Why the freedom argument is hot garbage
Don’t treat it as an absolute, look for the Goldilocks Zone.
“Moderation is best in all things” wrote the Greek poet Hesiod in 700 BC. Later writers have added variations on “except in moderation itself” or “especially in moderation itself” depending upon their personal philosophy. Moderation is a big concept. It reminds us that you can have too much of a good thing. A glass of wine nightly with dinner can reduce your blood pressure. A magnum of wine nightly with dinner can ruin your liver. You need enough salt in your diet, but not too much. If we could apply this concept more broadly, our world wouldn’t be nearly so big a mess.
Polarization drives us to think ever more in absolute black and white extremes. Extremism is about zero percent and 100%. It doesn’t recognize any Goldilocks Zone somewhere in between. Perhaps nowhere is this more true than when people talk about Freedom. Give me liberty or give me death is as binary as it gets.
In “On Liberty,” John Stuart Mill wrote that it means “doing as we like, subject to such consequences as may follow, without impediment from our fellow creatures, as long as what we do does not harm them even though they should think our conduct foolish, perverse or wrong.” The clause the right omits is “as long as what we do does not harm them.” We can…
