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

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

  • Yes, no doubt

    Votes: 19 35.8%

  • Kind of

    Votes: 16 30.2%

  • I don't know

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Not really

    Votes: 12 22.6%

  • No, not at all

    Votes: 5 9.4%

  • I don't care

    Votes: 1 1.9%
  • Total voters
    53
Navy Pride said:
I don't have a problem with my country not allowing to visit some 3rd world country because it is done to protect my safety
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Well some of us don't enjoy a nanny state as much as you do.
 
When I start to doubt I start to read what people from other countries have to say about freedom of speech or freedom of assembly, shudder, and go back to realizing that the answer is "we're still pretty okay, yeah."
 
I don't have a problem with my country not allowing to visit some 3rd world country because it is done to protect my safety
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I wasn't trying to dish the USA, just pointing out it isn't the home of the free as much as it used to be. Though I gotta admit I do not like the idea of the govt deciding what is best/safest for me. I prefer to make these decisions myself. I do know that Cuba is a very safe place to visit one of the safest in the Caribean. The restrictions imposed are not for your safety but for political reasons. Good reasons/bad reasons that could be another thread, but they are reasons decided by political policy, not concern for the safety of american citizens.
 
Canell said:
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)? :)
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Yes - we're still free. We reserve rights and liberties that other counties still don't (not all, of course) - and we're still not under the governance of anyone but our own selves (where our 'freedom' originated: freedom from the British Monarchy and hteir unjust ruling)
 
Mickey Shane said:
It's as free as you make it.
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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.?
 
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.
 
When I read the answers to this sort of question I can't help but rephrase it as, "Do white fairly well off men feel we are still the best nation in terms of individual freedom?"

Blacks, and women would say the good old days were not so good.

People living in the territories may have had more personal freedom but also little if any say in national issues.

Many cowtowns had severe firearm restrictions.

Big companies ran roughshod over the legal but immigrant citizens. Big City politics was as rigged as a carnie 3 card monty game.

Corporations may bemoan the EPA but I like clean water and no acid rain.

I certainly don't like the so-called Patriot Act, but our history is littered with Alien and Sedition Acts along with suspending basic rights.

I find the travel restriction to Cuba asinine.

So I figure you have to be very selective in the points you make for or against the argument we have lost some of our freedoms to be overall less free.
 
Canell said:
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.?
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Those things are for other people.
 
There are 10 countries with higher standards of health, living, distribution of wealth, cost of living, etc, etc, etc...

also you can drink beer on the street in certain brutal communist dictatorships.

but will get busted with a beer bottle on your porch in the burbs...

it's not a terrible place, the usa... just behind some sortof psychological barrier and possibly showered with demented waves from the sky that make everyone think it isnt over lol.
 
MKULTRABOY said:
There are 10 countries with higher standards of health, living, distribution of wealth, cost of living, etc, etc, etc...

also you can drink beer on the street in certain brutal communist dictatorships.

but will get busted with a beer bottle on your porch in the burbs...

it's not a terrible place, the usa... just behind some sortof psychological barrier and possibly showered with demented waves from the sky that make everyone think it isnt over lol.
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LOL - I'm not about to boil this down to where you can and can't drink. LOL
 
JayDubya said:
When I start to doubt I start to read what people from other countries have to say about freedom of speech or freedom of assembly, shudder, and go back to realizing that the answer is "we're still pretty okay, yeah."
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Freedom of speech? As in Free speech zones? Freedom of assembly? Not so much. Freedom of movement? Try flying or driving a car through Tennessee. We could go on and on but it "ain't what it used to be." Either we are more free or less free than we once were. Most will say "Less free but,..." and then start talking about terrorism, the borders, war on drugs or some similar propaganda fed to them by the government." Hog wash.
 
LOL - I'm not about to boil this down to where you can and can't drink. LOL
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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?
 
Quag said:
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?
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Is that what freedom is: drinking or not drinking?

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

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.
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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.
 
Sarcogito said:
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.
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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.
 
Canell said:
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)? :)
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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.
 
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Canell said:
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.?
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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.
 
Quag said:
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?
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Yeah, that doesn't make sense. :)

OhIsee.Then said:
BTW, you didn't give a choice for being more free now than before. So, I can't vote.
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Ok, I'll keep that in mind. ;)

earthworm said:
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.
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I don't mind regulations, I mind overregulation. But I guess that's another looong story. :roll:
 
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.
 
Navy Pride said:
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.
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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.
 
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