We are jealous of our freedoms -- as we should be -- and it may be difficult to draw a clear line between freedom and the rules that restrict it. Consider this photo...
This dude is obviously free! Apparently he is enjoying himself and as far as can be seen, harming no one. So can you say that he is in the Land of Freedom, or has he ridden past the Border of Responsibility? There seems to be no other nearby traffic (if you discount the photographer's vehicle) and a lack of visible damage to the Harley is testimony to the rider's skill -- or luck. Assume with me that he has no relatives or companions who would feel loss were he killed, or have to bear the burden of his care were he injured. If he is talking to someone on the Cell-phone (how can anyone hear with the wind noise?) it might be no one who has any relationship with him. Assume that the bike is paid for and not insured. Would you say that the worst thing he is possibly doing is setting a bad example for juveniles or the weak-minded who see him riding like this? So --- where is the border between what you want and what you should? And, equally important, how can you tell you have crossed that boundary? Can you build, buy, or invent a mechanism that can be calibrated to set off an alarm as you approach the border? What this misguided individual is doing -- regardless of the presence of absence of witnesses or the lack of any physical damage -- is diminishing his own value. His reckless disregard for his own safety and security wears away and decreases the justifiable concern he must have for himself. Without that he cannot have any sense of the real value of others. The amount of loss "per event" may be so small as to be difficult to perceive; but nonetheless there is some erosion. Eventually a person who habitually demeans himself in this manner will also demean everyone else. The "alarm system" that warns us when approaching the fogbound border of Responsibility is called conscience. If you want to make an exhaustive study of the concept, go here; http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04268a.htm otherwise use the short form from my Unabridged Dictionary
Conscience: Knowledge or feeling of right or wrong; the facility, power, or principle of a person which decides on the lawfulness or unlawfulness of his actions, with a compulsion to do right; moral judgment that prohibits or opposes the violation of a previously recognized ethical principle.
The problem? A conscience is not something you can run to the corner mini-mart and buy; it is the product of time and effort. You have to build your own! It is safe to say that the relaxed dude on the Harley has failed the rest of humanity by neglecting to form a fully-functioning conscience, and in the failure, he demeans himself and all of us
