Elwar
12-01-2009, 12:20 PM
SET THEM FREE
The entire effort to wed morality and politics is based on the assumption that there are immoral or irresponsible people who can't be bent into shape unless the government does it.
Yes, there are people who won't act responsibly. There are people who have no regard for the consequences of their own acts. There are people who seem to be incapable of behaving wisely or benevolently.
Politicians exploit these people to justify rigid controls on your life. Because some people won't plan for their old age, you must be forced into Social Security. Because some people will do funny things after looking at dirty pictures on the Internet, your access to the Internet must be restricted.
So what should we do about people who won't take responsibility for their own actions? I believe the answer is simple:
Set them free.
Give them the freedom to make their own decisions, to face the consequences of their own acts, to see for themselves what their actions do to others, and how others respond to them.
Only free people have an incentive to be virtuous. Only people who bear the consequences of their own acts will care about those consequences.
A free society rewards virtue and punishes irresponsibility. Government does just the opposite.
What do we do about people who might not plan for their own retirement?
Set them free.
Let each person know that his future depends largely on his own actions. If younger people see some older people who haven't planned ahead and have to rely on charity, the young will be more likely to provide for the future. Today when someone plans poorly, the only consequence younger people see is a call for more government.
What do we do about people who are insensitive to other people?
Set them free.
Let other people shun them or respect them for what they do. Let them feel the results of being civil or uncivil.
Freedom & Responsibility
It is often said that freedom and responsibility are two sides of the same coin — that if you want freedom, you must first accept the responsibility that goes with it.
The truth is simpler. Freedom and responsibility aren't two sides of the same thing; one isn't a precondition for the other. They are the same thing.
Freedom is responsibility. Responsibility is experiencing the consequences of your own acts — not the consequences of others' acts or making others pay for what you do.
And that's what freedom is. Without government to force others to pay for your pleasures or mistakes, and without forcing you to pay for what others do, you are a free, responsible human being.
Freedom and responsibility are inseparably linked — not because they should be, but because they are. Responsibility accompanies freedom, whether or not you want it to.
We are told America must have a moral revival before we can have greater freedom — that people must be educated to be responsible before they can be free. This puts the cart before the horse.
If we expect a government program to make people responsible, we will wait forever.
We don't need a moral revival, we don't need politicians making moral decisions for us. We need do only one thing to induce people to act more responsibly:
Set them free.
-Harry Browne (http://www.harrybrowne.org/GLO/Morality.htm)
The entire effort to wed morality and politics is based on the assumption that there are immoral or irresponsible people who can't be bent into shape unless the government does it.
Yes, there are people who won't act responsibly. There are people who have no regard for the consequences of their own acts. There are people who seem to be incapable of behaving wisely or benevolently.
Politicians exploit these people to justify rigid controls on your life. Because some people won't plan for their old age, you must be forced into Social Security. Because some people will do funny things after looking at dirty pictures on the Internet, your access to the Internet must be restricted.
So what should we do about people who won't take responsibility for their own actions? I believe the answer is simple:
Set them free.
Give them the freedom to make their own decisions, to face the consequences of their own acts, to see for themselves what their actions do to others, and how others respond to them.
Only free people have an incentive to be virtuous. Only people who bear the consequences of their own acts will care about those consequences.
A free society rewards virtue and punishes irresponsibility. Government does just the opposite.
What do we do about people who might not plan for their own retirement?
Set them free.
Let each person know that his future depends largely on his own actions. If younger people see some older people who haven't planned ahead and have to rely on charity, the young will be more likely to provide for the future. Today when someone plans poorly, the only consequence younger people see is a call for more government.
What do we do about people who are insensitive to other people?
Set them free.
Let other people shun them or respect them for what they do. Let them feel the results of being civil or uncivil.
Freedom & Responsibility
It is often said that freedom and responsibility are two sides of the same coin — that if you want freedom, you must first accept the responsibility that goes with it.
The truth is simpler. Freedom and responsibility aren't two sides of the same thing; one isn't a precondition for the other. They are the same thing.
Freedom is responsibility. Responsibility is experiencing the consequences of your own acts — not the consequences of others' acts or making others pay for what you do.
And that's what freedom is. Without government to force others to pay for your pleasures or mistakes, and without forcing you to pay for what others do, you are a free, responsible human being.
Freedom and responsibility are inseparably linked — not because they should be, but because they are. Responsibility accompanies freedom, whether or not you want it to.
We are told America must have a moral revival before we can have greater freedom — that people must be educated to be responsible before they can be free. This puts the cart before the horse.
If we expect a government program to make people responsible, we will wait forever.
We don't need a moral revival, we don't need politicians making moral decisions for us. We need do only one thing to induce people to act more responsibly:
Set them free.
-Harry Browne (http://www.harrybrowne.org/GLO/Morality.htm)