Discipline or Freedom of Choice?

On one hand, absolute freedom of choice for anyone is the desired situation.

On the other hand, since the world contains many 'worst-of-the-worst' elements, we have 'rules', many of which are 'generally acceptable', to 'protect us' from things like murder, crime, etc.

Now, how much 'enforced discipline' is too much?

Maybe since the Earth is a relatively primitive environment for the universal evolution of the intellect, we have 'enforced discipline', instead of 'chosen discipline'. Many people accept and agree with enforced discipline.

Take China for example, with their one-child policy. Most people agree that this is a good 'enforced disciplinary' law. But shouldn't the Chinese people be ALLOWED to have as many children as they want, in order to LEARN from their mistakes? This option is dismissed on the grounds of 'minimising child poverty' and 'avoiding problems' in the future. If these people cannot practice 'chosen discipline' and have less kids by using their freedom of choice, how are they supposed to learn that they should choose the 'fewer kids option' themselves?

The one-child policy, I think, conditions people to ACCEPT dictator-like rules, making them less able to LEARN by their own minds - they are effectively being told what to do, with no chance of LEARNING from their mistakes. Why do so many people agree with this policy?

rafal

Sometimes the "law" is a result of wisdom acquired as a result of making mistakes for many generations.

When the "rule" prevents people from suffering (such as suffering food shortages because of overpopulation) - intelligent people agree with such a rule by their own Free Will.

The most important is to EXPLAIN the REASON for the "rule" so that people have a CHOICE to adopt it by their own Free Will. Witout a sensible explanation any rule, including "do not kill", can be a seen as a severe restriction of the Freedom of Choice.

The same principle applies in the entire Universe. We have the Freedom of Choice, but certain choices are more sensible than others. Rules (such as 10 commandments for example) should be seen as "advice" of how to make choices in order to avoid suffering and make progress.

Tom