Freedom Within Boundaries

What does Freedom within Boundaries mean?

Many people argue that Boundaries stand in the way of Freedom and that unlimited Freedom is the best thing. So they see Freedom and Boundaries as diametrically opposed foes, with each increase in one resulting in an equal decrease in the other. The reality is that too much Freedom is actually dangerous for the person who is free and for everyone else, too. The argument that too many boundaries can be bad is a fairly obvious one, but not everyone sees that too much Freedom can be a valid concept. Usually it takes my favorite tool, an analogy, to make it clear.

Imagine your children are playing in your front lawn. Your children are between 6 and 10 years of age. The lawn has no fences. The street in front of the house is very busy at all hours, both with cars and with foot traffic. The neighbors on both sides raise large, aggressive dogs (Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, Dobermans, Rabid Poodles, whatever) and let them roam free.

You give your children complete freedom to play in the yard. How good do you feel about this situation? How far will the kids venture from the front door before running back? How much freedom do they get to enjoy?

Now imagine you build a fence around the lawn. This fence is high enough to keep the dogs out and to keep your kids from running into the street. How good do you feel about this situation? How far will the kids venture from the front door before running back? How much freedom to they get to enjoy?

By virtue of having this boundary, you have created a safer environment for the children to express their freedom. Instead of using something like 5% of their unlimited Freedom, they now use almost 100% of their slightly reduced Freedom, so the actual amount of Freedom that is enjoyed or expressed or consumed or whatever is much, much higher.

This is how I feel about laws, governmental regulations, rules at the pool (no horseplay!), stock market rules, board game rules, rules of driving, etc. Good rules provide a safer environment where more freedom is actually experienced. Not all rules are good rules, of course, and it is certainly possible to have the boundaries drawn so tightly that there is little room left for freedom. The key is having the right rules and the right balance between safety and being overly constrained.

My intention is to maintain this blog as a political and philosophical space. I encourage debate, but I discourage personal attacks. Essentially, I stand behind Voltaire's quote: "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it!"