Saturday, June 30, 2018
Random thoughts about the perception of Freedom
I think it's as much about what we perceive as it is the reality. When I was a kid, my dad used to take me swimming. The family rule was, if you can't touch the bottom, you're too far out. I followed that, knowing if I got in trouble, he couldn't swim out to save me. One day a bunch of kids came along, and we were horsing around, but then they got further out than I was "allowed' to go, and that was the end of that. My dad said, "why didn't you go with them? You know how to swim..." and I had to think that one over carefully. What the rule REALLY was, but unstated, "if there's no one else here...".
That may very well obtain in everything. Some rules/laws are silly. Some rules/laws have unwritten unspoken codicils. Some will save your life, some will kill you.
There was a flap recently about a woman who was pulled over on an interstate in the midwest for going too slow in the fast lane. Her valid argument was, she was going the speed limit. But she had a trail of 20 cars behind her. They were following the other law, which was, you cannot pass on the right. You can be too 'correct' to the detriment of everyone else.
If you think you are in a totalitarian state, and behave that way, then you are, no matter what the reality is. Many early immigrants came here from truly dreadful places, and they brought with them the idea that the world is a police state, and they were as terrified here as they were there. Police were jailers, as far as they were concerned.
Most of us break little rules every day, sometimes with a resounding crash. Sometimes we don't even realize what we're doing until the process server shows up. Or the building inspector. Sometimes we do, and forge ahead anyway. That's called flying under the radar.
I'm still fairly cautious about swimming out beyond my depth, well aware that no one will be paddling out to rescue me, but I also know my own boundaries. Most of the time. 😈
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the line about people bringing with them "the idea that the world is a police state" brought to mind a favorite phrase of my maternal grandfather's. he was of the firm opinion that "some people are only happy when they have someone standing over them... holding a whip".
ReplyDeletei always interpreted that to mean that some people almost crave the "structure" (for lack of a better word) of tyranny, as it almost serves as a guide to tell them where they belong in the larger structure of society. this is especially true when that structure has established even harsher rules for the social/cultural "other" within said society. it's the proverbial cutting off on one's own nose to spite somebody else's face, in this case.
i think that while many shun the idea of a police state in theory, they can't trust a world without that rigid structure, chiefly because there is an inherent mistrust of one's ability to "do the right thing" without the fear of some form of punishment. it is the same reasoning that governs the idea that to be a "good" person, you have to be a follower of some religion. because, apparently, being an atheist means you have no ability to judge for yourself the difference between right and wrong.
it occurs to me that it's far too late for me to be trying to make sense, so there is a grand possibility that all of this will sound like gibberish by the time it reaches your eyes.
nope, not gibberish at all, and thank you for the comments.
DeleteI was thinking about what you said concerning the police state, and how some people require that kind of stricture in their lives...
Not unlike, as you say, many religions, which insist on a very controlled structure from their believers.
I've heard that religious argument way way too often, and it moves me not. What they are saying is, humans "like you" have no moral backbone, no guide to right and wrong behavior, and you need the church (and let's not forget to tithe, now) to keep you on the right track.
No.
But I really think that people who have been brought up in tyranny are like people who have been confined to a body cast, and the idea of making decisions for themselves about work, about play, about behavior, is terrifying without someone telling them where to go.
Seems like a terrible waste of humanity.
This is why human activity cannot be rationally regulated without the use of human judgment, much as some might wish it otherwise. Any set of rules followed mechanically and to the letter, however reasonable they appear, will sometimes produce absurd results. Driving at exactly the speed limit in a culture where everyone in practice drives a little faster is a good example.
ReplyDeleteWe can't do without judgment and common sense. That's why mandatory-sentencing guidelines, and other efforts by politicians to hamstring judges by imposing strict rules on them, usually end up producing tragic results.
" Driving at exactly the speed limit in a culture where everyone in practice drives a little faster"
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons that most highways with fixed speed limits also allow a fairly wide upper limit, because no matter what the speed limit is, most folks want to push that margin.
Another reason on Interstates for two and three (and sometimes more) lanes. People who blithely ignore the fact of 20 people trapped behind them in a kind of holier than thou attitude, are causing more problems than they realize. Or perhaps not.
These are the same people who would not violate a 'do not walk on the grass" sign to save a child in distress, because that would be breaking a rule.
Judgement and common sense and a certain compassion, if you will, for the reality of other people you're taking along for your high-minded rides.
I almost drowned once, even though I'm a pretty good swimmer because I was drifting with the water and suddenly found I had drifted into a riptide. No lifeguard and no one even knew I was out there.
ReplyDeleteI usually know my limits too, but life is full of things that just happen without intent. Sometimes, I think most of our lives are unintentional. We just THINK we planned them.
That must have been terrifying.
DeleteAnd I agree, all the preplanning in the world can't account for other people getting in the way of it, or that dog that catapults itself into the road at the wrong time, or all the other fun surprises life throws at us.
Some days I'm amazed I've gotten this far and without visible scars...I think knowing one's limits at least keeps us off the tilt-a-whirl, or the Iron Man events, or tracking through caves with only one opening and a dicey flashlight.