Axioms

If the mind tends towards philosophy, the need for axioms are apparent. Let's say that's an opinion. There is one axiom that I'd like to discuss here, for anybody's who may be interested. It is a philosophy of the way I aim to live my life. Maybe you can call it an ideal, because there may be exceptions where the axiom doesn't get adhered to. Call it what you want. Principles, axioms, or what have you. This axiom relates to freedom. I think it has general applications.

With freedom comes responsibility. Those with the least freedom have the least responsibility. If you are in jail, your decisions are made for you. The axiom shows that those who put you in jail have determined that you cannot behave yourself according to the laws of society. As a consequence, your freedom is taken away, and decisions about your life are now in the hands of others. You are not free. You are told what to do, and what not to do. You are watched constantly. You won't even have any decent standard of privacy. A baby is like this too. A baby has an excuse. A baby is helpless. A full- grown human being has gained some powers over the years. Those powers can be used with responsibility or irresponsibilty. An irresponsible person can revert to the status of a mere child when freedom is taken away. Still more dangerous because of his/her powers.

Adherence to this axiom will improve the chances of staying out of "jail". A jail doesn't have to be a physical jail. It could be limitations placed upon your powers that limit your freedom. These can be self-imposed restraints. If you cannot trust yourself to act responsibly, the best thing to do would be to do nothing. Most of the time, you won't be blamed for what you didn't do. Action that is called for, and not taken, can get you into trouble too. But for the sake of discussion, only actions within the powers of your own will are considered.

An example is the abuse of alcohol. This type of action is under the power of your will. There may be people who will criticize you if you don't drink. Generally speaking though, responsible behavior involves not drinking when drinking is not called for. I am referring to driving while drunk. DWI may get you into serious trouble. Yes, and you may go to a real jail for it. As it relates to the axiom, you have the power to drink or not drink. If you don't drink, you can never be a drunk driver. ( That assumes somebody didn't spike the punch bowl.) The abuse of your power to decide can lead you to losing your freedoms. That would be the privilege to drive, or even to loss of all of your freedom.

There are other examples, but the above will do. You can extrapolate that to an entire syndrome of behaviors. That syndrome of behaviors can be said to be the behavior of a responsible adult. The inverse also applies. If the syndrome leads a person to do a series of irresponsble things, then how can this person be considered to be reliable and trustworthy? It might be best to avoid such people if at all possible.

The point of this is the axiom involved. You have the power to decide. It can be for behavior that will keep you free, or behavior that will get you jailed, or worse.

The axiom can be applied "across the board". If you want to be free of disease, then don't do irresponsble behaviors that will lead to sickness. And so on and so forth.

I would say that this axiom, if applied to one's life, can be said to be a positive attitude with respect to life. The opposite is a negative attitude. This may get arguments, I suppose. Not everybody will agree on all things. But I try to live by this axiom. If I screw up, I try to "own" it. I think that that is the responsible thing, as to the tendency to blame someone else for one's own's failures.

In the larger picture, it would seem that a society full of responsible adults, will have a large measure of freedom. A society full of overgrown children won't have much freedom. There are societies that are run like gigantic jail cells. I sure wouldn't want to live in such a society. They have plenty of rules in jails, but that doesn't make for much safety. Jails can be very dangerous places. Powers without rules can lead to the law of the jungle no matter where you are. Civilized people, generally speaking, do not end up in jails. The inside of jails aren't civilized. It makes sense because people who end up in jails aren't civilized enough themselves.

A general broadbrush application there. There may be disagreement on it, but I'll hold to it. All of this assumes that the society hasn't devolved into the jungle already. In such a society, it is the law of the powerful over the weak. In other words, there is no law. If a society is heading in the direction of the jungle, it may behoove people to observe that fact, and then do something. A responsible person would. That's because a responsible person is not the kind that ends up in a jail. A jungle is also a jail, in which nobody can feel safe. In an unsafe jungle, freedom of movement is not there anymore. Think about it.