Can you define what is your idea of freedom?

I have several definitions.

Living in a country that allows all people to pursue the careers they want and live as they want, but that doesn’t mean people can do anything they want. It has to be within the confines of not hurting other people.

Being reasonaly healthy and pain free is freedom to me also. I didn’t know how bad health is a prison until I had health problems. I kept feeling and saying I just wanted to be free when I was in pain every day.

Financially free in America does give you autonomy and the freedom to do what you want. You can quit the job you hate and do what you want pretty much. People can be financially free and not rich. It’s about the security.

Being legally allowed to do anything.
And by anything, I mean ANYTHING. Murder, theft, arson, rape. All is allowed with true freedom.

Anarchy and pajamas. Not joking.

JLeslie couldn’t have put it better than that. I want to add freedom is also something that comes from deep within. When you have no hang ups, no chip on the shoulder, no underlying complex and you enjoy life as it comes, you pay attention to simple things, then you have freeom.

Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.

Free to choose my actions, free to experience their consequences.

Not having to answer to anyone except myself.

I’m with @ARE_you_kidding_me

I am much more concerned with my personal freedom than I am with political freedom, although there is, obviously, an overlap.
I am a very free spirited, creative type that hates and cannot function in strict, rigid, environments or with overly rigid, anal type personalities. A fate worse than death for me would be to be confined to a cubicle in some hardcore corporate or government job.
Throw too many senseless rules and regulations at me, force me to pay attention to minute detail, ( unless it is a creative endeavor ) and ding me for being 26 seconds late back to my desk after a break and I will shoot myself, after I shoot everyone else first. lol

An illusion. There are many definitions and we cannot talk about freedom as one, definite thing. We need an etymologic analysis of the word which would take a long time. I don’t think definite freedom exists. We are trapped behind our own eyes forever.

Freedom is not depending on holy books for structure and rules.

Freedom to complain to your server that their service is bad. And freedom for that server to stop serving you – and maybe punch you in the face if you’re a horrible customer.

^ right now it’s very hard to do the ladder..

I attended a public lecture at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton given by the philosopher Quentin Skinner. He gave a brief philosophical history of the idea of freedom and presented his own ideas.

Basically, there are two broad interpretations of freedom. One is to be free of constraints and the other is the ability to actualize your potential. The first interpretation in its extreme form is what is embraced by libertarians. They resent any government intrusion on what they can do. The second interpretation is more popular with progressives. They would say that the inability to get a good education would be a limit on what a person can do. Skinner’s idea was that being dependent on someone is a limit on freedom.

The lecture made me aware that the idea of freedom is much more involve than I had previously thought.

Freedom is too subjective of a term to define in absolute terms. Freedom for many can mean the ability to pursue one’s dreams, the ability to not be restricted, the ability to feel safe, etc. Look at all of the conflicts throughout world history, and even today, and you’ll find a bunch of freedom fighters/lovers fighting and killing each other.

I’m not a multiculturalist, at least in the political/philosophical sense, and I really don’t believe that people who think too differently from each other can live together in peace realistically, or at least have that peace last very long. Perhaps the day when (or if) the human race evolve enough in the distant future then we all could live together in peace.

My own definition of freedom would be to allow people to live where they want to, protected from invasion or intervention, where other people share their beliefs. If people want to smoke or grow weed, then allow them the option to live where it’s legal. If people want to live in a drug free area then allow them to live there. If people want to push their religion on others, then they should be forced to live in an area where others share their religious beliefs. If people want to be free from religions then they should be able to live in an area full of like minded individuals. I’m not sure if this is feasable though, but it is a nice thought for me nonetheless.