what is freedom to you?

Category: Let's talk

Post 1 by Emerald-Hourglass (Account disabled) on Monday, 01-Dec-2008 20:24:10

What is freedom to you? is it just a physical thing as you know, not being able to do something like vote or is it deeper than that? Is freedom of expression, speech really freedom if there are restrictions?

Post 2 by margorp (I've got the gold prolific poster award, now is there a gold cup for me?) on Monday, 01-Dec-2008 22:01:44

no, freedom of speech refers to "unpopular speech"
This means, if I say something that you don't like...oh well, it's my right.
Freedom means not beeing restricted.

Post 3 by redgirl34 (Scottish) on Tuesday, 02-Dec-2008 5:02:33

Freedom to me is being able to do what I like. Have my own house which I am waitng for.

Post 4 by SEPTEMBER-TWILIGHT (CAN I TALK? PLEASE?) on Tuesday, 02-Dec-2008 6:09:58

freedom to me is be able to do anything i want with out anyone bitching at me and stuff. And with out people acting all disappointed in me when I don't do the right thing, lol. And once in a while, I just want to be able to say anything i want. anything at all

Post 5 by Maiden of the Moonlight (Zone BBS is my Life) on Tuesday, 02-Dec-2008 9:28:57

Freedom is being able to live the way you like, talk the way you like, without any serious restrictions, although it is also giving others the right to reject your pinion and say what they like about you, and they can't be punished for that as well. So your freedom, if you want it, you must also be able to accept others' freedom.

Post 6 by Jesse (Hmm!) on Tuesday, 02-Dec-2008 11:28:22

Freedom is liberty to speak your mind, worship in which way you want, own guns snd use them lawfully, vote for leaders of your country, work to make money, spend it how you wish, live where you wish, and do what you wish, as long as it doesn't endanger others.

Post 7 by Emerald-Hourglass (Account disabled) on Tuesday, 02-Dec-2008 13:36:16

lol thanks guys, this is for a paper so i needed some input. well are we really actually free, if you can't say what you like in public, *in school or the workplace for example* or do what you like, even if it's not hurting anyone. it's not freedom, or freedom with restrictions. It can't be like that. it's either your fully free or your not free. so i guess that no one is really actually free, because everywhere you go there are restrictions..

Post 8 by SEPTEMBER-TWILIGHT (CAN I TALK? PLEASE?) on Tuesday, 02-Dec-2008 14:45:37

Well Janelle, that's really true. No one is actually free because we live in a country that has a government and a society and everything. And when you have a government, that government makes laws and rules and they tell you what you can and can not do ... so none of us is really free because of those restrictions. But think of it this way, if we really had true freedom and we didn't have to answer to anyone, everybody would be running wild and everything ... and to be honest, there are some people I wouldn't want running around wild, lmao

Post 9 by margorp (I've got the gold prolific poster award, now is there a gold cup for me?) on Tuesday, 02-Dec-2008 16:12:24

That's true...we're screwed.
So, maybe we should stop claiming to be the home of the free.

Post 10 by Emerald-Hourglass (Account disabled) on Tuesday, 02-Dec-2008 19:05:16

i agree, too much freedom is bad, no doubt about it

Post 11 by tear drop (No longer looking for a prince, merely a pauper with potential!!!!!) on Tuesday, 02-Dec-2008 20:56:07

Freedom to me, means being able to stand up for what you believe in even if it goes against the grain. It means being able to love who you will without caring of what others might think, what they say, or how they act. Most of all, freedom means the ability to be accepted for who you are, flaws and all.

Post 12 by SEPTEMBER-TWILIGHT (CAN I TALK? PLEASE?) on Wednesday, 03-Dec-2008 0:03:55

hmm, the kind of freedom we want sort of sounds like a utopia to me. lol. Utopias are just boring though. If we didn't have different kinds of people in the world, it would get boring really soon

Post 13 by ArtRock1224 (move over school!) on Wednesday, 03-Dec-2008 3:18:32

But ... aren't we actually free? we can do anything or say anything we want. It doesn't matter; I'll call it personal freedom, the ability to do -- or try -- anything we want. Of course there are always consequences for one's actions which severely limits the impact of freedom, but personal freedom still stands.

The day after President-elect Barack Obama won the general election, extremely racist graffiti was found in my universities' "Free Expression Tunnel." Public fury was tremendous, and many began calling it the "limited expression tunnel" because they felt that freedom was stifled and censored.
But the fact is, the individuals who wrote the racist messages still wrote the messages; they still had absolute personal freedom. An iron hand might have severely limited the impact of their freedom, but they still had it.

Post 14 by margorp (I've got the gold prolific poster award, now is there a gold cup for me?) on Wednesday, 03-Dec-2008 15:55:15

boring maybe, but we'd get along better.

Post 15 by Senior (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Friday, 05-Dec-2008 17:53:06

There are several types of freedom. Even when people live in societies where they are politically free to vote for, join and support whatever party they wish to support, they may be oppressed by members of their families, who even though they're adults, wish to restrict their freedom to choose how to conduct their lovelives, how to conduct their social lives, etc. Their families may impose an ideology on them, and because of their situation and their lack of confidence, they cannot resist. The US constitution says people have freedom of religion, but not freedom from religion.

The US claimed to be giving Iraqis freedom when they invaded in 2003. But religious extremists rose up unopposed, and imposed their restrictions on people. Muslims were not free to abandon their religion. Christians were not free to be Christians, homosexuals weren't free, people who wanted to marry people their families didn't want them to marry weren't free, etc.

Post 16 by SFAIdol (the Zone BBS remains forever my home page) on Sunday, 07-Dec-2008 3:45:06

To me, freedom is being able to wear my hair the way I want, any clothes that I want, worship any religion I want, vote for whoever I want, and to just do whatever I want in general! I guess we're called the home of the free, although we have government restrictions because not everyone can handle freedom properly, in my opinion, we're more free than some countries, such as Middle eastern countries.

Post 17 by starfish44 (Account disabled) on Monday, 08-Dec-2008 19:35:09

What I write here really applies to the United States of America. I realize those here all are not from this country, so this might not mean alot there.

Freedom is living in the greatest country in the world where we are allowed to do what ever we would like without very many restrictions. Freedom is what is being fought for right now in the several ongoing wars. Freedom is not free. Here is an essay I recently wrote. This will probably prevent my freedom of speech on this site, but why do I care? I don't. I am just here to educate.

Before I leave you with this, remember the 24 notes. For international citizens reading this, this is a great reason to move to America.

I was recently on my assistant agency's website. On the top it says something like, We help disabled people and assist them with certain benefits of which they are entitled. Now let's think about this for a second. What exactly does entitled mean? Well, to me, entitlement means that you deserve something because you earned something, like veterans are entitled to VA benefits or the GI Bill. I don't think having a disability entitles anyone to certain benefits! I think you should have to do something for your country to get them! So many people sit on their butts all day and take from our country and don't give a second thought about it! I think anyone that is on disability benefits of any kind should do something like help in the community or give back to the country somehow. I've heard of people looking forward to getting their government checks every month and then spending them on fun or things they don't need the first few days and not thinking at all about where it comes from! First of all, it comes from tax payers, then from those who fight for our freedoms! I know one thing, when I think about getting benefits, I hate having them because I want to do more for our country. That's why I am in the auxiliary and honor guard and attending university to help those who make this possible. I just hate how people sit around all day and take advantage of it. When ever I get our country's money every month, I think, "How would my country want me to spend this." Then I plan a budget. If I want to do something fun, I use the money that I have rightly earned from honor guard duty or in some other way for that sort of thing. I am so thankful for living in a safe apartment building provided by our country and for my assistant program, once again provided by our country. My classmates are fighting for those freedoms, and people should think about that before just looking forward to checks every month that they didn't even earn! God bless America and fly the flag high!

Post 18 by margorp (I've got the gold prolific poster award, now is there a gold cup for me?) on Tuesday, 09-Dec-2008 21:13:11

thanks for that post starfish! I agree that we're not entitled just because we're blind...just as I don't believe the elderly are entitled. I'm getting off topic.
What I'd like to see is not only political freedom but social freedm as well.
ah but that's a pipe-dream!

Post 19 by bozmagic (The rottie's your best friend if you want him/her to be, lol.) on Saturday, 13-Dec-2008 15:31:37

Freedom to me is making my own decisions and going ahead with them, making your own plans without my family bitching at me about them or squashing them before they've even come to pass, for example, spending nearly 3 weeks at my other half's parents place for Christmas. Mum's not over keen on that as A, she wanted to have a do for the family on the 4th of January, but Kris wants to save his dad two trips to their local train station as he'll be going to start his new job on the 5th of January anyway, so one, squashed parental plan out the winda! ha!
Jen.

Post 20 by Siriusly Severus (The ESTJ 1w9 3w4 6w7 The Taskmaste) on Sunday, 18-Jan-2009 1:37:51

To be free is liberty, the original American dream, life, complete capitalism, and as little government interference as possible in trade.

I know I am a free person as I know that I am a capitalist and I am capitalistic.

We are certainly more free then some countries. Unlike other countries, we are built upon the idea of capitalism and individualism, and it would take a long time to push these two values down the drain. It’s definitely freer here in the states then it was in the USSR (united socialist soviet republic.) It would be much more restricted if we were under Stalin or lenin.

Post 21 by Sword of Sapphire (Whether you agree with my opinion or not, you're still gonna read it!) on Sunday, 18-Jan-2009 14:52:46

Freedom of anything doesn't have restrictions. In all reality, freedom of speech is nonexistent.
My definition of freedom is: Being able to behave, choose, say, or think in any manner, as long as it does not hinder another man's freedom.

Post 22 by Siriusly Severus (The ESTJ 1w9 3w4 6w7 The Taskmaste) on Sunday, 18-Jan-2009 16:34:47

No freedom of expression? We have a lot more then those communist countries like China, where if you talk bad about the government you might as well look forward to a jail sentence.