Freedom

Okay that's a big question. I'll hit one aspect: emotional/spiritual.

This is the freedom to feel however you feel without guilt, shame or apology. To express your thoughts and emotions in safety. The freedom to be who you really are without being expected to change, or being criticized. To believe in whatever you like. The freedom to be left alone when you need solitude. Freedom from passive aggression.

think about the above and apply it to your relationships you've had in life (dating, marriage, siblings, parents, friends). what did the healthy ones have? what of the above did the unhealthy ones lack?
 
Freedom to me is the ability to walk into a gunstore and buy the weapon of my choice.
Be it a .50 caliber sniper rifle,an AK 47,a normal capacity pistol, or sporting arm.
A Free man can carry the weapon of his choosing.
The government should fear it's people.
Not the other way around.
The free man has the right and duty to protect himself and the innocent around him.

The U.S. second amendment of the constitution is the free man's "Point of the spear".
Without free brave men and the right to keep and bear arms, ALL other rights
are at the whim of bureacrats.
The right of self defense supersede all other rights.
The dead have no rights.

All that is nessessary for evil to reign is for good men to do nothing.
 
I was taught there's positive freedom, and negative freedom.

Positive freedom's the freedom to do something ... to swing a khuk, to plant a tree, to sell or give away all your crap and drive away on the highway.

Negative freedom's the freedom from something ... freedom from regulation, freedom from being smacked in the head by your neighbour, freedom from ridiculous oversight and limitations.

Typically, the two go together. As they say, my (positive) freedom to swing my fist stops where your (negative) freedom to keep your nose from getting bloodied starts.
 
Freedom is like air. You don't notice it when you have it - but you always should.

It isn't like gravity - you aren't living in it by a law of nature.

A lot of good people have died- and keep dying- so you can continue to have it.

And if you are unable to do something to repay the debt of those of have purchased your freedom with their sacrifices, at least be grateful. The cost of your gratitude isn't much, compared with the price paid by those who have given their lives.


Mike
 
Ad Astra said:
Freedom is like air. You don't notice it when you have it - but you always should.

It isn't like gravity - you aren't living in it by a law of nature.

A lot of good people have died- and keep dying- so you can continue to have it.

And if you are unable to do something to repay the debt of those of have purchased your freedom with their sacrifices, at least be grateful. The cost of your gratitude isn't much, compared with the price paid by those who have given their lives.


Mike
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+1

Freedom is a gift that comes with responsibility. A living breathing thing that must be cultivated, protected, and respected lest it be lost. Freedom, to me, is to be able to look out and understand that you are the master of your domain, that you have degrees of movement that allow you to make the best and worst of each and every day. However, it also means that you have the responsibility to respect and nuture the freedom of others, the duty to at least try to leave the world a better place at the end of your days. Freedom must be a two way street. It must be honored as the true last ideology of what can only be described as the "Old Code" as something so absolutely God-given that no renegotiation, "refinement of terms", or thread-thin loopholes can topple or change. It must supercede the selfish goals of "Me", "I", "Ego". Freedom is the responsibility to respect each other, to take off blinders stacked upon our faces from birth, to understand that each of us is small but equally important.

Freedom is this intangible thing that is so large, yet so personal that it is difficult for one to wrap his or her mind around it. Honestly, I can see why other's hate us because of our freedom. Freedom is scary! When you live under the rule of religious idology on government montra for so long I can see how having a choice can be confusing. Can you imagine what it would be like to spend your whole life being told what to eat, when to pray, what to wear, or utterly shackled to your government and then see a people with a choice? The freedom to choose to do great good or terrible evil, the choice of who or what to pray to...or not pray to at all, the freedom to burst at one's heart-stitching at the pride of the our shown national colors....or to spit on the ground on which our soldiers walk. Freedom is agoraphobia of the spirit to these people. When we fear something we do not totally understand it. When we do not understand something we grow to hate it.

Jake
 
Freedom, Liberty and License are often chosen as definitions aligned with each other .
Let me say that I think that the lines between them have become blurred. People will often speak of one when really the definition is better suited to another in this triangular balance.

You may have freedom without liberty. You may have Liberty without Freedom.
You may have license to do something by a constituted authority.
This license can be mistaken for the liberty to use it as you choose.
That can only be done when you have the freedom to do so.
Being at liberty would make that freedom a viable commodity.

This tenuous balance can only be maintained by Will.
It is further strengthened by the choices made of the elements therein.
A balance within the balance.

The elements support each other.
I think this is how the lines get blurred between them.
One element is not nearly so stable alone as when supported by the others.

Freedom? Freedom is to be without restraint.
Freedom is part of the Balance we maintain which allows it to have greater worth.
Liberty is the Freedom to make the choices necessary to keep that Freedom.
License is the constituted authority established by the choices we have made.
 
Gandhi said, "Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes."

I try to exercise this freedom every day.

Eric
 
Freedom is fleeting. It shouldn't be a slogan. When it is used as a war cry, it should be a sacred word, not to be used lightly. Freedom without liberty or license (props, Kevin), is nothing but hedonism and self deceit.
Freedom without a full stomach and safe place to be is a cruel joke.
Is Freedom when you are released, or is it when you haven't been caught?
;)
 
None of us, even in "free" countries, have that freedom.

No, we're not living in the Gulags, but do I have the freedom to carry a big knife onto an airplane? My kids' schools have security cameras in the hallways, classrooms etc. Everywhere but in the bathroom stalls, and I'd not even bet on that. Daughter's boyfriend was harassed by the principal for wearing a hat in school hallways ... the brim might obscure his face from the cameras.

I don't have the freedom to distill my own brandy. 90 years ago, most city-dwellers in Canada had a few chickens in the backyard ... can't do that now. Hell, in most cities, I can't even build fences as high or where I want, and need permits to have a raft of work on my own house.

This isn't all bad. Personally, I like zoning bylaws ... while my fence can't be the Great Wall of China, my neighbour can't start a casino either. I miss the opportunity to raise chickens for the pot ... but the neighbourhood probably appreciates not dealing with the smell or potential contamination of groundwater.

Freedom's never absolute; I could have a lot more freedom from regulation if I lived, say, in the Sudan ... but I'd have a lot less freedom from violent attack. Less freedom from environmental degradation, and disease too.

It all comes down to what tradeoffs we're willing to make.
 
Grob said:
What is freedom?
Click to expand...

Just another word for nothing left to lose. (I can't believe that no one has said this yet.)

Here's the dictionary definition:

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/freedom

Here's the Rishar definition:

"An existance unburdened by law or responsibility."

Total freedom is tantamount to anarchy by both definitions. Thus, when one states that they desire freedom (especially total freedom), they should be extremely careful about what they're wishing for, as in a completely free society I'm completely free to show up at your house unannounced and take your freedom, your house, and your life completely away from you. (You would be completely free to protect yourself, but I'd be completely free to bring all my friends. This is how governments and wars start.)

Freedom to do certain things is a good thing. Freedom to do whatever the hell you want without as long as you don't hurt anyone else is an even better thing, and is the sort of society that I'd like to live in. But total freedom? I'd be very paranoid.

This also raises the question of where this freedom comes from and whether it's a right or a privilege. As far as I can tell, the freedom of anyone reading this is a privilege, not a right.

(Hint: rights cannot be taken away. Can your freedom be taken away?)
 
Freedom: The authority one exercises over one's self, together with proportionate responsibility to oneself. Similarly, 'liscense' may be defined as 'irresponsible authority over oneself'. Responsibility to oneself without authority? Being forced to work against your will, even if it is 'for your own good', is always slavery.
 
In response to Nasty's definition: Definitely the best definition by far! Wonder why he's engaged for the third time??????
 
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