October 9, 2026
Democracy and Permissiveness
When we talk about freedom, we are referring to political freedom: that is, the possibility of freely expressing our opinions, being able to vote, and determining who governs us.
It seems to me that it is a mistake to confuse this meaning of freedom with the idea that our choices can expand and become almost absolute. We cannot rely on the famous principle according to which we can do whatever we want, provided that our choices do not affect others, because all our choices inevitably affect others in some way. Above all, I do not believe that democracy can be identified with ethical permissiveness: values may indeed change over time, but no society can exist without rules.
In short, freedom understood as arbitrariness is the opposite of solidarity.