Thursday, December 27, 2012

I know I pledged to avoid New Year’s resolutions, just a few posts back, but I briefly considered working out recently, much to my dismay. See, the thing is my other long-standing pledge–to regard desserts ecumenically, whether they be black or white, baked or frozen–has been operating in direct contravention to my health, and the holidays appear to have altered the cut of my pants. That said, I’ve yet to purchase a gym membership, and I don’t think 2013 is the right year to start. For now, I’ll see how far metabolism and a return to my normal diet will take me.

But freedom, rather than sweet treats, is the topic for tonight, and I’m loathe to go abstract in the last post of the year. It’s just that I’ve been constantly reminded of the idea lately. Can there be too much freedom? That’s the key question. There are the big things, like the current debate on gun control. There are the small things, too, like being stuck behind a Jeep with a whistle tip in the parking garage. I was waiting in a checkout line today and found myself scanning the insipid varieties of earbuds on offer, with one style–“Seersucker Picadilly,” whatever that could possibly mean–particularly annoying me.

While these may seem like unrelated occurrences, I believe there’s a common thread: We the people have an overwhelming hunger to express our individuality. My personal tenet at the moment goes something like this: You have a right to fully exercise your freedoms, provided I have reasonable options to avoid them. You’re free to place that goddamn “COEXIST” bumper sticker on your car, just as I’m free to not look at it. I can choose to refrain from buying Seersucker Picadilly earbuds. I can switch lanes if the car behind me is dropping phat beats.

Boring examples, to be sure, and it’s when you’re a captive audience that the conversation gets interesting–and when you fight. Say you’re stuck behind a whistle tipper on a single-lane highway. Does his right to install a whistle tip trump your right to undistracted driving? Or say you’re stuck next to a noisy neighbor. Does his right to listen to phat beats with pounding bass trump your freedom from phat beats with pounding bass? Does the right to own assault weapons trump the right to not be shot by them? I’ve got to believe there’s a middle ground here, and I know this has been debated before. Sure wish I didn’t exercise my freedom to cut all those philosophy classes.