Long time ago - my parents on freedom

Post Reply New Topic

When I was a little kid asking when will I be allowed to cross a street on my own, I got a response along these lines:

If you want to be free, you need to be responsible for yourself. The more freedom you gain, the more responsibility you have to accept. Freedom is making decisions - and every decision has some outcome that you have to accept.

My parents are hardline conservatists. Over time, I challenged many of their beliefs - but their view on relation between freedom and responsibility still appeals to me. I find it simply right.

I agree.

I recently remembered it over the debate on freedom of speech... words you say do have consequences, too.

If you say offensive things, people get offended. If you spread some beliefs, people may act on them - for good or bad. If you give instructions and someone follows them - you contributed to the outcome, good or bad.

So, according to my parents' philosophy - freedom of speech reqires taking responsibility for the outcome of your words, too.

Freedom is the ability to reject oppressive social nonsense.
It has nothing to do with accepting responsibility for doing that, in this context.

"If the system doesn't respect you, you would be a fool to respect the system."

That’s most people’s perception of “freedom of speech”

I believe the US Founding Fathers had that conception of it.