, we’re influenced.

Named before we can speak

Taught before we can question.

Conditioned before we can resist.

So let me ask the question:

When you choose a career, your future,

Are you choosing freely?

Or are you choosing what pays the rent,

What keeps you safe,

What helps you survive?

A choice made under necessity is not completely free.

We don’t choose from infinite possibilities.

We choose from what is available, acceptable, and realistic.

And still – 

We call it freedom.

People often say,

“Well, you could have chosen differently.”

And yes, technically, you could

In the same way you’re free to break the law.

You’re free to do it,

You just might not be free after the fact. 

So, the question isn’t “can you choose?”

It’s “can you afford the consequences?”

Because when choosing differently could mean unemployment, debt,

Or risking everything for the possibility of nothing

Freedom starts to look very narrow. 

Freedom in theory is infinite. 

Freedom in reality is confined by boundaries. 

And this is the tension of modern life:

We are given more choices that ever,

Yet many of us feel more trapped than before. 

Every decision feels permanent. 

Every mistake feels personal. 

Every failure feels like our fault

Even when the system itself might be failing

Which brings me to The Matrix.

Don’t worry, no red pills today, or are there…

Inside the Matrix, life was predictable.

Comfortable.

Decided for you.

Outside it – 

Uncertainty.

Responsibility.

Fear.

And that the uncomfortable truth about freedom:

Freedom is not comforting.

It is demanding

So, is free will really free?

Again, 

this is not a yes or no.

Free will is both free and not free.

We are not free from influence.

We are not free from systems.

We are not free from survival.

But,

And this matters,

We are free in how we respond.

We pause. 

We reflect. 

We resist. 

A machine does not hesitate. 

A stone cannot doubt. 

But we do. 

That hesitation

That pause before action

Is not weakness

It is not weakness.

It might be the truest form of freedom we have. 

Free will is not loud in this sense.

It does not shout.

It whispers. 

And that is why it is terrifying.

Because if we are free, even partially,

Then we are responsible.

Responsible for our words,

For our silence, the pause. 

For the compromises we accept

And the ones we refuse.

So no,

Free will is not completely free.

It is shaped by circumstance, money, timing, and systems that we did not create. 

It is narrowed by necessity and distorted by pressure.

But maybe freedom was never meant to be pure.

Maybe it was always fragile. 

Always partial. 

Always earned. 

Because even in a world that limits us,

There is still one choice that remains. 

Who we become in response. 

And maybe that

Quiet, imperfect, constrained

Is the truest form of free will we have.

Thank you.