What does it mean to be "free"? If you were the only person on Earth, you would be sublimely free. There would be no one to answer to but at the same time, you alone would be responsible for your every need. Not even Libertarians would like that. However, in a free society of people, the quality of freedom depends upon each and every person assuming as much personal responsibility as is reasonably possible. The more dependent we become upon each other, the less free we become. There are some things we need for which we must depend upon others, common necessities which no one can acquire alone. The product of these cooperative efforts benefit us all.
Are we our brothers keeper or his helper? If , as his "keeper", you give him food then as his "helper" you teach him to hunt. If he WILL learn to hunt, he becomes more free: if he WILL NOT, he will starve but if he CANNOT, others become his "keeper". Freedom cannot survive without the will to be free and the will to do as much for yourself as possible. For each thing you not do for yourself, you surrender a portion of your freedom.
Freedom becomes more complex in a society, even more so in societies of mixed values and languages. The more homogeneous the population is, the less conflict will arise because there will be fewer differences to satisfy and fewer controls on freedom to satisfy them. What am I saying? In an established, homogeneous society, all who enter it from outside must be required to accept its laws and customs. They can continue to practice any lawful customs but not any which would be generally disruptive or illegal under that society's system. As in our case in the USA, many have discovered that our kind of freedom can be used as a weapon against us by gaining judgements which benefit a few but harms the majority. A single person with a single incident can affect 0ver 300,000,000 people. This is stupid. Any restraint placed upon freedom through a legal process must face a test of some kind which shows whether there is significant harm to a substantial part of the population. Minority rights must be protected but they should never be allowed to overcome or harm the freedom of the majority.
We do not force freedom upon anyone. They must CHOOSE it. Once chosen, they must, if they wish to keep it, become as self sufficient as possible. Those who will, will remain free but the others have no right to be free.
Are we our brothers keeper or his helper? If , as his "keeper", you give him food then as his "helper" you teach him to hunt. If he WILL learn to hunt, he becomes more free: if he WILL NOT, he will starve but if he CANNOT, others become his "keeper". Freedom cannot survive without the will to be free and the will to do as much for yourself as possible. For each thing you not do for yourself, you surrender a portion of your freedom.
Freedom becomes more complex in a society, even more so in societies of mixed values and languages. The more homogeneous the population is, the less conflict will arise because there will be fewer differences to satisfy and fewer controls on freedom to satisfy them. What am I saying? In an established, homogeneous society, all who enter it from outside must be required to accept its laws and customs. They can continue to practice any lawful customs but not any which would be generally disruptive or illegal under that society's system. As in our case in the USA, many have discovered that our kind of freedom can be used as a weapon against us by gaining judgements which benefit a few but harms the majority. A single person with a single incident can affect 0ver 300,000,000 people. This is stupid. Any restraint placed upon freedom through a legal process must face a test of some kind which shows whether there is significant harm to a substantial part of the population. Minority rights must be protected but they should never be allowed to overcome or harm the freedom of the majority.
We do not force freedom upon anyone. They must CHOOSE it. Once chosen, they must, if they wish to keep it, become as self sufficient as possible. Those who will, will remain free but the others have no right to be free.
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