Freedom to Harm Others?

No society can hold together if people were to have unlimited freedom to harm others.  Without fair rules, objective adjudication, and impartial enforcement to counter injurious behaviour, there would be no peace or order, let alone solidarity or cooperation.

 

Yet some people are set on pursuing their own desires and interests at the expense of others’ wellbeing.  They want to be able to do whatever that suits them regardless of the damaging consequences for other people.  And they dress up their callous arrogance as their right to freedom – as though it is unquestionable that they should be free to act as they please, and any attempt to restrain them from hurting others is an outrageous violation of their liberty.

 

Although the abuse of freedom – e.g., to deceive customers in the sale of goods, to steal or rob, to inflict pain on others, to overthrow democratic governments – is readily seen to be unacceptable, all too often the mere invocation of ‘freedom’ (even by the most shameless charlatans) is enough to keep legitimate intervention at bay.  This sleight of hand must be exposed.  Its harmful effects are already spreading way too far.

 

The freedom to push discredited claims about MMR vaccines was allowed for so long that it was almost forgotten that we should stop false information from endangering lives.  Now anti-vax promoters are turning their attention to the Covid-19 vaccines, and unless effective means are deployed to halt not simply campaigns of mass deception, but the reckless behaviour of infecting others with a life-threatening virus, we will all suffer.

 

The freedom to intimidate others directly or by inciting followers to threaten particular groups has also been protected as a result of the misguided belief that the freedom to express a ‘view’ is sacrosanct.  Now we see Trump and associates taking it so far as to encourage their supporters to threaten the lives of public officials involved in safeguarding the electoral process, and overturn the results of a democratic election.

 

There is also the freedom of a sovereign country to do as it pleases – something the UK’s Brexit-obsessed government invokes to break international law and reject independent arbitration over disputes regarding any agreement it has entered into with other countries.  In essence, Boris Johnson wants to be free to renege on any commitment he has signed up to regardless of the harm it may cause others.  By the same token, countries around the world seeking to act aggressively and exploitatively towards others can also invoke their sovereign freedom to do so – proving all the more that there is a need to have global structures to secure and enforce arrangements for peace, trade and security.

 

There is no moral or political reason to confer on anyone the absolute freedom to act without due consideration for others.  Only flawed thinking has led some well-intentioned people to side with non-intervention when intervention is palpably needed to stop the thoughtless and unscrupulous from ruining the lives of others.

 

It is vital to remember – freedom without limits is just a licence to harm.