THE POLITICS OF PERSONAL FREEDOM

priviledge cannot exist without responsibility

The Western world embraces personal freedom but a growing segment of the population shuns freedom’s essential flip side, the acceptance of personal responsibility.  Too many expect democratic privilege without having to make a contribution—they prefer being taken care of, over making their own way.

by Art McNeil LSI Managing Partner

This attitude is creating pawns out of people the constitution empowers to be the masters of Government.  The general population’s ambivalence towards politics finds everybody complaining but few willing to step up and participate in the democratic process.  With civics not being taught in many schools, young adults often grow up knowing little about the government they are supposedly in charge of.

 Authority is an essential part of any civilized society.  The signing of the Magna Carta in 1215,   limited the power of English kings by law.  This document—taking authority away from the ruling class and extending freedom to the masses—marked  a turning point in the Western world. Rights and freedoms were thereafter protected by a document outlining rules for the deployment of power. Without personal responsibility, that Magna Carta, like all constitutional declarations, is of no value.

Without an underlying foundation of values and a willingness to defend constitutional principles, democracy cannot survive.  We grant authority to individuals charged with acting on our behalf.  But when “we the people” fail to hold public servants accountable—when we stop reminding them through democratic process that they serve at our leisure—politicians will become a  privileged class and be inclined to satisfy their own needs at public expense. (Does this sound familiar?)

The foundation of democracy is best taught at home where values can be instilled, rules enforced, and consequence applied early in a child’s development.  It is the job of parents to prepare their children to assume personal responsibility as their privileges increase.  Democracy will fail if privilege is not tied to the acceptance of personal responsibility.  How about denying privileges such as a driver’s license to people who don’t vote?

This post sponsored by the Baton Management System