A Society of Freedom without Responsibility?

Never in the history of humankind have people wanted so much freedom and so little responsibility.  Thus, never in the history of humankind have people been so intent upon excusing what they insist they should be free to do.  If we do too much of a thing—be it eating or watching television or surfing the net or gambling—we insist that it is an addiction.  Or, if the idea of an addiction seems out of place, then we find some other excusing explanation, such as we are temporarily insane or momentarily depressed or what have you.  But God forbid that these freedoms should be taken away from us on the grounds that we are not responsible enough.

As to the idea of addictions, suffice it to say that a strong preference is not an addiction, although it is certainly true that extinguishing a strong preference generally takes considerable effort.  My preference for hot bread with butter is about as strong as a preference can get.  Hot bread is what I have taken to throughout my life.  Yet, the very idea that I am addicted to this food item is just plain silly.  And were I to choose to eat hot buttered bread while you drowned, my behavior would be just that: a choice on my part—though surely a very unjustified choice.   Likewise, it is an equally unjustified choice on my part if I continue surfing the internet or playing the slot machines while you are drowning.

To state the obvious: Freedom without responsibility frees us from blame.  In that sense, then, we are becoming more animal-like in society; for it is a conceptual truth that animals cannot be held morally accountable for their actions.  A fundamental difference between animals and human beings lies in the ability of humans to have long-range foresight.  No matter how strong a preference of mine might be, I can do things that make satisfying that preference rather unlikely.  If I am a Saturday night party guy, then I can start making plans on Monday that pretty much preclude my partying on Saturday night.  And devouring a loaf of bread at home is impossible if all I have in the house are saltines.  And that, too, I can plan over time.  No animal—not even a chimpanzee or a dolphin, to name the two most intelligent non-human animals—can plan in this subtle kind of way to avoid future behavior deemed undesirable.

Nowadays, there are commercials that essentially state the obvious: the more physical exertion a person does the more likely she or he is to lose weight (if caloric in take remains constant).  This used to fall in the category of good ole fashion commonsense.  It is stunning that the most technologically advanced generation on the plant needs commercials in order to grasp insights that were nothing more than the deliverances of commonsense for past generations?  Even more poignantly, why has the capacity for foresight come to be so under utilized?  Furthermore, why is it that we come to delight in this reality?

It is true that freedom without responsibility frees us from blame.  But not without a hefty price.

Freedom without responsibility is a recipe for disaster.  This is because we cannot continually take the adult members of society seriously if we see that they continually disavowal responsibility for their actions.  In the short run, of course, disavowing responsibility is an advantage for those who get away with so behaving.  But it is against the backdrop of responsible citizens that this advantage is possible.  Accordingly, those who disavow responsibility are exploiting the moral perseverance of their follow citizens, which gives rise to seething resentment.  In turn, seething resentment undermines fellow feeling, the absence of which turns civil society into a vicious state of nature.  Very much a net loss.

For animals freedom without responsibility is a reality.  For human beings freedom without responsibility is but an illusion—and an evil one at that.  No society can last long, surely no society can flourish, in a continuous state of freedom without responsibility.  And to this rule, there are absolutely no exceptions