This is just a little writing I happened to stumble upon. I thought it had a lot of thought put into it, and I agree with most of it. Hopefully people have some ideas on the matter.
“Yes. Free choice is inescapable. We are “condemned to freedom,” as Sartre put it.
Why the negative language (”condemned”)? Because there is something in us that fears freedom. If we are free, we are responsible. We can’t pass the buck to others and blame out society, or our parents, or the government. Our problem is laziness…
…Most people love freedom when it means being able to do whatever they feel like doing. But they don’t love freedom when it means the responsibility of making moral choices and living with the results. Freedom is not easy. But today we want everything to be easy. That’s why our political freedom is currently in great danger. Freedom is not in great danger in places like Poland today, because it is not easy there. Poles know the value of freedom. They had to struggle for it, and pay for it.
But whether or not we have political freedom, everyone has moral freedom. Every human being has the free will to choose between good and evil, and the responsibility to do so. That’s essential to human nature. That’s why we are all “condemned to freedom”.”
-Peter Kreeft, Making Choices: Practical Wisdom for Everyday Moral Decisions, pp. 13-14
but how can we fully call ourselves free when we are bound and limited by money and responsibility to others?
but how can we fully call ourselves free when we are bound and limited by money and responsibilty to others?