What is "Freedom"?

Posted by Doodface

Thursday, July 31, 2008

So you hear that word thrown around so often in America. "Enjoy your freedom? Thank a Vet!" "America: Land of the FREE" “Freedom isn’t free!” But does anyone really think about what it means?

free·dom /ˈfridəm/ [free-duhm] –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.

Ok, yes, if not for WW2 veterans, we would likely all be speaking German right now. Yes, we are "free" from Nazi rule. Gotcha. But are we MORE free than other western countries? Lately I have been feeling anything BUT free. I am tired of this cowboy regime that is running our country! With their attitude of:

"Oh, the majority of the country thinks this is a bad idea? Fuck em, we run shit!!"

We, as Americans are being forced in to a lot of things that most of us want no part of. We DON'T want to be at war, we DON'T want oil companies running our country and making our laws, we DON'T want to continue to harm the environment because the car companies don't feel like improving. It is just getting frustrating.

So maybe freedom is democracy? Democracy in this country is currently the "choice" to choose the next leader of the country from a huge group of 2 ASSHOLES. And then the winner of the "I'm less of an asshole" contest runs the country for the next 4-8 years. And in our current situation, even THAT didn't happen.

I understand that this country has a LOT to be thankful for. But it just seems like so many people CALL this the greatest country in the world, and the land of the free, without REALLY thinking about WHY they say that! It's not our electoral system, our foreign policy, our immigration laws, our healthcare, our tax system, our lawmakers, or our environmental standards.

So what is it exactly that makes us "the best"? Is it because we have the biggest war machines? OK, we win the nuclear pissing contest, so what.

I guess that if anything would make this the greatest country on the planet, it would be the people. Not the people running the country, but just the citizens. We are the most charitable nation on earth. For the most part, we really do CARE about the rest of the world. We care about each other, and take care of each other.

If we could get that type of mentality in to the government, and stop all the lobbying and payoffs, things could change. Good people often go in to politics, and after a few years, they are just another one on the payroll of oil, pharmeceutical, auto, and whoever else needs taxes or laws to be changed in their favor.

Hopefully by the time my daughter is old enough to care about this stuff, she will be driving her electric car to work, paying taxes via the fairtax, and will be proud of her president and government.

I can dream can't I?