What I learned about freedom, individual liberty, and personal choice at a VERY YOUNG AGE.
And I wonder... are we not teaching this anymore?
I learned the difference between "freedom is doing whatever I want and not having any criticism or consequences for what I do", and "freedom is me being able to do whatever I am willing to take responsibility for."
I learned that individual liberty wasn't possible without a whole community of people looking after one another and being willing to keep each other safe, even if it meant sacrificing personal preferences and pleasures for the well-being of all of us.
I learned that personal choices made with all the attention on "I want" and no attention to "what this might do to other people" weren't responsible and adult, they were narcissistic and childish. And often outright harmful.
Hell, I learned this stuff in THIRD GRADE. From the damn' NUNS, of all people. (Guess I listened after all, Sister St. Nicholas.... who knew?)
I learned it from my Mom who made sure I understood that if I was given the freedom to have a pet, *I* was the one responsible for cleaning up the poop, making sure it was fed on time, etc.
I learned it from my stepfather who enforced the rule about "you have access to the car keys IF you return the car with a full tank."
And I learned that the Constitution has not a single clause, paragraph, article, or amendment, guaranteeing my unrestricted right to be a selfish asshole.
So if I want to use the rights that ARE enshrined in the Constitution, to BE a selfish asshole, I can expect to face, at best, some serious (and likely justified) criticism, and at worst, prosecution and even prison for the harm my selfish assholery inflicts on others.
I won't say I'm never a selfish asshole. I'm a human being; it goes with the DNA to some extent. But I'm also a mostly-adult who understands that my rights and liberties have responsibilities that go with them. And consequences.
I'm not fond of rules for rules' sake. I come from a long line of oppositional people and outright rebels. But I learned from those very people that some rules are necessary, and we need to pick our fights. If you are certain a rule is doing harm, make your carefully considered choice to break it, try to get it repealed or changed. But don't expect to escape the consequences in the process.
And DON'T say "damn the consequences" if you know those consequences will fall on others who had no choice about being exposed to that harm.
When did other people stop learning this? From their teachers, parents, employers, friends....? When did "freedom" get divorced from "responsibility?" When did "liberty" build a Fortress of Solitude where no one else need be considered? When did "personal choice" acquire a "no criticism or consequences" guarantee?
bewilderedly,
Bright
= new reply since forum marked as read
Thank you for sharing.
Humbly posed, sensibly presented and powerfully persuasive as an Everyman philosophy.
If I were your publicist I'd send this to every major paper's editorial desk in every red state.
Your bewilderment would help them sort out their own.
Awesome post.
