Is Free Riding Good?

Free Riding is when some people or a person choose(s) to get something for free without paying for it or doing anything for it while as others get to do the contrary. Is free riding good or bad? A lot of times, people manipulate others to be free riders. In such cases, most of us will think free riding is bad; however, it can be beneficial to the free rider. I will use myself as an example; Around June of last year, there was a youth convention at Cincinnati hosted by my church. In such conventions, everybody is expected to contribute a certain amount for the convention to be successful. I was determined not to pay the amount I was suppose to pay, and I still wanted to be at the convention to enjoy the presence of God. Don’t get me wrong, I had the money, but I was just being cheap I suppose. Therefore, I talked to one of the elders in the church and I was able to get to the convention for free. I was equally treated with the people that paid to go to the convention. In fact, free riding in this case was good for me, because I benefited from the convention. God was able to change my life and made me whole again. However, it was bad for the church, because now everybody wants to be a free rider too. If the church never allowed me to go to the convention for free, there wouldn’t be this confusion going on now. In addition, if they didn’t let me go to the convention, I was probably going to find another church to go to. In short, I guess free riding can be both good and bad depending on the situation you encounter.