Today's world is filled by two primary beliefs: 1 - The belief that everything must be limitless and 2 - The belief that everything must be limited. Both are WRONG and both are RIGHT.
Freedom, Action and Thought all have limitless potential. Everyone has the power (or freedom) to act or think for themselves in every instance. But therein lies the problem, if each of humanity's billions of individuals were infinitely free to act or think as they please there would be chaos as each person would be acting for their own interest regardless of the consequences (to themselves or to others). This is the world we are currently witnessing: the unrestrained belief that each individuals' thoughts, actions or beliefs are superior to anyone else's. Such freedom must be limited or restrained.
Limitations, Laws, and Restraint are also limitless in potential. Everyone, or every law, has the power to exercise unlimited control on another. This too is a problem as it is the reality of Tyranny. If every action or thought of all people were limited or restrained without limit there would be no uniqueness, no creativity, no peace and no enjoyment. We see this in the world around us too. The attempts of various groups to forcibly control or limit the choices of others (and possibly themselves as well) in the name of righteousness is a danger to all of mankind. We also see the attempts of many to forbid a change in society simply to ensure the consistency of the status-quo.
Everything does in fact require limits or restraint. Everything, including the restraints and limitations themselves. You cannot have unlimited freedom because of abuse, but you cannot have unlimited restrictions either because of abuse. It is good to ensure that people or societies are not "taken by every wind of doctrine" but is also wrong to ensure that they are not "taken by any wind of doctrine".
To put this in a more real world perspective let us look at the two movements in American politics: Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. Trump and his followers desire unlimited freedom for themselves while also requiring unlimited restrictions on anyone who disagrees with them. Bernie Sanders and his followers require unlimited freedom for themselves and for others at the expense of an unlimited restriction.
Trump's position is probably easy to see for many people, but to give an example I will use the recent example of violence between Trump Supporters and Trump Protesters. Trump claimed that the Protesters were violating his Freedom of Speech by disrupting his rallies with their protests. The flip side however is that by attempting to silence the Protesters he is also violating their Freedom of Speech. He and his supporters want the unlimited right to voice their beliefs and views, whenever and wherever they choose, but wish to deny others that same opportunity.
Bernie Sanders' position may be less clear to see, but is no less important. Sanders' version of socialism requires the expansion of all freedoms to all people (an example would be socialized healthcare or college education), these are good endeavors and may easily come from good intentions. Regardless there is a cost to this philosophy, and not a cost of money but ironically it is a cost of freedom. By attempting to force or require everyone to receive the "freedoms" or privileges you consider important you are in fact taking away a portion of their freedoms in order to give them what you value. By forcing the expansion of freedoms you are forcing the recipient to pay the cost with their own freedoms. That problem is compounded when you try to forcibly expand "all freedoms" to "all persons", the cost of an individuals' freedom rises exponentially and becomes an unlimited cost.
Neither of these conditions are appropriate or uplifting to humankind. Infinite Freedom is dangerous. Infinite Limitations is dangerous. I do not yet know or understand what the correct balance is between Freedom and Limitation, but I'm hoping to find it.
This same danger applies to many Churches and Religions, as well as social activism. An example may be found in the legal efforts involving Gay Marriage. The attempt by Churches to force those who are not of their faith to live according to that Church's own principles is an example of unlimited freedom for one while requiring unlimited restrictions on another. You may notice the similarity to Donald Trump's platform that I mentioned earlier. But Social Activists also show dangerous abuses of freedom and limitations. These Activists attempt to classify the expansion of civil freedoms by placing unlimited limitations on the beliefs and behaviors of those who do not believe in those freedoms. You may notice the similarity to Bernie Sanders' platform that I showed earlier. Perhaps the efforts of these Activists is truly a noble endeavor, but they can still be taken too far and can still become a tool of tyranny, just as the efforts of the Churches that they despise.
The balance between Freedom and Limitation is a "give and take" relationship. You cannot have one without the other. You cannot have one more than the other, they must be equal.
No comments:
Post a Comment