Responsibility the guardian of freedom

Our anticipation of freedom or free will is for the most part unpretentious. We perceive freedom as a necessity. A human right so to speak. People should be incline to the pursue of individual liberty. And this isn't something that I think anyone will disagree with. it is comprehensible that without free will non of the achievement that we have made so far could have been Achievable. So by looking at this narrative, it is easy to identify what it is that we thing when we talk about freedom. We see it as a necessity because it is the mean of performing any measures both on an individual and on a collective level.

We view it as a necessity because in order to take any necessary action, we first need to have the freedom to take any action we want. Its the ability to act and to commit in one own interest. In addition, this can also extend toward other aspects. As we see a government body allowing a more free society as the finest method of governance. Which can be seen as coherent by our use of words like authoritarianism, tyranny and dictatorship attributed to forms of governance we view as inadequate due to our believe of seen a more liberal form of governance as the ideal.

But the truth is that our way of viewing freedom is flawed. You have probably heard the phrase "people should have the right and to do what ever they want" went defending freedom. the primary notice with this claim is that it identify freedom as a right. Which is one of the biggest issues with our dialogue of freedom. For freedom isn't a right it is a merit. You should not be entitled to freedom you should earn it. And this is the first point that our view of freedom fail to knowledge. Which is that freedom should not be something that you should be given because you want it because you are responsible enough to handle it. Furthermore, this believe of freedom stem from the positive and optimistic view point of the world.

In one way, the believe that humans can be trusted in doing good. therefore allowing everyone the freedom to pursue what it is that they want could only result in a collective good. And it is clear why people will have this believes. the reason been that they will point out at all of what we have achieves in terms of social standards. they will look at things like religious tolerance, universal human right, equality, democracy, freedom of expression, social justice and the discovery of science and technology. And admire it as the sole factor that made our world the better place that it is. And that all of this could have never been achieved without the liberalization of our society that accrued in the modern era allowing unlimited freedom.

Or in other world, those things will easily lead us in believing that we as a species are can be very rational and thus make it seem logical for us to allow a form of universal freedom. You have probably heard the term freedom to and freedom from. Well the truth is that the most important consideration when talking about freedom is never addressed widely. Which means that our current understanding and way of viewing freedom is completely bias. Because we acknowledge that we have moved from the less ideal time of the past to the very ideal time of the present thanks to the more liberalization and freeing of our society that happened. When in reality there has never been an ideal time in human history. Both the past and the present has and have had what we would consider moralities and immoralities.

The whole point here is that we mostly think that we must make a complete differentiation between the past and the present when it comes to morality and our view of how freedom should be considered. But what is often not realized is that the reason the world of the past was what it was, is the same reason the world of the present is what it is. it is true that humans through out their history have create things such as social justice, equality, human right etc. but through out history they have also created a series of wars, crime, genocide, tribalism and endless conflict with or without freedom.

Our right, freedom and equality are things most of us take for granted in the present yet hadn't it been for the past, non of it will have ever been granted to us. Yet while looking at history we tent to gaze solely on the cynical and ignore the pragmatics. Whereas we gaze solely on the pragmatics and ignore the cynical while looking at the present. And it is this bias approach toward both the past and the present that has shaped our way of viewing freedom to what it is. Viewing the past as bad for not been as free as possible and viewing the present as good for been very liberal.

Which then bring us to the first flaw with our current way of viewing freedom. We forget to accurately visualize how humans are. the truth is that humans are capable of committing both the unimaginable good and unimaginable evil. throughout our history all the way to the present we have committed the most unimaginable horror which our history is full of. which then means that if you tell people that they are free to do what ever they want, then do no expect them to only do what is righteous but also expect them to commit the most violent and horrible evils. Which is the danger we forget to take into consideration when talking about the right to freedom. What human nature is capable of. Because there are things which are moral and things that are immoral and we are capable of doing the extreme of both. But we certainly don't wish for the immoral. So telling people to do whatever they want is unreasonable.

Rather adhering to the concept of only performing what is moral appears as the logical point. Let's review the points mentioned at the beginning. The fact that freedom should be inserted in our form of governance and that freedom is what enables us to achieve great things. As previously mentioned we like to view ourselves as rational creature that can be changed by simply been told that what they are doing isn't right. But this is very far form the reality. You are not going to get a convicted felon to stop committing felonies simply by telling them to stop committing felonies. And you are not going to get people to only do what is righteous simply by telling them to do what is righteous. because humans beings are not simply rational but similarly emotional creature. So you cannot just govern them with simple certitude but with a certain amount of power. And this is seen across the world.

every country nor matter how very liberal or very illiberal they are, all have laws that people have to obey by and things like courts, judges, police and prisons in order to enforce those laws. because people will not just commit to do what is righteous just by been told to do so. A certain amount of power needs to be exerted in order to ensure that people are doing what is righteous whether its against their will or not. Since people can have the willingness of doing what is considered unrighteous.

So in theory, our ability to perform both the moral and the immoral can only be fulfill by our free will. Freedom is a very significant concept and all of the good and bad deed that has ever been committed is linked in one way or another to freedom. However, most importantly is the focus of the good deed. If your own will is considered delinquent depriving yourself from committing to it is seen as righteous and for the most part will be encouraged by the majority. Yet this is limiting your freedom to commit to your fee will which is something similarly supported by the majority.

Which of course will have the people suggest that you should be given the freedom to pursue what ever you want as long as it is not considered an offense. which really means you are not really free to do what ever you wish but if this is the right path to follow then it suggest that we all unknowingly admit that your responsibility to handle your freedom is more important that the freedom itself. Since by compelling with the fact that people should only do what is right with their free will, suggest that they also simultaneously support the removal of once free will it is use to commit any forms of bad deeds.

So in essence even without knowing it, we value responsibility more than freedom. People view of freedom could vary. this isn't suppose to be a advise on how anyone should think when it comes to freedom but simply an analysis of it. Nor matter your view of freedom or how you use your freedom, one thing definitely worth remarking is that the aim of creating an environment where it is everyone who fill contempt is the prime focus before ensuring everyone's freedom. And the statement mentioned earlier which is "freedom to and freedom from" that is I should be free to do what it is that I want and I should be free from been effected by the freedom of others, is what everyone has in mind.