From
NAPMA
Role of the Citizen
The role of the citizen is to realize the different philosophical approaches that exist in relation to the topic of suffering and the issues that relate to it, especially those of a controversial nature. Additionally, the citizen should be self-aware of how he views issues and to what philosophical perspective he adheres.
The education of the citizenry is important in the discussion of suffering. Citizens must be made aware that there exists a plethora of diverging philosophical systems by which to analyze and interpret a situation, instead of being restricted to the approach used by an educator or political majority. The stifling of differing opinions on the issue, which is what occurs when the other systems are not taught, halts the growth and progress of the nation.
Regulation and the Impact on Society
The government does not regulate the discourse of philosophical interpretations and systems concerning the issue of suffering, since to do so would violate the First Amendment's protection of free speech.
However, if the government did decide to regulate the issue, the impact would be severe--totalitarianism. Governments that decide for its citizens what they will and will not think or do in every situation limits the basic human freedoms with which all men are endowed and enslaves men to the will of the state. Governments possess no authority to limit the intellectual discourse that results when men discuss the philosophic roots of suffering and the implication of those roots in society. If the such freedom was limited, intellectual discussion and growth would cease, which would most likely be coupled with a "brain drain," or the emigration of a large number of highly education persons from one country around the same time.
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