Each of us is familiar with the aphorism: «The freedom of one ends where the freedom of another begins.» Authorship has not been clearly established. There is also a proverb: «Your freedom ends where my nose begins.»
Witty. In addition, the logic is impeccable and the meaning is clear. Meanwhile, this maxim has always aroused resistance in me. Not because I disagree with it, but because it is not about freedom, but about arbitrariness and aggression. For some reason, everyone does not notice this.
By freedom by tacit consent is understood: everything is permitted. However, this cannot be not only in society, but also in nature. Neither the wolf, nor the lion, nor the bird, nor the man is free. If you want to fly like a bird, learn to peck grains and sit on electric wires. Absolute freedom is an idle dream, not an urgent need. And it is not another person that stands in her way, but the laws of nature and society. Then what — the talk around the concept of freedom is solely as a warning to bandits and criminal adventurers? This is weird. After all, the vast majority of the inhabitants of the planet do not think of themselves as either bandits, or thieves, or murderers, whose arbitrariness is also limited by the criminal code. Perfidy is real in relations between nations, but there is international law for this. A child from the first years learns the rules of behavior. For better or worse, he knows not only how to cross the street, but also how to behave in the company of peers, relatives or strangers. It would never occur to a sane teenager to drive another from his place in transport or in the hall. Of course, there are enough examples of aggressive behavior, showdowns in a fight, but here either the rules of a fair fight apply, or the law comes into force. This volatile and peaceful aphorism is not a commentary on the Criminal Code. You must admit that when we meet a free person, we least of all expect aggression from him. Yes, and by freedom we understand something completely different, and not, for example, that this person is not in prison and is not subject to social oppression. On the contrary, it is obvious that under equal social conditions there are people who are free and not free. That is, by freedom we understand certain properties of a person. Stable combinations of words: freedom of thought, freedom of conscience, freedom of spirit. These things are achieved in the process of self-development and have nothing to do with limiting the freedom of another. Such a free man is not dangerous.
- Paradoxes of freedom
Here’s what else is important: freedom cannot be bestowed, only mined, worked out. Reminds me of a children’s story. The father teaches his son to earn money by his own labor. And now, time after time, he brings a handful of coins to his father, but not earned, but received in some other way (I don’t remember now). And time after time, the father throws these coins into the fire. The son is upset, of course, but on the whole he watches the picture passively. And then one day, when the coins once again flew into the fireplace, the son rushed to the fire and began to rake them out. It became clear to the father that this time the son had earned the money himself. The same with freedom. We cherish it when it is mined.
External freedom without internal freedom is not only not beneficial, but often harmful and burdensome. For example, it is known that a young man who has left the army for a civilian life feels discomfort at first. There is no formation with a song, no duty, no uniform, no subordination, no orders. What to do with this freedom? Every moment to decide for yourself how to act and what to do — this task is not for everyone.
- How to become freer? Exercises
Also, those who have not passed the path of self-development are lost in any situation of choice and go crazy from the complexity of the world. In order to somehow exist, he becomes a slave to stereotypes and, as a rule, feels most comfortable in the crowd. To be in the minority is a tragedy for him. In relation to the minority, he experiences an instinctive dislike, and even hatred. Such an unfree person, yes, is a danger to others. From self-doubt, aggression is born in him.
Unlike a free man, he needs an idol and takes pleasure in the worship of power. According to the stereotypes of the majority, for him, Pushkin is an idol. But in order to consider Pushkin an idol, it is not at all necessary to read him. Meanwhile, perhaps the most important thing in Pushkin’s nature is precisely what he called secret, inner, that is, true, freedom: “On a modest, noble lyre, I did not praise the Earthly gods And I did not cense with strength in the pride of a free censer flattery. … Love and secret freedom Instilled a simple anthem in the heart … »
No, for a free person, the aphorism given at the beginning of the column looks like a stupid and tiresome notation of a person who does not understand anything about freedom. True freedom has no restrictions, except for the internal, educated rules that a person has set for himself in the process of self-development.