Freedom. We all want it. We all need it, to some degree. Without a level of freedom, we stagnate and die, like plants kept in pots too small for their roots. But, as with most things, the key to true freedom is balance.

Consider a car and a train. The driver of a car can go just about anywhere. He can take a turn at any junction - he can go off-road and cross fields. Stunt drivers have even been known to navigate cars through hotel lobbies and up flights of stairs1. The train, meanwhile, can only go where the rails are laid. Even at junction, it is the points controller, not the driver, who decided where the train will go. At first glance, the train seems a poor, fettered vehicle compared to the freedom of the car.

But as you sit at a level crossing, watching a train speed past, it probably doesn't feel like you have the upper hand. The same rails that dictate the train's course allow it to run twice as fast as a car, and haul many times the load of even the largest lorries. And, how many kids say they want to drive cars when they grow up?

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Footnotes
1  Although this is not recommended without pre-booking.