Independence VS Isolation

Independence is a wonderful thing, as it allows one to do what one wants to, and needs to. I think that independence means that one is allowed to do whatever one wants with their own things. Obviously, nobody is allowed to take or abuse another persons stuff or they would be infringing on another one’s freedom, and forfeit their own right to independence. Some people, though, think that it means a lack of any interaction with anyone else, as they see it as the only way to be totally free and “independent” of anyone else, which I think is the definition of isolation.

This is practically unattainable, of course, as trade is essential, or very nearly essential, to live, and certainly necessary to live a comfortable life. This form of isolation, while impressive if it can be managed, is not very smart. Cutting yourself off from other people is not smart, as it requires you to specialize in everything that might come up in your life, every problem and want has to be dealt with by you, and you alone. Due to time management, you probably won’t be able to get very good at any one skill, however, while in a society you could specialize and get incredibly good at solving any problem or satisfying any want, possibly even a skill you like or want, and then provide your service in exchange for other people’s services. For example, if you’re a plumber you can fix peoples piping, but you may not be that good at cooking. You can then fix a cooks piping, and the cook would provide a meal for you in exchange. Money allows people, say, our plumber, to fix anyone’s plumbing, get money, and then spend it to get a meal from the cook, and the cook can do the same thing for his services, so that you don’t need to directly exchange services.

This inter-trading society will quickly become better than any fully “independent” person (read: hermit), who has both poorly fixed pipes and poorly made meals. I’m not saying that people shouldn’t do multiple things, or that they need to call someone else at every little inconvenience, but that we, as humans, are designed to work in a group, a society, and that hermits are aberrations, not goals. I do still think that my definition of freedom, which basically boils down to complete property rights, is a goal, and necessary for a good society, but that total isolation is not really freedom.