On this Fourth of July I ask you what is “freedom”? In the US we have all been brainwashed from birth and told we are so much “freer” than the rest of the poor world, we should be so grateful. What really is it, and how do you compare it? Have you ever noticed that the people who say that we have so much freedom in America and we should prize it so, are people who never travel and have no real idea what is going on in the rest of the world?
Here is a definition for a baseline from http://www.dictionary.com/ :
free⋅dom
Use freedom in a Sentence
–noun
1. the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: He won his freedom after a retrial.
2. exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
3. the power to determine action without restraint.
4. political or national independence.
5. personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery: a slave who bought his freedom.
6. exemption from the presence of anything specified (usually fol. by from): freedom from fear.
7. the absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc.
8. ease or facility of movement or action: to enjoy the freedom of living in the country.
9. frankness of manner or speech.
10. general exemption or immunity: freedom from taxation.
11. the absence of ceremony or reserve.
12. a liberty taken.
13. a particular immunity or privilege enjoyed, as by a city or corporation: freedom to levy taxes.
14. civil liberty, as opposed to subjection to an arbitrary or despotic government.
15. the right to enjoy all the privileges or special rights of citizenship, membership, etc., in a community or the like.
16. the right to frequent, enjoy, or use at will: to have the freedom of a friend's library.
17. Philosophy. the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-determination. Compare necessity (def. 7).
What about number 1? We have more people in prison in the US than any other country in the world, by far! Currently we have over 2 MILLION people locked up, many for minor offences like drugs, and by far and away most of them are people of color does that sound like a free state to you?
free⋅dom
Use freedom in a Sentence
–noun
1. the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: He won his freedom after a retrial.
2. exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
3. the power to determine action without restraint.
4. political or national independence.
5. personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery: a slave who bought his freedom.
6. exemption from the presence of anything specified (usually fol. by from): freedom from fear.
7. the absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc.
8. ease or facility of movement or action: to enjoy the freedom of living in the country.
9. frankness of manner or speech.
10. general exemption or immunity: freedom from taxation.
11. the absence of ceremony or reserve.
12. a liberty taken.
13. a particular immunity or privilege enjoyed, as by a city or corporation: freedom to levy taxes.
14. civil liberty, as opposed to subjection to an arbitrary or despotic government.
15. the right to enjoy all the privileges or special rights of citizenship, membership, etc., in a community or the like.
16. the right to frequent, enjoy, or use at will: to have the freedom of a friend's library.
17. Philosophy. the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-determination. Compare necessity (def. 7).
What about number 1? We have more people in prison in the US than any other country in the world, by far! Currently we have over 2 MILLION people locked up, many for minor offences like drugs, and by far and away most of them are people of color does that sound like a free state to you?
How about 2? Have you simply tried to drive to work up 405 or I5 and seen the cops sitting on the side of the road ready to pull people over if they drive slightly too fast, or are in the wrong lane, or have a light out, or talk on the cell phone, or don’t have their seat belt on? If you have ever been outside the US you know you will not see this kind of harassment anywhere else in world, it is bizarre what we put up with every day.
What about 3? Try and build an addition to your house without jumping through a myriad of rules determined by minor potentiates. Try and shoot off fireworks =on the wrong day to celebrate your “freedom”, try and go fishing or hunting without and folder full of licenses and certificates and vouchers for the multitude of fees.
4. Political or national independence. Do you think we are independent of other countries when we own China so much money right now we could never pay it back?
5. Do we have personal liberty?
6. I like the example “freedom from fear”, America is riddled with fear. Our news outlets don’t really even report actual news anymore so much as they hype fear. Going through the security checkpoints at LA airport recently about 17 TSA people performed a “security drill” everyone running around screaming BRAVO BRAVO!! There were only five of us beaten down tired travelers trying to go about our business. Do these displays make me feel safe? No. They waste my time and make me realize we have really lost something in America that used to be called balls. See number 8 here as well, “freedom of movement”? HA!
9. Might be OK if no one hears you and you aren’t a teacher or etc. etc. More and more people have jumped on that politically correct zombie speech thing. These people are comical as they try and stumble through life trying to keep up on all of our societies’ “community thought” on what is correct 0or, ok, or won’t ever offend anyone at any time even if it is true.
10. Freedom from taxation… and fees and B&O taxes and car fees and “sin taxes” and GAWD DAMN IT! We are taxed silly to keep all those police on the street and the largest army in the world with standing troops in every country I can think of, and more people in prison than anywhere else (some being tortured with no charges against them). It costs a fortune to keep up all these laws and rules and regulations over every tiny detail of our lives, a police state is very expensive.
14. I don’t think there is anyone alive that doesn’t feel our civil liberties haven’t taken a huge hit under Bush and Cheney. I have been disappointed so far in Obama’s action to turn back the clock to where we were before. Suffice it to say that there was a time when America’s civil liberties were the envy of the world. That time has been very limited. The civil rights act was what 1964? Until that late date people of color might have different rest rooms or be told to ride in the back of the bus. You see the freedoms that people in America take for granted have never been for EVERYONE just the privileged few. Our justice system for instance is for the rich.
15. The freedom to enjoy all the rights of the community? Really like what our justice system that is tilted to the rich so far it no longer even functions or our wonderful health care system that millions and millions of full time working people can not afford?
Yes I know the standard response in our free country. If you are not giddy in love with it the way it is, and the way it is transforming, then leave! If you do not buy into the brainwashed official line then leave.
I once talked to a guy from Laos who made the comment “you Americans think you are so terribly free but you are not”, and shook his head. He had lived around the world. I asked him to name a country that was “freeer” for the common working man than the US and he said Thailand.
Consider this: I know many, many people working here now that were not born here. Almost to a person they have no intention of staying here. They are here to make money. When they retire they are going back home to Canada, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, and others. They are not here for more freedom and they are not impressed with our freedom at all. They think we are ruled and regulated and micromanaged and taxed to death.
Make sure today you buy your fireworks from the right stand today and check the regulations on your local city, county and state to make sure you will not be arrested by the police or ATF or labeled a terrorist and put on a do not fly list. Check your noise regulations. Make sure someone of the proper age and wearing the correct safety gear is lighting the fireworks. Make sure you hang your flag properly (there are tons of rules about the flag).
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1 comment:
Freedom is a theoretical concept in this country. Post Bush, we are by far not as free as we once were.
Heck, they (the Supremes) didn't even allow us to have the freedom to elect our president in 2000. Look what resulted from that debacle.
How do you tell an idiot who bought the "freedom" bull about this country? They make themselves very conspicuous. They fly the flag every day in front of their house or double-wide, not just on the 4th and other appropriate holidays.
Any idiot who thinks he is more patriotic than another American is just that--an idiot. Patriotism doesn't require allegiance to a particular god, or flying the flag every day, or putting a flag sticker or a pro war candidate's bumper sticker on your car.
Some freedoms have got us into trouble, and 425writer should know this. The freedom to outsource and buy Chinese goods and Japanese goods has almost killed this country. Being free to shoot yourself (and your country) in the foot thusly does not mean you should do it. We must be more protectionist to protect and increase jobs, while protecting people from their greed.
The freedom of uninhibited greed has gotten us into the mess we are in financially today.
Contrary to what the writer states, most regulations are good. In many areas we need more--like in the banking, financial, and to make it more difficult for corporations to outsource jobs, lay off workers, and bust unions by putting new plants in non-union third world America states.
Which regulations would you reverse? If you really thought about it, not many.
Laws against prostitution and drug use should be repealed, as long as their is no victim to the former "crime."
Right now, their is much expense in housing non-violent drug offenders, much crime committed by those to be able to buy illicit drugs that should be available to consenting adults, etc. We have made ourselves victims of greater crimes and higher taxes by trying to control what people do to their own bodies in the privacy of their homes.
Life is hard enough. It makes people crazy. Crazy enough to make whole religions with no proof up to ignore the sureness and finality of death. Some people self medicate to take their minds of such heavy subjects. Let them, as long as it hurts noone else.
I know the writer of this blog, and he is a great guy. Seems like a guy you'd like to self medicate with, and a guy that you would swear was self medicated when he wasn't.
We need more like him, deep thinkers. If it takes some peole self medicating to reach his enlightenment, so be it.
We need more enjoyable, interesting guys around like him to share this journey of life with.
Right now, there are too many right wing haters out there, who delude themselves with hate and lies. They need to self medicate and lay back and begin to enjoy life more than the rest of us. Being an asshole all of the time has got to be taxing their few grey cells.
This country is not now the country of the free yet. We have too much corruption in government and industry to be considered free yet.
Route out that corruption, and then we'll talk about being free of the control of corporations and their (not our) government.
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