I often hear people describe some person’s criminal act as a “bad choice.” However, I believe most criminal acts should be classified as “rebellion.” When it comes to deliberately breaking the law, there is no choice. The choice has already been made. You don’t do it, period. For example, there are laws that say you can’t steal someone else’s car. That choice has already been made for you by society. If you ignore this choice and steal someone’s car anyway, that is an act of rebellion, plain and simple. It is not a matter choosing among various options that are available. In this case, your only option is to keep your hands off that person’s car.
Now there are many other areas of life that are not so clear cut. They are gray areas in which there are no specific laws governing what you should or should not do, or which option you should take. In other words, the choice is left up to the individual. Whether it turns out to be a good choice or not could depend on a variety of factors. For example, let’s say Mr. Jones decides to retire and start withdrawing money from his 401(k) at 60. When he gets to age 70 and has exhausted his 401(k) funds and is barely getting by on Social Security, he regrets decision from ten years earlier. He made a bad choice. While it was perfectly legal for him to do what he did, it turns out that he should have worked for several more years and continued contributing to his 401(k).
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