A comment that I heard last week frustrated and alarmed me because I’m seeing it become a dangerous trend.
This person, in a conversation about our supposedly limited freedoms in the United States, said, “I want the freedom to do what I want without someone telling me what I can and can’t do.”
First of all, I must say that I somewhat understand this person’s frustration. It’s much like the frustration I felt in high school when my parents would set what seemed to be an unfair curfew for me on the weekends. My friends and I were about as straight as it gets; our typical night out meant that we either rented a movie or played putt putt golf. So of course I thought they were being unreasonable. Sometimes I’d think, if only they’d just let me do what I want to do, things would be fine.
When I really think about it, though, I can safely say that my individuality was not really at stake, and ultimately I don’t regret following the rules, even though I disliked them at the time. And this is typically the case. I’ve never heard someone say they regretted doing what was right growing up. However, I often hear people say that they wished they hadn’t rebelled so much during their adolescent and young adult years, especially when they realize that some people were affected, or even hurt, by some of their mistakes.
The thing that alarms me the most is that our generation is notorious for wanting to rebel, doing whatever we feel like doing. And sadly, our generation is notorious for screwing things up when we put those thoughts to action. Our generation proves time and again that most of us are not responsible enough to handle a lot of freedom.
We see examples of this all the time: the teen who is killed in a car accident because he was driving 100 mph under the influence, the girl who throws a fit because she can’t wear an obscene T-shirt to school, the college student who fails a class only because he didn’t follow the attendance policy, or the athlete who’s in jail because he thought drugs were illegal for everyone except him.
Rules are not set in place to make us conform to the norm. They are not meant to stifle our independence or keep us from showing our individuality. That way of thinking shows ignorance and immaturity. Rules are established to both protect us and maintain order in our society.
If everyone was able to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, mass chaos would break out in this country, much like the chaos we see in countries where fewer rules are established. A guy could kill someone for making him mad or rape a girl he thought was cute and actually get away with it. You may think you are responsible enough to make your own rules, but frankly, there are not that many people I would trust with that freedom.
Rules and guidelines have to be set so that things run more smoothly. There are too many differing opinions to let people make their own rules or even to expect everyone to agree or like one way to do something. And someone has to narrow it down, regardless if you think that person is perfect for the job or not. Someone has to decide what will or will not fly.
Personally, there are plenty of rules I don’t like. I don’t like having to drive 10 mph through my neighborhood, but I’m sure the woman watching her small children play close to the street is happy about it. In high school, I hated the fact that we weren’t allowed to carry backpacks at all, and it was hard to carry my purse, books, notebooks and whatever else I needed in my relatively short arms all day. But I could handle the fact that this made it extremely difficult for someone to shoot my friends and me at school.
I also wouldn’t mind keeping my cell phone on during class, but I would much rather be able to hear my instructor tell me what’s going to be on the final instead of being distracted because someone’s polyphonic Eminem ring tone is droning her out.
In all seriousness, if our generation is going to whine about not having enough freedom, we must first prove we could handle the responsibility that inevitably accompanies freedom. We have to exude some level of maturity and wisdom so others will feel better trusting us with more freedom.
That means stop demanding more freedom for yourself while criticizing the fact that soldiers are fighting for the freedom of someone else. That means improving your work ethic and not slacking so you can get a job done, and not constantly complaining about the rules that already exist. That means actually showing some respect to someone in authority who more than likely knows a little more than you do. That means not spitting out “First Amendment!” every single time someone edits your work for explicit content. That also means not pitching a fit every time a curse word is bleeped out of your favorite song on the radio.
Until then, I don’t think we deserve any more freedom than we have.