Freedom and Responsibility

Freedom, as defined by Merriam - Webster's Dictionary.

1: the quality or state of being free: as a: the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action b: liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another
2 a: a political right

Responsibility, as defined by Merriam - Webster's Dictionary.

1: the quality or state of being responsible: as a: moral, legal, or mental accountability
2: something for which one is responsible

I find it interesting how people often forget about what it means to be responsible. Responsibility comes in many forms, whether or not you consider those actions as responsibility is what makes the difference.

For example, you are responsible for making sure that you eat, shower, brush your teeth, pay your bills, go to work every day. These things are responsibilities that most people take no thought of.

People often have the diluted notion that government is responsible for the basic aspects of their life, or at least basic provisions. Many people want the government to provide them with health care, food, water, a car, a house... There comes a point where one has to draw the line.

Imagine that you are an infant again. It was pretty nice having everything done for you wasn't it? When you were an infant you didn't have any responsibilities. This is looked upon later in life and regarded as a happy care free time. As a child your life still has direction – direction chosen by others. What you had for dinner was not your choice; it was that of someone else. As a child this doesn't matter to you because you have little perspective on what you like.

As a small child you are not at the age where responsibilities are an issue. As a child you don't question how it is that your parents provide for you. This knowledge comes later.

By the time you are a teenager you have preferences, you know what you want to eat, but sometimes still can't. This is bound to make you frustrated. You have people telling you what to do, and now you know what you want to do. You have changed. Your parents no longer tell you to brush your teeth, because you do this on your own, you understand that your teeth are part of your body, and you must keep them clean. You don't have someone feeding you anymore. You feed yourself, clean yourself, these things are now responsibilities.

Being a child was nice while it lasted, but people often forget how it is that they arrived at adulthood. They made it because either there parents or someone else took the responsibility for them. That is the key; the responsibilities never go away. Responsibilities can only be shifted from one person to another person, or entity.

When the government becomes responsible for more of our lives we loose something which we gained a long time ago, choice. The freedom to chose as we wish how to meet those basic needs; those basic aspects of our lives. This is a loss of freedom.

Choice is limited when we have provided options. Remember Freedom? “The absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action”. “The absence of necessity”, meaning you no longer require coercion or constraint in choice, as you did when you were a child. People forget what they have gained. As the government “provides” for us, we inherently have limited choice. Often people are willing to sacrifice choice for convenience. The economy can't function without choice.

When you were a kid you didn't think much about how your parents were able to provide for you. Now there are able bodied adults who wish to have someone else provide for them. The problem is that there are a limited number of people who produce; or whose efforts allow the government to provide for others. As more and more people are “taken care of” by government there are fewer and fewer producers. This cycle is not sustainable.

People wanting the government to provide, and inherently make choices for them, are being reduced to a childhood mentality. In order to be content with what is provided for you, you must have limited perspective. And like a child you must also not understand how it is that the government has the means to provide for you. Remember you didn't appreciate your parents work until you were old enough to recognize it as a responsibility.

This child-like mentality is dangerous, because as I said earlier it is not sustainable. How is any economy structured in this way going to function without some sort of centralized control? Is centralized control (central planning) to replace choice?

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