University of Virginia Library

Structure For Morals

Of course I do not present this
dictum as an absolute, for society
does not - and cannot - be so
tolerant of every commodity. Some
it must reject if it is to survive.
Addictive drugs, for instance. We
should not seek to legislate manners,
but we must preserve a
structure in which one may practice
morals.

Here lies the great difficulty.
Where shall the line of permissiveness
by drawn? The dangers of the
two extremes are quite grave: too
much freedom and society disintegrates,
too little and it becomes no
more than a prison. Somewhere
between these poles exists the
optimum condition since neither
anarchy nor tyranny is a perfect
human order.

I would say: draw the line to
include a minimum of restrictions,
but do indeed draw the line.
Choose to be as free as possible
within a basic framework of law
meant for the preservation of
community. And I would assert
that the dynamics of a democratic,
capitalistic system offer the best -
and perhaps only - way to insure a
proper determination of how free
we shall be.