discuss the theme of liberty and equality and control in AG Gardiners essay ON THE RULE OF THE ROAD
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Answer:
A.G. Gardiner defines the "rule of the road" in the following way: "It means that in order that the liberties of all may be preserved, the liberties of everybody must be curtailed." In other words, each person must have some limits on his or her freedom in order to enjoy the freedom that comes from social order. This order relies on everyone understanding how their actions affect those of other people. Gardiner claims that people are becoming "liberty drunk" and only recalling their liberties, not the responsibilities and limits that this liberty relies on.
Today, people often drive with a goal of arriving at their destinations as quickly as possible with, at best, little consideration for those around them and, at worst, a reckless disregard for others. There are frequent incidents of "road rage" and general disregard for rules (for example, people often go around people on exit ramps onto highways, not seeming to care that such an action is very dangerous). Many people's major goal seems to be to pursue their greatest degree of freedom in driving in the way they would like, but they seem to forget that their actions impose a lack of freedom on others. If their actions cause an accident, the order we all rely on to drive will be broken, and no one will get anywhere. People must submit to rules and to some limits so that we can all access the freedom that can only come from a condition of social order.
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Answer:
In On the Rule of the Road by A.G. Gardiner we have the theme of liberty, frustration, equality and control. Taken from his Leaves in the Wind collection the reader realises after reading the essay that Gardiner may be exploring the theme of liberty, both personal and social. Gardiner finds it difficult when an individual’s personal liberty impinges on the liberty of the majority and gives the case of the old woman walking down the middle of the road. The woman has every right to walk where she wants however in turn a bus or car has the right to drive on the pavement. The result as Gardiner suggests would be obvious chaos and anarchy. There needs to be some boundaries put in place to ensure that a person’s personal liberties do not impinge on others. It is okay to play the trombone in your house but not necessarily on the street where it will become a nuisance to your neighbours. This seems obvious however people often take personal liberties to the extreme and disturb the status quo that society relies on. The result being that often the majority can become annoyed with the minority.