General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat 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 If you are certain a rule is doing harm, make your carefully considered choice to break it, try to get it repealed or changed.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
Elessar Zappa
(14,047 posts)of the irresponsible people you described are of an older age so apparently some people were never taught well. Ignorance and selfishness are, unfortunately, American as apple pie.
TygrBright
(20,763 posts)alwaysinasnit
(5,072 posts)Hekate
(90,793 posts)maxsolomon
(33,400 posts)It's one reason they're so susceptible to hokum
Boomerproud
(7,964 posts)My right to swing my arm ends with your nose. 2nd grade St. James the Less School. 1964.
markie
(22,757 posts)yes, what ever happened to "Freedom isn't free"?
this morning discussing... my daughter works at VA and said a veteran came in last week complaining about vaccination... "I fought so we could be free" my daughter is not in position to argue with the vets... but my partner, a wise Vietnam Air Force veteran, explained like this... we can be free to do what we want until that freedom prevents others from having the same freedom, ...then it behooves us to come to common understandings creating rules that allow us all optimum freedoms
MacKasey
(993 posts)Thank you for sharing.
Beastly Boy
(9,424 posts)With freedom come responsibilities, with individual liberties comes loyalty to your pack, and with personal choice come consequences. And if you choose one and not the other, you are a bad dog.
ancianita
(36,133 posts)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.
hunter
(38,327 posts)My dad would always make me repair them to perfection, and with my own money.
In college I got a job doing repairs in crappy student housing. The guy I worked for wanted his drywall repairs fast and cheap, but he probably hired me because I could do it.
I hate drywall.
My parents had us doing our own laundry as soon as we could reach the washing machine. They put a wide step-stool in front of the washing machine to hasten the process.
I don't mind doing laundry. There's something relaxing about it. I probably did too much laundry for my own children.
I was changing diapers when I was ten years old. When I had my own children changing diapers wasn't any great shock. Doing something 10,000 times and more makes you an expert.
I've cooked more than 10,000 dinners as well, alas many of them fast and cheap, but nevertheless nutritious.
Maybe stuff like that is a lesson in "freedom" as well.
Cleaning up your own messes is the absolute bare minimum standard of personal responsibility but it seems there are far too many people who can't even manage that, let alone make the world a better place for others for no other reason then it's the right thing to do.
Yeah, I'm vaccinated and I still wear a mask. I don't want to be spreading covid around. It's a minor inconvenience and the least I can do.