Directing the Power of Freedom

A fundamental about being human is the fact that we are free to choose our actions, and that we are morally responsible for them. Freedom, such a terrifying power…Humankind, so great and terrible, being free we can create a better world or destroy it. We can use our knowledge and ability to act to feed the hungry all over the world or start nuclear war and destroy the world and our freedom to choose altogether. We have been entrusted with a double edged sword. How do we use it well? What should we use our freedom for? It is urgent that we know how to use our freedom for good and not evil. Freedom is a dangerous thing is those that are free are evil. But that’s the price we pay of being human. Every moment of our lives we have the potential to destroy. But on the flip side we can create.

Virtue it seems is the goal. We want to become human gems. Our capacity for moral goodness and our love of it makes it logical to pursue virtue with our freedom. Not simply doing good for personal gain, but developing virtue. That is, being good with our actions and words. Our freedom should ultimately make us better people and help us to flourish as humans- eudemonia.

The total of eudemonia in the world is dependent on the collective virtue of the people living in it.  If most people are filled with vice and use their freedom selfishly and for evil, the world would become a wreck. If most people are virtuous, the world will be a better place. It seems simple: encourage virtue and thus create a good world where freedom is an ally and not a scourge. Encouraging virtue seems to be the way to “tip the odds” so to speak in our favour, to direct the outcome of human choice.

Choice…To some extent it is sort of like a gamble. We can never be entirely sure what any given person will decide…But we can tip the odds in the favour of good decisions. There are many factors that influence a person’s moral choices. Fundamentally, there is personality and the desires. These can be channeled for good or evil.  For example, a person with an angry nature could be dangerous and more likely to attack people than calm, placid people. But this anger can be used to give drive and energy in protecting the weak and working for justice. You could say we can direct a person’s personality towards good. The way one can help influence a person’s free choices towards virtue depends entirely on their personality and how they think. Not all ways work for everyone.

Knowledge and understanding is another significant factor that influences moral choices. Sometimes a person may not be malicious in desire…But they may not clearly understand why an action is morally wrong, or the consequences of their actions. If a person’s moral knowledge is insufficient, they are more likely to make immoral choices. Conversely, if a person can see clearly that an action is morally wrong they are less likely to perform the action. Thus, moral education (not coercion) is critical in helping people to direct their freedom towards the good.

Attachment to worldly pleasure can have a profound influence on a person’s moral decision making. Often, a person can know very well what is good, but are more attracted to the pleasures of the world or the flesh than doing what they know is right. For example, the carnal pleasure of taking ecstasy may tempt a person to just ignore the fact they are harming themselves and putting their children at risk just for the addictive pleasure of the drug. If these temptations are reduced, it becomes easier to do what is known to be good. Reduce attachment to worldly/carnal pleasure for its own sake, and it becomes easier for people to do good. It removes a potent distraction. Pleasure is a good thing of course. But it should be experienced in morally good ways. Pleasure should be a result of virtuous action, not sought selfishly simply for its own sake.

People find it easy to do good when they know there will be good consequences, something of a reward for their actions. Conversely, if the good action is very difficult and involves a lot of suffering and sacrifice, it can become very challenging to perform. So challenging in fact, that the immoral alternative may be chosen instead. A concrete example would be comparing giving a kidney to save a parents life and a raped woman deciding to carry the child full term. The latter would be a much more difficult decision, because of the sacrifice and suffering it entails. Fact of the matter is, many good actions involve suffering and sacrifice. We just need to make it as easy as possible for each other. When life hurts, sometimes all it takes is some solidarity and encouragement to continue bearing suffering. In the same way, to help people do what is morally right, we need to stand by each other. We need to help and encourage virtue, to partly give that little bit of worldly happiness we can’t help but desire. It’s been said that “virtue is its own reward”. But we should make it as easy as possible for us to be virtuous by encouraging virtue actively. We are all in the fight together after all.

To do good repeatedly is to eventually create habits. That is the difference between someone who simply does good and someone who is good (virtuous) as a state of being. Virtue is created when good is done all the time so it becomes effectively automatic. The thing about habits is that they are very well created when one is young. If people can be virtuous when they are young that state of being will be carried into adult life. It is far better for adults to be virtuous from the outset, because of the power they have to act. A greedy child may just eat too much. A greedy adult at the head of a company may steal from people’s wages. Teach virtue from the youngest ages, and create people who have great capacity to do good throughout life. Given this thought, education of children especially is critical to help tip the odds of decisions towards good as opposed to evil.

A good society can only be that way if its people are virtuous. To help cultivate virtue, we need to help people freely make the right decisions. Education and example are they keys, taking advantage of the good that people’s unique personalities can create. We need to make it easier for each other by encouraging each other in solidarity.  After all, goodness is often a difficult sacrifice. It may well be difficult at times, but it becomes far more difficult when people use their freedom for immoral ends. We have all been given a double edged sword. And now in the 21^st century we have unprecedented power to destroy the world we live in. But we also have more knowledge than ever before, and in many ways, more power for good. But our freedom is a dangerous thing if it is not used for good. Thus it is imperative to create good societies, and help all people to use their freedom for what it should be: moral good. Our freedom, if it is used in the right direction will create a better world. And that ultimately is what we dream of.

Aaron Carlin, 2012