America: The land of the free. Are we really free?

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   kynthia2374posted 13 years ago

   America:  The land of the free.   Are we really free?
   
   It is my perspective that we are so far from the land of the free.  With the greed, corruption and total lack of concern for the American people, our government is sadly falling short.
   
   There is a quote that says, "If you wish to enslave a man, allow him to believe that he is already free."
   
   Do you agree with this simple, thought-provoking statement?

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2. 60

   Jonathan T Cookposted 13 years ago

   No. The government tells us what we can and cannot do, even when we don't hurt anyone.

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3. 59

   OutsideTheLinesposted 13 years ago

   We are not and I agree with this statement. For crying out loud popular vote doesn't make a difference anymore. A lot of people don't understand this so I'll explain... People think that when they vote it is a direct vote for their chosen candidate. This is false. Each state has 5 voting representatives that can vote any way they choose no matter what the popular vote of the state was. So no. We're controlled in everything we do either directly or indirectly.

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   Zubair Ahmedposted 13 years ago

   Well the popular belief is that we are 'FREE' - it's a shame that those people who accept this idea are fast asleep - and when they wake up like many on the Occupy Wall Street demos have come to realise - We are not free,but subjugated to the elites in power brokers in our society.
   
   The only people that are truly free are the poor people that live in the 3rd world countries. They have nothing and no one has any power over them - they are free to move around as they desire.
   
   The rest of us are controlled by one or more systems - financial burden, government, employer etc.

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   lostdogrwdposted 13 years ago

   the land of the control and the wild. controls by wants and debts, and wild by living your life your way

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   M. T. Dremerposted 13 years ago

   Well, we're free in the sense that we can outright insult our government and not get murdered for it. We're also free to pursue our own means of personal wealth; aided by government provided services like public libraries, roads, public transportation, K-12 education and the post office to name a few. We're also free to fall in love with and marry who we want (except for the LGBT community, who will hopefully gain their rights soon). We are free to worship any religion we want, and own weapons that protect the things we've acquired. So the short answer is; we have a whole lot of freedoms here in the United States. Do we have complete and total freedom? No, because if we did, no one would ever go to jail for breaking the law and we would all kill each other. Even the most primitive of societies have their own laws and rules to protect the whole. That is, and always will be, unavoidable.
   
   The biggest threat to the freedoms we do have is subtle manipulation of the general public's mindset. If you say something loud enough and often enough, people will eventually believe it. I think Mark Twain was the one who said the quote that a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting its shoes on. In the U.S., money is the loudest voice because it's so easy to bombard people with whatever message you want. Just think how easy it is to remember the McDonald's slogan versus the slogan of a non-profit organization. It's this loud, obnoxious money that is ruining our political system. In order to restore faith in government, money must cease to be a voice. No lobbyists, no pacs, no corporate bribes. Only then will we get back on track.

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7. 0

   Infinite712posted 13 years ago

   You're right, we are not free. Money and laws control our lives in this system. Money is the root cause of all of the problems in the world today. We need to upgrade to a new system and get rid of all this monetary nonsense. Only then will we be truly free.
   
   http://infinite712.hubpages.com/hub/The … ed-Economy

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   GoGreenTipsposted 13 years ago

   Yes, I think that we think we are free. More importantly the media, the power-brokers keep us in state where we believe that we are free. Politicians understand this all to well and make sure we have enough freedom to believe we are free, and yet are able to control our lives, point us in directions that are self-serving to them and the few at the top they represent.
   
   I fear that the propaganda machine does all too well of a job at keeping us in line that we will never truly be free. Our choices are too often made not because we would ordinarily make that choice, but because the propaganda machine of the rich and powerful has manipulated us into making that choice.
   
   Good question.

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9. 71

   mobiasposted 13 years ago

   I agree with "If you wish to enslave a man, allow him to believe that he is already free." -totally, that is how the worst of mankind has taken control of it's populous and have utilized the ensuing power to wage war on their chosen enemy. Think Stalin, Hitler, Slobodan Miloševi?, heck even Alexander the Great used this idea to great effect!
   
   I agree with your sentiments, it actually irks me greatly whenever I hear the (wannabe) patriotic dogma that always ensues during parade speeches, old militant grognards, sporting events, calls to arms, and every memorial day comment. We are the farthest thing away from free! We've paid dearly for every decade of our existence, whether honorable or not, every engagement we initiated or retaliated against. With each passing law...our land of the free becomes a mockery of its former intent! 
   
   With all this, I am a member of our military, though cynical and jaded, I am still quite patriotic, to our original forefathers printed words...and I still have hope in our country and will always fight for that hope.

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    Phil The Gainposted 13 years ago

    The statement is somewhat true because you don't have to make a slave believe he is free.  As far as being free in America...we are pretty much free until it interferes with the "mans" master plan.  You will probably die mysteriously.

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    Old Empresarioposted 13 years ago

    In 2002, the politicians found a Constitutional loophole that essentially destroyed the Bill of Rights. First, the Congress granted the executive branch exclusive wartime powers to incarcerate without indictment or evidence, to hold citizens in prison indefinitely, to search without a warrant, etc. This was really not a problem since it was a wartime practice going back to the Civil War. Problem number 1 was that war was not declared against another country. It was declared against an abstract noun called terror; sort of in the same way Empreror Caligula had once declared war against the ocean. So the war had no boundaries and we never knew where we would fight next. The second problem was that the president said the "war" would last forever, thus his wartime powers would last forever. 800 years of Anglo-American common law was flushed down the toilet. Everyone goes through the x-ray at airports and everyone is required to carry ID at all times in their own country. Corporations are private tyrannies that control our society. There are a lot of books on this subject.
    
    Without a formal indictment or trial, the President ordered the deliberate murder of a 40-year-old US citizen born in Las Cruces, NM. The citizen was nearly had his doctorate in HR Development from George Washington University. He had a BS in Civil Engineering from Colorado State and a Master of Arts in Education Leadership from San Diego State. Several days ago, this US citizen was murdered in a deliberately planned and coordinated CIA airstrike from an unmanned aerial drone despite the fact that no charges were brought against him and no evidence of wrongdoing was presented to the public. The White House refused to disclose any legal documents of justification that would assert the president’s right to deliberately kill a US citizen without due process. A White House spokesperson did mention that authority to bypass the bill of rights in certain cases had been granted by Congress in post-9/11 legislation during the administration of President Bush.
    
    In the airstrike, another US citizen standing nearby was accidentally killed. This man was a 26-year-old immigrant American who grew up in New York and North Carolina before becoming the editor of Inspire magazine.

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    J Red Horseposted 13 years ago

    As a Native Tribal member I can only say, We know from experiance that freedom
    Is a myth if it is the Government handing it out!!!
    
    We were given freedom once...the freedom to starve to death on usless land or be shot dead for leaving our prison for the wide open ranges that our people called home, we did not own land, it was for all to share and grow strong as a people.
    
    What is REAL freedom, there is no such thing today, it is all smoke and mirrors, if you don't believe me visit a reservation some time, you will be stepping into a world that will shock the pooh out of you.
    
    My tribe alone made 187 treaties with the US Government, guess how many were broken by the US....187!!!
    
    I once asked my Elders why they continued to sign these things and she said if you want that answer you need to visit the resting places of our people who refused to sign, the MO of the day back then was simple...sign or die!
    
    I guess I'm the wrong person to be answering your hub question but I couldn't refrain myself on this one.
    
    I'm not an angery Native, just a more aware one and a sober native is a terrorist in the eyes of the BIA & FBI, they love to see us drunk and useless, but we are waking up to a new era comming and we are ready this time!
    
    Jesse Red Horse / Northern Blackfeet Nation.

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