Time to update the freedom and responsibility discussions?

Engaging with our friends, community, society, nation, humanity is a progression of values (no, not family – this is too non-committal and unchanging). How much of this particular progress do we want, how much do we have and how much do we need?

Self-responsibility has to be our starter, and yet do we consciously choose? Our education and parenting systems should focus on developing the independent, fully empowered, fully realised personality. Such educated personality might be decisive, informed, creative, independent, resourceful, empathetic and courageous.

From here we can move to our engagement with society. Such engagement will then be in ways which are productive and meaningful to one another taking into account the all. This may mean the future requires greater individual sophistication than before, not just to a greater degree, but to a universality of sophistication – an expectation of higher values, commitment, self-belief and intention across humankind. This is not a huge step away from seeing humanity evolve – and expectation is a powerful tool of such change, although as yet we poorly learnt to use it.

The future is not isolated, but it is also not directly connected to the past – this is a matter of choice, albeit for some and in some circumstances, a difficult choice. Individuals and organisations, .collectives, governments and nations, none may escape such challenges which exist right now. Putting off means at best putting off; we should all be benefiting now from our potential to change. Humanitiy's greater sophistication would suggest not putting off, but choosing, deciding, acting soonest.

And so, too, the organisation and the nation, as well as its people. The educated personality of the future must be affective[actually acting] not merely effective[knowing why and being capable of acting], across the key facets of society including the ethics of science, markets, dignity, administration/red-tape...poor words or great words: universal humanism or survival and joyous wondrous healthy lives for all in this, our amazing world.