Are we really free in America?

I think we are as free as we can be and still be safe. We must realize law and order does not make us unfree. It make us civilized. Today to many people worry about peoples rights and feelings in an attempt to be politically correct. If anything I feel peoples freedoms inhibit other peoples freedoms

I think at our core free is defined as the right to assemble and the right to free speech. For the few that actually exercise these rights, they are free. For the 90 % or so percent that do nothing aside from voicing there opinions to there friends while the government goes unchecked, they are not free, the other 10% I thank you greatly and humbly!

I agree that America is no longer the land of the free that it once was, or that it should be; however, taxes are not the cause of this. The government is quashing inherent rights, such as the right to marry anyone you please, be that saw sex or otherwise. What gooch said is correct, we are as free as can be while staying safe, but allowing gay marriages would hardly change our safety. America should no longer be considered "The land of the free". Give that to Switzerland or somebody else.

We are free. The government isn't quashing our right to marry whomever we want, we are. The government is a reflection of our actions as citizens, and if we treat it as some sort of "big brother" that suppresses our rights, then that's exactly what it will be.

We are free, and, I think, our progress tends to be toward more freedom, not less. We ended slavery, guaranteed the right to vote for women, then for blacks. We continue to guarantee and expand our freedom, including the freedom which is economic opportunity. Maybe we're taxed too much, and mayne we guarantee too few freedoms for too few people, but our history demonstrates the expansion and progression of freedom.

you are free, mark heftler, to marry whomever you please, you are not free, however, to impose a redefinition of marriage on a society and culture. i disagree with the homosexual agenda, but what i dislike the most is its pompous disingenuousness.

In American philosophy, the ability for a person to take a job that he chooses and can support a family doing what he loves is ultimately the American dreams. As far as economic freedom. You are correct in that corporations don't pay tax. However, the people who work for those corporations pay tax in considerable sums. Businesses small and large pay more taxes than anyone else. If they werent taxed so much, products and services would be cheaper for the end consumer.

I appreciate the answers. I didn't mean to make it all about taxes. I don't like the fact that people are willing to give up freedom and liberties for security. Benjamin Franklin talked about this. Now they spy on us, and can take anyone off the street that Bush deems an "enemy combatant," throw them in jail indefinitely, and refuse to give them a trial. They have not used this alot yet, but the laws ae in place. As far as marriage goes, I have always wondered about "sex before marriage" in religion, and i always asked, "What does it mean to be married, and why is the state and fed govt involved?" Why do u need a contract with the state to marry someone you love??

Bob, I agree about our history, but I feel that we are working backwards in the last maybe 20 years. Im only 24, I have had a very open mind to everything in the last year or so, completely waking up to what is important, reading a massive amount of books. I think we have been dumbed down in the last 2 generations, and my generation especially is very ignorant to our freedoms. They dont understand our rights, bc alot of us went to GOVERNMENT SUPPORTED public school. Also, after Reagan abolished the Sherman Anti-trust act, 2 corporations took over all of the public school books. They dont teach us the importance of our rights and what they really mean to us. Read quotes from any of the founding fathers and they have warned about everything that we are letting happen right now.

Gooch, and anyone else interested, if I may, here is an excellent, EXCELLENT lecture on the Constitution that I feel should be shown to every person right before they graduate 8th grade and high school.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8321747074978323622
This man's name is Michael Badnarik. I never understood the Constitution before I watched this. It is 7 hours long but worth every second. Back to your comment Gooch, in this video, he begins by talking about the definition and differences between rights and privileges. Basically, rights are defined as something you have the sovereign authority to do b/c there is no higher authority to get permission from. They are given by your creator not the Constitution. All rights derive from property rights. The first property you own is yourself when you are born. The only thing that limits your rights, are someone elses equal rights. I think this should be the philosophy of everyone. It makes so much sense.

I hate to sound like I am complaining about this country. Luckily, as a true patriot, I understand that what makes this country so great is that for the time being, I can complain about the govt, and have nothing happen. But ask yourself these questions before AND after you watch this lecture and see how much your answers change...

1. How come majority of our Federal Income taxes go to pay the INTEREST on PAPER MONEY, BACKED by NOTHING to a private organization called the FEDERAL RESERVE? Think about what you could do with this money
2. Who is paying for the Iraq War?
3. Why 30 years ago, could one head of household have a decent job and support his whole family, yet now both parents have to work more and more hours, and travel longer and longer, taking away family values, demoralizing the whole country a little bit at a time?
4. Why do we have 7 out of 10 of the things that all COMMUNIST countries share listed in the COMMUNIST MANIFESTO, written in 1848?
5. Why do we have a "War on Drugs" when alcohol and Tobacco kill more people every year than every other drug combined? We make a HEALTH problem a LEGAL problem, ruining many peoples lives forever.
6. Why dont people know that the fertilizer the tobacco industries use, breaks down to RADIOACTIVE POLONIUM (same thing that killed that Russian spy about a year ago) and RADIOACTIVE LEAD? This is why many doctors think cigarettes really give ppl cancer.
7. Why does the govt want to REGULATE and TAX the Internet? That would be the end of true FREE SPEECH?
8. Do you think that with the power and money that MULTI_NATIONAL corporations are gaining that in 20 years anybody will be able to open their own business?? Why can they go to a different country and completely go against every law that our country has worked to pass over the past 200 years, mainly to PROTECT HUMAN RIGHTS?!?!
9. Why is a corporation a LEGAL PERSON with all of the same rights, yet they have LIMITED LIABILITY? They are also legally bound to put the stockholders (profit) above all things. For example, if they have to pay a $100 million fine for pollution, but in the long run they make a huge profit, they will do that b/c of LIMITED LIABILITY!!

i say where not realy free any more

freedom of religion: courts can control your religion.

they can tell you what you can do or can not to do ( happened to my dad)

is realy sad :( theres no such thing as freedom of religion.

65 year old guy, I’m affriad this government is way out of control and wants to control too much and that means freedoms lost abd they will never be coming back

We are as free as we can be without having Anarchy.
gooch you are correct .
We are a lot freer than Iran .
We must have laws that no one is above .Laws make our nation stronger and protect us.

you guys think you are free? please take the time to think of it a little bit. you are free in your own little world but we are all in a huge jail called Earth. We Sold Our Freedom for Comfort. Let me ask you a question. What if i wanted to go and live in a place where i am alone no electrecity no house absolutly nothing, and just live there without buying any land, do you think they will let me? we all live on earth we should all have a place, a part, of the earth without need of buying it or getting taxe on it every year.THAT would be free. i have tons of other things to say but im bored so if some wants to talk about it do what u have to do lol idk how this site works i jus joined

nope not free and i dont want to hear no bullshit bout bein safe or a so called soldier fighting for my freedom i would love to be left alone enjoy my property, you people are so washed up with this safety bull your not safe you could be steak in an hour. america is full of sh@t anymore. and i dont want to hear you telling me to leave you leave if you feel threatined and need all this up your ars i dont want it. i have no problem paying a tax when i purchase something other than that its theft,and child support thats modern slavery, I happen to be one (a slave) and its f-ing bull shet. forced to work then forced to hand the earnings over all while I not the mother take care and provide for the children and dont tell me to take it to court been there done that for the past ten years its a one sided system, so you take your 911 excuse and all the other crap and get your false sense of security, and let me be an individual in my little run down home where me and my children are forced to heat with wood cook with wood and even hunt our food at times and walk most of the time all because of these fukd up laws regulations and your safety and yes i do work but it all goes to mommy and your safety, taxes fees rate hikes and other misc bullshit