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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Culture & Society

Freedom's Price: The Unpaid Bill of Responsibility

From ThisDay · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

Analysis Sources not specified Context piece
  • The article argues that freedom is not free and comes with the responsibility of paying a 'bill' for its existence and maintenance.
  • It posits that no one is truly self-made, and freedoms like the right to vote or speak were hard-won by previous generations.
  • Modern culture's emphasis on personal choice without accountability is labeled as privilege without responsibility, contrasting with civilization's bargain of surrendering certain freedoms for collective safety.

Freedom, often perceived as an inherent right, comes with a significant, often unpaid, bill of responsibility, argues Tim Akano Rousseau. He counters the notion of absolute freedom at birth, stating that newborns are entirely dependent, owing everything to others. True freedom, he posits, is not the absence of constraints but the ability to make choices within reality and accept their consequences. This freedom is not without its costs; choosing to spend all one's earnings can lead to poverty, and electing incompetent leaders results in bad governance.

man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.

— Tim Akano RousseauThe author references Rousseau's famous quote to introduce his argument about the nature of freedom.

The author asserts that no individual is self-made, nor is freedom. Rights such as the right to vote and freedom of speech were secured through the struggles and sacrifices of previous generations. "Infrastructure left unmaintained collapses on whoever is standing under it when it falls," Rousseau writes, drawing an analogy for the need to maintain the foundations of freedom. He emphasizes that exercising freedom creates obligations, such as using free speech responsibly and preserving future generations' liberty.

Freedom comes later, and when it comes, it comes with a bill. That bill is responsibility. In a word: freedom is not free.

— Tim Akano RousseauThe author articulates his central thesis that freedom entails responsibility and cost.

Modern society's elevation of personal choice, often expressed as "it's my life, my body, my choice," is criticized for neglecting the accountability that should accompany such decisions. This desire for adult freedom coupled with childlike accountability is described as "privilege without responsibility." Civilization itself is presented as a grand bargain: individuals surrender certain freedoms, like the freedom to steal or use force, to create a larger, safer sphere of freedom for everyone. The article contrasts this with license, which answers to nothing, and introduces a third condition, "liberty without independence," which Africa understands well, remaining subject to external control despite formal sovereignty.

Nobody is self-made, and neither is freedom.

— Tim Akano RousseauRousseau argues against the myth of self-creation, extending it to the concept of freedom.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ThisDay in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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