That is. Freedom is only really viable in an educated populace, and we become more free by choosing to live correctly. We become less free by choosing to live in a manner that leads to vice and dependancy. But freedom is not increased by education directly, it is increased by self mastery and learning to apply the education you are given. For instance: A common problem among geeks is a dependancy on caffeine, we know this, we joke about it, but what do we individually DO about it. In a free society I certainly don't want the food and drug administration to start telling me how much or how little caffeine I can take in a day, that decreases the freedoms of the society. But the alternative is that we must individually recognize and take control (and responsibility) of our diet and master our appetites. Knowing there is a problem is not enough, doing is what is required.
This leads us to an interesting seeming paradox. The more you restrict yourself, the freer you are. It really is not a paradox because when you create your own rules then you are truly free to live by them, but to those who don't live by them, your lifestyle will seem restricted.
Anyway, good post,
Ed |
