Blake Ashby Blog: OurAmerican Journey

Our American Journey

Sometimes it seems as if "Conversation" has become a bad word in our country, as if talking to someone not in complete agreement with you is a sign of weakness. Sometimes it seems as if Anger is the only energizing force we now allow ourselves. But that’s not America. In America two people can disagree but still respect the basic humanity of the other person. In America it’s possible to disagree without hate, to talk without shouting. I believe, even still, in the ideal of the United States of America, a democracy where each person has the right to pursue their own life and have their own opinion. If our country is less great than it once was, it is because we have slipped away from this idea, this belief that all men and women have the right to choose the course of their own lives, and their own opinions. It is both the left and the right that have slipped away from this idea, allowed their anger to somehow convince themselves to question the humanity of the other side. Sometimes it seems that fighting anger with reason is impossible. But if history has proven anything, it is that reason does always eventually win. This blog is my effort to again have a conversation, to replace anger with reason. I hope you will join me in a conversation, and together we can recapture the faith in our country and our citizens that made America great.

I’d love to have your contribution to the conversation. If you’d like to leave a comment, you can do so at https://www.facebook.com/BlakeAshbyPage. Thanks for reading.

We Give Freedom to Get Freedom

6/18/2023

“Government” is shorthand for groups of people joining together to collaboratively decide their actions.

We join together – we collaboratively decide our actions – because doing so gives us more freedom than we would have on our own. We have a far greater ability to survive and even thrive in our natural world by joining together than we do on our own. We produce far more value for everybody if we all work together to meet our wants and needs. That’s the genius of the human species – we’ve figured out how hundreds of millions of us can work together, and it’s produced the freedoms of this amazing world in which we live.

But as we gain freedom, we also lose freedom. We get this greater freedom in some areas by giving away a part of our freedom in other areas. The very act of joining the group and taking part in the collaboration requires giving up a part of one’s freedom. The person joining gave up their ability to decide where they go, and instead goes where the group decides. As they attempt to meet their needs collaboratively, they give up part of their freedom to decide what they will do to meet their needs. We have ever greater control of our lives, but less control of days.

This is the compromise of freedom – we give us some in order to get more. We made the compromise the first time we joined together with others of our species. We continue to make it today. We all give up our freedom to drive on the left side of the road, because doing so allows all of us to get to where we are going faster and safer. We judge the compromise to be worth it.

But it is a compromise. Again, “Government” is shorthand for how we collaboratively decide their actions. Government extends our freedom in many areas. The compromise of freedom is also the compromise of government – for government to extend freedom it must also take freedom.

Government both gives and takes freedom.

Prior post: Does Government Give Freedom or Take Freedom

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