On Liberty

What concerns about conformity and democracy does Mill express in the selections from On Liberty? How do YOU feel about them?

Mill feels that the people are becoming meek in that they are doing only what is expected of them. Instead of doing what they want and feel, they are conforming to the ideas and arguments of other people. “If the grounds of an opinion are not conclusive to the person’s own reason, his reason cannot be strengthened, but is likely to be weakened, by his adopted of it” They are not making their own plans, they are not forming their own independence, which is the meaning of having liberty. “But it is the privilege and proper condition of a human being, arrived at the maturity of his facilities, to use and interpret experience in his own way.” This meant that we as humans are educated to allow ourselves to make our own way, our own experiences and to not just melt into the background. “He who lets the world, or his portion of it, choose his plan of life for him has no need of any other facilities than the apelike one of imitation.” For all the education and living in the world, if a person lets himself be controlled his environment, then he’s no more use than an animal.