You love others. You have a gentle, generous heart and want only the best for those in your community.
You're not like those selfish people who want to leave the vulnerable to their own devices and vices; in some sort of dog-eat-dog free for all.
You're better than that, and you believe we can all be better than that.
You're smart too. You know that people often can't be trusted to make sensible decisions like you can.
Caring for the individual sometimes means taking away some of their freedom to do dumb stuff.
Everyone should be free, but they should only be free to make good decisions.
The same ones you make.
It's like the way you care for your pets. Your dog wants to run out and chase cars, but you know that's going to end in tragedy, so you put fences around him.
It's smart and caring and clearly your responsibility as a pet owner.
Here's the thing though. I'm not your pet.
I'm a whole other human being, with a back story, and preferences and priorities and circumstances about which you know nothing.
Even if you knew me like I know myself, you still wouldn't be qualified to choose which freedoms I should enjoy; because the consequences of my choices are my own, not yours.
I have to live in this body.
Even with perfect knowledge and wisdom you still wouldn't have skin in the game.
The skin is mine.
At no point have you acquired a responsibility to take away my capacity to damage myself.
You hallucinated it.
Imagine a motorcyclist. He should be wearing a helmet, right? He'd have to be an idiot not to, and we have to look after idiots so they don't make poor decisions.
You care about him enough to make this call on his behalf.
He has terminal cancer. His dying wish is to ride across the continent with the wind in his hair.
You probably believe he should be free to decline chemotherapy without you sitting in judgement of his motives, even if you believe those motives are as seemingly petty and vain as not wanting to lose his hair; which is great.
People should be free to make those calls.
But then he's not qualified to decide whether or not to wear a helmet on his ride?
Sure, now you know his circumstances, he should definitely be free to forego the helmet, but where was this humility before you knew his story?
Should he ride around the country with his helmet on, acquainting his millions of self-appointed owners with his circumstances and begging them for his freedom, hoping he survives long enough for another, final ride without the helmet?
Or are you going to make the decision here and now that other people are not your pets?
Please continue to love people, but love them like people, not like pets.
Love them enough to trust them with their own decisions.
