Transition into the new era brings with it a loss of freedom due to a failure to recognize the necessity for tensions and ambiguity as integral parts of free choice. A new paradigm is emerging that has, as an essential value, the participation of all people in the creation of their own future and that people have the freedom to participate. There is a tendency to teach that to escape tension and ambiguity is to be free. This understanding glorifies the escape patterns of the affluent society. It reinforces the tendency to render roles meaningless. It encourages people to react to life rather than to respond out of some self-understanding and world view. It discourages self-conscious decision-making and a realistic view of one's situation because a search for means of escape from difficulties becomes of paramount importance, rather than the creation of possibilities. Action is turned from meaningful responses to the future, towards self-seeking avoidance of pain.