| padib said: Children are children though. Adults are people who should be trusted to be able to think for themselves, not dictated by some overarching power as to what to think. Our reason alone should be enough to help us come to the most sensible conclusions. I agree that children need direction, they are not completely conscious and reasonable until only a later age. So we agree on that. However, once in the world of adults, my philosophy is based on the ideal that people are able to think rationally. Do you really believe that kind of philosophy is wishful thinking? If so, then Martin Luther King Jr. was wrong because he asked people to think for themselves. Most revolutionists who made an important difference asked the same thing. Tyrants demanded the opposite, that people not think for themselves. |
To answer this question, yes. Yes I do. Do I think we should be able to do that? Yes. I just don't think that we can. My reasoning is that history shows that bad people do bad things. Words and actions can be harmful. To a (I might even say 'very') small extent I think what is said needs to be regulated. The people that would abuse what you're saying may be in the minority, but it is easier to prevent/deter something bad from happening (in the context of rules/regulations/etc) than it is to clean up the mess afterwards. Take slavery for example. If there had been laws in place that said slavery is illegal in the first place then the U.S. wouldn't have had slavery. They had slavery though. Guess what? The black community still remembers that. Have you heard about the Ferguson, MO riots that recently happened? Granted, freedom and freedom of speech are two different things, but it is the same principle. There were no laws against slavery. When someone said publicly, "Let's have slaves," did people band together and throw that idea out the window? No. People got on board with it. The rest is history, but I think I've made my point. I like your ideals. I just don't think humanity is grown up enough to handle that.
