Thread: Is the U.S. still "the land of the free"?

Originally Posted by Quag

Sorry can't resist. How free can you be when you are considered mature enough to select who runs the country but not mature enough to have a beer?

Is that what freedom is: drinking or not drinking?

Gee I - I didn't realize that's what our freedom hinged on

We use to not have age-related drinking laws, actually - but when mass numbers of teens decided they couldn't handle it, we took that leisure away - drinking is not a constitutional right, voting is.

no vote
Where we ever ?
Today, if wealthy, I think so.
If not, then NO of course.
Land of the free ?
Such silliness, this was a bit true only in comparison with other nations - with all their problems.

Is that what freedom is: drinking or not drinking?

Gee I - I didn't realize that's what our freedom hinged on

We use to not have age-related drinking laws, actually - but when mass numbers of teens decided they couldn't handle it, we took that leisure away - drinking is not a constitutional right, voting is.

lol I was trying to be funny since you said you didn't want to talk about booze(obviously failed, my bad), hence the sorry I could't resist bit. But yeah I think if you are considered mature enough to vote you should be mature enough for anything. So either the voting age should be raised or drinking age lowered.
Drinking or not drinking is not my definition of freedom it is just a point as to why I voted the way I did. The US is one of the freest countries on the face of the earth but it doesn't have a monopoly. There are ways it is less free than other countries and ways that it is freer, depends on what you are looking at.

Originally Posted by Sarcogito

I also have around 100 countries under my belt, I have lived in countries like Libya and Zimbabwe, and I voted “not really”. Yes, it is still better than most countries, but depending on the category, we are rarely still number one. Even freedom of speech, one of the arenas in which we were always the leader, is coming under continuous attack. Free speech zones? Seriously America???

So yes, we are more free than most countries but those freedoms are declining.

Name one.
And if declining, there is a reason..I think that too many are abusing the rights, causing them to be more limited...
As a nation, we need to grow up.

Originally Posted by Canell

People once rushed to America, the land of the free, from all over the world. Do you think that still holds true (the freedom, not the rushing)?

Yup, they came to America shackled in ships. I was drafted in '68 to defend ourselves from 'Nam. If you were a woman in the 17 hundreds how much freedom did you have? Need I go on?

BTW, you didn't give a choice for being more free now than before. So, I can't vote.

Originally Posted by Canell

That's a pretty ideology but not exactly true as a fact. What about all that legislation, numerous rules, regulations, tax codes, subsidies, bailouts, etc.?

What Mickey says is correct.
If we had no rules and regulation we would be Somalia or worse.
Its mans hatred, greed,ignorance, which causes these regulations.

Originally Posted by Quag

Sorry can't resist. How free can you be when you are considered mature enough to select who runs the country but not mature enough to have a beer?

Yeah, that doesn't make sense.

Originally Posted by OhIsee.Then

BTW, you didn't give a choice for being more free now than before. So, I can't vote.

Ok, I'll keep that in mind.

Originally Posted by earthworm

What Mickey says is correct.
If we had no rules and regulation we would be Somalia or worse.
Its mans hatred, greed,ignorance, which causes these regulations.

I don't mind regulations, I mind overregulation. But I guess that's another looong story.

Wow I am shocked 10 people say not really.......It is obvious that they have not seen a lot of countries and the restrictions on freedom there they might change their mind.

nope, because the other part of that saying is gone.

We certainly aren't the home of the brave. We have become a nation of cowards. scared of poverty. scared of foreigners. scared of environmental catastrophe.

Originally Posted by Navy Pride

Wow I am shocked 10 people say not really.......It is obvious that they have not seen a lot of countries and the restrictions on freedom there they might change their mind.

my state of Illinois does not allow me to carry a concealed weapon.

my wife can't cut a person's hair without government permission.

I have to donate to my retirement.

I could present a list a mile long of all the ways we have moved away from being a free society.