The Freedom to be Wrong

This is one of the hardest things for many people to accept: that freedom necessarily includes the freedom to be wrong. When you see someone making a mistake it is natural to want to rescue them. This is what makes humans humane. Parents usually learn that if they always save their kids from getting hurt by a mistake, the kids keep making the same mistake over and over. They do not learn from being warned. Many authoritarians believe that they are controlling us for our own good. They don't see the harm that comes from not dealing with the consequences of our own decisions and actions. Libertarians recognize that people only learn from their own mistakes. We can give advice, and even reach out to those who have fallen, but to forbid someone the freedom to live as they see fit and make their own mistakes in order to learn is to demand that people remain infantile. Be a true friend; not a coddler.