What's+the+Harm+in+Making+a+Choice?

What’s the Harm in Making a Choice?

In Jonas’s world, there is no choice. Everything is the same for everyone. In fact, the world that he lives in has something called Sameness. The only difference between people in Jonas’s community is their assignment, and they don’t even get to choose that. Although the power of choice can be a negative thing, I believe that it is something that people need to maintain their uniqueness and individuality. Some reasons that Jonas’s community might have eliminated the power of choice might be because of the harm that it can cause. There is always the danger that someone will make the wrong choice, and that may be why Jonas’s community was scared of. A reason that the power of choice is bad, and should not exist is because there are choices that we can’t make ourselves, and we do need others to make those decisions for us. An example of this is naming. If a person had the power to name themselves, then they would have a name that would be something that they might have liked as a baby. It is a good thing that our parents name us, because it is a hard decision to make, and we could not do it as a baby. Although we do not name ourselves, there could be a major harm in doing so, and maybe that’s why our parents do it for us. An example of a choice that is good and vital that we choose on our own is the choice of jobs. If a person chooses their job, then they are better at it doing that job, and they are there because that’s the work that they want to do, not because they were assigned to do it. People also enjoy their jobs more if they choose it themselves, because that’s what they decided to do, not because someone else thought that they might be good at it. If a person didn’t get to choose their job, such as in Jonas’s world, then they would enjoy their lives much less, and I believe that is why we have the power to choose our profession. Another choice that would be hard to change would be the choice of spouse. This choice is crucial because if a person was assigned a spouse, then they would not truly love them, and thus they wouldn’t be as happy as they would if they got to choose their own spouse. Although there is harm that can be caused by making the wrong decision in marriage, it is a choice that people must have, because people marry others that match well with their own personalities. That wouldn’t necessarily happen if a person was given a spouse, because nobody knows you better than yourself, and nobody besides you can make the decision of who you’re going to marry. Even though in Jonas’s community there was a solution for the “problem” of love, it is significant that people do get to choose who they marry, and nothing can be as good as that. Jonas’s community aims for perfection and Sameness, but is that really what the world should have? No, because with Sameness, there is nothing special, and nothing different. The thing that the people who begun Jonas’s community didn’t realize is that there is no such thing as perfection, so why even try? Everyone deserves individuality, and that’s what makes our world special, the fact that everyone has their differences.