Liberalism should not be unquestioningly accepted. by Ryo.I

In the 21th century, you can enjoy freedom. For example, you can go wherever you want to go if you have enough money. Furthermore, you do not have to participate in politics and other people do not have the right to force their ideas on you: This is the idea of liberalism. Liberalism is the thought that the most important thing is liberty and everyone can use it except to violate others’ liberty and the thought is now dominant in the world. However, I think that if liberalism is too extreme, this is very dangerous for your life for two reasons: First, liberalism that is too extreme could destroy democracy. Second, liberalism could prevent people from deepening their ideas about social problems.

First, liberalism that is too extreme could corrupt democracy. This is because people have the freedom not to participate in politics. For example, according to a survey (2012) by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, only 37% of all Japanese aged 20 to 29 who especially said they prefer liberalism voted in the Lower House elections in 2012. That is, more than half of the people did not think about politics seriously and enjoy their freedom not to vote. However, the more people who do not vote, the more dangerous Japan is. This is because politicians can easily change the law and the system to convenience things for them if people do not watch what politicians do. Thus, if the tendency continues for a long time, the extreme freedom could destroy itself.

Second, liberalism could prevent people from deepening their ideas. This is because it tends to lead to relativism; people have the freedom to have any idea and have the right not to be forced to any idea. However, under this idea, people could cling to their own idea and not discuss thoroughly by saying, “It is your idea. My idea is not the same. That’s OK. It is no use discussing any more.” I think this is not a favorable situation to realize a better world. As Michael Sandel (2009, p305) says, “arguments are impossible to avoid for realizing justice”, you should not stay liberalism that is too extreme and especially relativism and should discuss serious problems with each other thoroughly.

In conclusion, liberalism should not be unquestioningly accepted for two reasons. First, people do not have to participate in politics, which may destroy democracy. Second, liberalism tends to lead to relativism so people could have less opportunity to discuss, which prevent them to deepen their ideas. Thus, you should not enjoy the freedom too much, and face the duty of citizens and discuss the problem frankly because it is essential to protect the freedom.

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References

Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. (2012). The transition of the vote rate

by age in the Lower House elections. Retrieved June 24, 2014, from

                http://www.soumu.go.jp/senkyo/senkyo_s/news/sonota/nendaibetu/

Michael J. Sandel.(2009) Justice – What’s the Right Thing to Do?. New York,   

                Farrar, Straus and Giroux