It's been so long

What's with all the free will articles? Both The Economist and the Times (well, actually not sure about the Times...haven't red it yet) have have published on the question of whether "choice" is really just a grab bag molecules and wirings, and consequently, an illusion. It occurred to me that I might be a completely different person if I had more testosterone binding to neurons, etc. I think I might have gotten more done if I had had an extra shot of juice; I've always been terribly shy and self-doubting. The extra facial hair would have been worth it.

Maybe these articles on free will have popped up because self-determination is exactly what seems most elusive right now. I feel as if I have had very few opportunities to determine my fate as a citizen. We were given this blip of a window of opportunity in the election in November and that was it. I lived under this delusion that I could determine my future, but I've realized that I can't as a part of this bigger entity. Every time I read the news I feel sorry and powerless. I think about moving to Sweden or Canada, thinking that my microscopic manifestation of free will will be magnified or at least more potent there. I wake up wondering what to do and whether self-determination just the pursuit of happiness in my little life.

Btw, my two cents: Saddam Hussein did atrocious things and should have been imprisoned for life, but the circumstances of his execution were obscene. The US and Iraq wasted a perfect opportunity to carry out justice and demonstrate due process.