Why Do We Need Constraints?

We cannot live in a world with no constraints at all — without some, society would descend into chaos. People differ in their ideas, opinions and ambitions, and compete for scarce resources, and there are countless reasons why disagreement can turn into open conflict — from road rage and quarrels over parking or housing, to disputes over land, or over whether a particular film should be screened — conflicts that can escalate all the way to violence. Every society therefore needs some mechanism to control violence and settle disputes. So long as people are willing to respect each other's views and not force their own views on others, it becomes possible to live freely with minimum constraint — ideally, a free society is one where people can hold their own views, develop their own rules of living, and pursue their own choices.

But even building such a society requires some constraint: at the very least, it requires a willingness to respect differences of view, opinion and belief. The trouble is that a strong commitment to one's own beliefs can easily tip into opposing, or even trying to suppress, everyone who thinks differently — treating other people's ways of living as unacceptable or undesirable. In such situations we need some legal and political restraint to make sure differences can be discussed and debated rather than one group coercively imposing its views on another — and to protect people from being bullied or harassed into conforming. The real question, then, is which constraints on freedom are necessary and justifiable, and which are not: what kind of external authority may legitimately say what can or cannot be done, and are there areas of life that should be left completely free of outside interference? …