Freedom Balanced with Rules
Márk Gál
Freedom: its meaning is complex: It could mean that a person doesn’t depend on another. The others cannot tell you what you have to do and what is allowed or not. Or it can mean that we are able to do something (for instance, physically). If people lack freedom, their lives are much harder and mainly filled with suffering. But sometimes too much freedom can cause as much trouble as the lack of it.
Lack of freedom: a simple example of the problem that arises when there are too many rules: dictatorship. Very hard to not break the rules because they forbid too many things; they are not fair, there are too many of them, etc. I also hate depending on other people, because I like to be self-sufficient and resent being restricted unjustly, even if I hate that/those restricted person/people/things.
Issues with too much freedom: If there are too many rules, we know it’s really bad, but sometimes the opposite can cause more and larger problems. There are many examples of this: If there weren’t physical rules like gravity, there would be total chaos in the Universe. If there weren’t laws, then there would be anarchy all over the Earth. A game without rules becomes very boring, hardly playable, and a lot of questions remain unanswered. If we cannot control a thing, it makes trouble.
I think the best is if freedom is balanced with rules; thus, we have to find equilibrium. For example: the earth temperature is optimal because it’s not too cold or hot. We need a well organised world so there is enough freedom for good people (those who want to help others, etc. or at least don’t want hurt anyone) to realize their dreams and enough restrictions to prevent troublemakers (those who want make trouble for others, love suffering of other people etc.) from completing destructive acts or moving on to even more harmful ones.
I hope there will be a world where this happens, but to some extent this is happening now.