Notion of the day

[nancylebov]

If It Can't Be Abused, It's Not Freedom

I think it's a sound principle, but I'm not completely sure I'm right. What do you think?

From Flow, an idealist libertarian blog.

Comments

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I think the relevence of "if it can't be abused, it isn't freedom" is in the context of people who oppose a freedom on the grounds that it could be abused.

If you're responsible for how people react to what you do, where's their responsibility?

[sturgeonslawyer.livejournal.com]

Seen in that context, OK - that a thing can be abused is no reason to limit its legitimate use.

If you're responsible for how people react to what you do, where's their responsibility?

Why, on them, of course.

Or rather, in their subjective universe. I am the only demonstrable "free will" in my subjective universe, as you are in yours. We can talk about your freedom/responsibility and my freedom/responsibility, but I can't do anything about yours, and you can't do anything about mine. But we can make reasonable predictions about how others will respond/react to our behavior, and choose our behavior accordingly. (I reasonably predict that if I were to shoot someone who pisses me off, others would treat me in a manner I would not like, in excess of any pleasure shooting him would bring me; so I choose not to do it.)

This works out in various ways. If I insult you and you slap me, I am responsible for your reaction to the extent that I could reasonably expect that you would react that way. If I do you a favor and you reward me, ditto. If I do you a favor and you slap me, or I insult you and you reward me, I find myself in a realm where I can't predict your behavior.

To put it differently: If I sell a gun to someone whom I know (or have cause to believe) to be a homicidal maniac, I bear responsibility for the murders he commits with that gun.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I don't believe in absolute separate free will--people affect each other, sometimes rather a lot. What's more, I even suspect this is frequently a good thing.

Maybe people would be more independent if they were more enlightened, but we aren't generally dealing with people who are like that.