TOPIC: ISSUE234 - "Most people prefer restrictions and regulations to absolute freedom of choice, although they would probably deny such a preference."
　　WORDS: 550 TIME: 0:45:00 DATE: 2007-7-31
　　Freedom, one of the nicest 70 English words, always suggests a right of everyone in a democratic society. When it comes to the freedom of choice, there are always a host of different opinions held by different individuals in different fields. Do most people prefer restrictions and regulations to absolute freedom of choice? Admittedly, every person is willing to have the right to pursue his/her basic freedom, which reflects the nature of a democratic society. However, on many occasions people tend to one can never expect absolute freedom of choice without a single restriction or regulation. In fact, freedom is a relative concept and we should pursue freedom of choice with certain limits that cannot be obviated.
　　As for the basic freedom, everybody has the right to pursue it. UYou can choose your hairstyle, the color of your shirt; you can decide which restaurant to have lunch and what kind of laptop you will buy. And women should have their right to care about dress and to go to work, as well as children should have their right to play together and to go to the same school. For all black people, as Martin Luther King, the great black civil rights leader said, the basic freedom to choose to stop all discrimination should not be deprived. History is always replete with such examples.U Actually, in a democratic society, no one could deny your pursuit of your basic freedom of choice in your life.
　　However, nowadays everything in every aspect is new and complex; modern societies tend to have been making it increasingly difficult to make choices. UConsider that you are in a supermarket, in front of a host of commodities that are all colorfully wrapped and as a result, and you find that it is too hard to decide which to buy;U Uanother question makes you at a loss when you think over which school you should send your children to study in U; Uand still, even when you do not feel quiet yourself, you may have to take into account that which hospital you should go to U. All kinds of difficult choices are all around us that we need something to help make better choices. No wonder that most people prefer restrictions and regulations to absolute freedom of choice.
　　Indeed, absolute freedom of choice might lead to chaos to our democratic societies. UWithout certain restrictions and regulations, how can you imagine that every person would behave himself/herself and there would not be any malefaction and how can you imagine that all the organizations of society would operate smoothly and normally? U UAs a matter of fact, even in the most democratic countries nowadays, laws and other restrictions are part and parcel of the society and even under so many laws and regulations there are still a large number of crimes such as thefts, plunders and so forth.U Actually, absolute freedom can never exist. In light of this, it would be regarded absurd to hold the proposal that there should not be any restrictions or regulations in a democratic society.
　　In summary, to pursue the basic freedom usually suggests a right that should be enjoyed by everyone in democratic societies. However, even in the most democratic society absolute freedom, as a matter of fact, can never exist, let alone in any other society. Wise people should enjoy their right of pursuing the basic freedom of choice, yet they should act within certain restrictions and regulations that can never be ignored.