Freedom does not mean FREE to DOMinate.

 


I think that many people do not understand what freedom truly is.  There are rights and there are responsibilities, and both fall under the purview of freedom.  Freedom does not mean to be without responsibility or culpability for one's actions.  Within our society, a person has enormous flexibility in achieving one's potential or goals.  However, they must be achieved within the confines of what is in the public's best interests.

Being free means that I have the right to go into a liquor store and purchase a bottle of wine.  But I can't if I am underage or if I am morally opposed to the idea.  It also doesn't mean I can go in and take what I want without paying for it or that I can give it to an underage person or that I can consume it in a public venue without proper authorization.  I am not really free, but then, that's the point.  I have rights, but I also have responsibilities.  If I fail to act appropriately then I am culpable to authorities.

Some would stop me right there and say, "That's the point!"  I should be able to consume alcohol wherever I want, smoke wherever I want, and do whatever I want without being monitored, penalized, or humiliated.  Of course, that opens the door to all sorts of things including the selling and using of illicit drugs, driving where and how one likes, and to really make the point extreme, to express oneself sexually in any manner desired, regardless of the harm done to others.

Laws are basically moral codes established by society to protect the rights of others.  Not all laws are right or even just, but that is what protest, lobbying, voting, and the courts are for.  Without them, a system of anarchy would develop and those with the greatest might would end up being in control.  Think the warlords of Afghanistan or Somalia.  

We are free to protest, to voice our opinion that something is wrong.  People can collect in mass, can demonstrate against a principle, law, or action, and can use media to express those sentiments.  But there is a responsibility to obey the law or be penalized within its parameters.  There is a process to change what you don't agree with, but you have to work within the system or else we are advocating anarchy.

Freedom is the right to do what you want but in a responsible manner and be accountable to the laws that govern such behaviour.  Change comes through a political and legal process that takes time, but does so with the public's interest in mind.  Freedom is not free to dominate.  It is free to behave in a socially responsible manner.  Anything else is just anarchy.

Thanks for reading.   www.ericspix.com


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