The Cost of Freedom?
| 12 September 2010
What is the cost of freedom? Traditionally the answer is our sacrifice, our blood and indeed it can come to that, but I was thinking of something more fundamental. What is freedom and what do we have to give up to have it? What is the balance? We are constantly being bombarded with our sacrifices, with what we must give up to make things equal. Do we really want this? Would the world be better?
I ask you to look at history and the different attempts at this question. You have all heard "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" but do we really believe it? It has been said that communism in Russia failed because it "wasn't done right" that if we had better people in charge it would have gone better. Surely if a saint took power and distributed goods and wealth equally, all would be better, wouldn't it?
First of all, are there any saints for the job? That should have gotten a smile. Well, are there any people good enough for the job, you know- good enough for government work? Is that even a realistic question to ask? Even saints are just the chosen of God, they are not perfect even though we talk about them as if they were. I do believe most people are good, that only a handful are evil. So why is this such a problem?
It is a problem because "Power Corrupts", always. We can't help it and when power comes into play the other pursuits are much more interesting and therefore more common than the pursuits our mythical "saints" would go after. It is no accident that the most successful country in the world is based up the principle of smaller government, power in the hands of "the people" with freedom as the hallmark.
Freedom implies you make your own decisions, not someone else. Freedom implies you go in the direction you choose, but what if your direction is in conflict with another person's direction? How does that work? A complicated question with no precise answer. Where does freedom end and tyranny begin?
I believe the true cost of freedom is tolerance. I am not speaking of tolerating people who will not tolerate you back, that will not work, it must go both ways. In this there can be deceit. The true test of freedom is that both parties involved have the maximum amount without infringing on the other party's freedom. Very tricky, of course, because we are a social creature and being a social creature we have a need to have people "like" us and (especially if we are insecure) a need for people to do as we do. I speak of tolerance of the other guy's hate speech, weird lifestyle, etc. As long as that other guy doesn't reach over and make you do it "my way".
We need to be tolerant of what other people want to do if, and only if, it doesn't restrict our freedom. In those areas of inevitable overlap, a compromise must be reached that gives equal consideration. Humans can make these distinctions and it, again, will not be perfect. If you worry about what God "wants" think on this; every interpretation you can think of has been attributed to God. How in the world can we follow all of them or perhaps it's man's interpretations that are at play. Regardless, we have to make the decisions and without the free will and freedom to do so, the decisions are meaningless.
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