Dear friend and reader,
This is not a typical “Littlestuff-minoosha” column. It is a very personal one. This entry is the rough draft of an Introduction to a book that I have been writing, “Lessons on Liberty.” I ask for your brutally honest opinions because I believe the subject matter is too important for me to fumble. Thank you.
Liberty intrigues me. People have died to achieve it and preserve it. Some appear to be unaware of its magnetism. They seem indifferent to it. Why is the concept of behaving according to one’s free will so attractive to some, but not to everyone?
In my six decades plus on this earth I’ve had the opportunity to meet many, many people. All of them, to some degree, suggested that they wanted to do something “their way.” There were people with whom I worked that were amazingly obstinate about procedures and the rituals of the workplace. They insisted that their rules be followed without deviation. So, were they exhibiting a desire for freedom and self-determination, or were they merely expressing an intention to dominate? In other words is obstinate behavior evidence of a thirst for liberty, or is it just a personality trait?
Seemingly passive people puzzled me when considering their attitudes toward liberty. Their sheep-like behavior appeared as though they were renouncing any notion of individual liberty. But, I would see them act hesitantly and reluctantly when confronted with a situation that made them uneasy. Perhaps they do yearn for liberty but lack the aggressive nature to seize it for themselves. I understand that not everyone can share my passion for contrariness. Some will “go along to get along” until their potential for liberty is threatened. They see no need for confrontation over what they perceive to be small issues.
Every person, I believe, carries the spark of liberty within them. The flash point for each individual is determined by their personality, their experience and their knowledge. If the spark is to develop into a conflagration, all of these elements must come together. The person must sense that their liberty is in peril. They must be able to witness objective criteria that severely limit their freedom to live as they wish, and their level of frustration with the status quo must be intense.
It is possible that my passion for liberty blinds my perceptions of others. Perhaps I am guilty of projecting my own desires onto other people. Maybe they do not care about their opportunities for making their own decisions about how they live their lives. Maybe they find comfort and security in having someone or something determine their choices for them. It may even be possible that they may feel paralyzed by being held accountable for their behavior. Perhaps they fear liberty and its consequences more than they might resent being dominated. Maybe their “want-to” has not been elevated to an “ought-to.” Indecision and fear affect so many aspects of our lives, and I suspect that for some people, they influence their attitudes and actions regarding liberty.
What I hope to do with this work is examine many facets of liberty. How we affect the liberty for others, and how, in turn, they impact ours. Designing my own personal paradigm, I want to review the internal, cultural, external and philosophical variables that intersect to create our views about what our Founders declared is an unalienable right (Declaration) and worthy of blessing (Constitution). In the purest sense this analysis is not scientific or academic although some information from such sources will be used to reinforce some arguments. As a columnist and commentator, I am familiar with the formula A+B=_? To state it differently: By using anecdotal evidence, inductive reasoning with some deductive logic for flavoring, intuitive understanding, wishful thinking and whatever other tools may appear, I will attempt to surround the concept of liberty so that you and I can identify it from any perspective.
Continued Wednesday……..
Face Book: www.facebook.com/pages/Earl-for-Ohio/
No comments:
Post a Comment