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TOPIC: ISSUE136 - "The absence of choice is a circumstance that is very, very rare."
WORDS: 660 TIME: 01:07:37 DATE: 2007-8-6 20:41:37
Nowadays we can easily hear a sentence----I am totally cornered, I have to do so since I have no choice. Is it right that we often have no choice, as we can easily conclude from the phenomenon? I don't think so. In fact, I agree with the statement of speaker that the absence of choice is a circumstance that is very, very rare. What make many people say the sentence above are three main opinions, which I will refute in the following part of the essay.
Someone claims that the influence of the culture leaves him no choice. It is quite right that every one of us is born in one specific culture, which is beyond our choice. And the subtle influence exerted by the culture often determines the preference when we make our choices. For example, People in America have much divergence with Chinese people in the problem of choosing the form of the regime. However, it does not mean that we are indeed excluded the right of choose. In fact, we often ignore that no one forces us, and it is ourselves that make the choice. To explain it further, we have the right to make choice, though the right are ignored by us since of the impact of the culture. In the above example, do Chinese people have the right to establish a western-style republic? Of course they have the right since if the people in China don't respect the authority, the government is doomed to be repelled and lose its power. It is Chinese culture that make the people choose the regime and don't willing to change.
There is another opinion that the economic pressure forces them to do something without any alternative choice. Yes, to a beggar, it is a totally dream for him to drive a Bench. And since of the roaring prices, more and more people must place money and profit at the first place when they make the choices. However, it is far from saying that they cannot make any choice. We can illustrate it using the example of purchasing a house. To a family with a deposit of 10000, it is of course out of choice for them to buy a garden. But with this money, they can still choose to buy a flat, in a worse condition, they can choose to rent a house. Even to those are in debt, they the right to see a house, and to right to not to buy a house.
Sometimes, the politic environment is attributed for the absence of choice. Yes, people in different kinds of regimes enjoy different freedom of choosing. We can take the former Soviet Union and the U.S. as an example. People in the former Soviet Union enjoy little freedom of speech and choosing, for instance, the job of the people are relegated by the government, and people can't choose their career freely. On the contrary, American people enjoy the full-ranged freedom of choosing, including the freedom of choosing their jobs, partners, living cities, and so on. Notwithstanding, those Soviet Union People still can choose to give up the jobs, can choose to complain or repel, can choose to live or die.
In fact, the freedom of our will, which is the intrinsic trait of we humans, determines that in most cases we have the right and the freedom to make choices. The real point is that in some cases we have much alternative choices, in other cases, we have little. Those who claim that they have absolute no choice either ignore the existing choices, or want to excuse for their bad choices.
In conclusion, although there are many people claiming that they are in such a dilemma that no alternative choice is available. The fact is that they can still make their own choices, though not freely, in most cases. As a result, it is quite sound to state that the absence of choice is very rare. |
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