IAP Political Forum

What is freedom?... how do you feel you are free?... Is freedom a set of rules or the lack of them?...

I have studied many constitutions of different countries in the World and I found an interesting pattern: They are pretty much the same. So why does one country say it's the "land of the free" or "we have more freedom than most" or like the leaders in my country who say: "we are the freest country in the Western hemisphere" (which is a sad lie by the way).
I believe there are no free countries in this world because some people can't be free without others not being free. I can dream of an Utopia but no one can make it true.
For me the most arrogant statement anyone can make is "we are the freest nation on Earth".

Now the problem is that that is MY opinion. I'm human and my concept of freedom might be different than yours.
I think as someone who has never experienced TRUE freedom even though I have traveled to a lot of countries, I can only tell you what I don't think is freedom and that's not going to get us anywhere. But maybe you have! Maybe out there there is a country or region of the world that is truly FREE and I don't know about it. The countries I have visited in my life are: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Guyana, Suriname, Panama, Costa Rica (the "freest" country I've been to), Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, USA, Canada, Cuba, Jamaica, Domenican Republic, Haiti, Spain, Portugal, France, Netherlands, Belgium, England, Scottland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Palestine, Egypt, Morocco and Australia.

Many countries besides my beautiful Venezuela where I have found that Freedom is a loosely used concept for their way of life... But all of those countries say they are "free"... well they aren't, they just have freedoms that we can have in exchange for taxes and rule-following.

Maybe I'm just full of crap but I would like to know what you think...
 

 

There are two different interpretations of "freedom": Social and economic freedoms. If a country possesses both, it may be considered free. By this criteria many Western nations are free, however freedom does not necessarily provide a solution to the world's problems.

Freedom isn't a world solver I know, but like I said, most of the world constitution guarantee these so called freedoms yet people feel they are not "free". The criteria for freedom should be looked at from an individual point of view but this makes the issue problematic since the concept differs from person to person.
I honestly believe that it goes deeper than economic, political and social freedoms...

The problem is that people associate total freedom with total happiness, while in reality freedom often leads to unexpected insecurities. This confusion causes people to feel that they are not free.

Does it? What would be an example of this?

Well I don't mean to sound cliché but...the US

It would appear you are asserting that 'freedom' is a zero-sum game by definition.

Is this an accurate reflection of your view?

What do you mean by "zero-sum game"?

Any increase in my freedom requires a corresponding decrease in someone else's freedom.  That is a 'zero-sum' game.

That is to say, the total amount of freedom is limited.

I vehemently reject the idea that freedom is a 'zero-sum' game - but your post suggests that you believe it is.

If I can have the freedom to choose to vote neither right nor left this means I live in the land of the free.

In some certain countries they force you to go vote, cannot duck away. Of course, you have to vote for the only one political party that exists - the red one. That gives you the freedom to choose between life and death, ... see what I mean, we are all free people.

then yes Dormouse I think is a "zero-sum game".

Then with all due respect, the opening question of the OP is a bit of a sham. 

Your thread discussion seeks not to ask the question of what freedom is, but rather as a billboard for your views on what freedom means. 

In other words, as soon as you define freedom as a 'zero-sum' game, then I see no grounds for any discussion about what freedom is.  The only game on offer here is to discuss YOUR definition of freedom. 

And since your definition is "zero-sum" based, that's the kind of freedom I can do without.  Indeed, your definition seems to make this discussion a 'zero-sum' game as well.

well yes, that's sort of what I think it's freedom but my concern is that my views are subjected to my life experiences and the country I live

Though I will argue what I don't agree with, I started this thread to know the opinion of others about freedom and when is a region free...
When you explained what "zero-sum game" was, I thought it was somewhat the idea I had about freedom. I don't like to say increase/decrease


I'm actually more radical about it. I think for someone to have a a certain freedom, another must willingly renounce it or be forcibly taken from him/her.

That is what I believe because that is what I see. I'm an empirical observer my friend. But like I said, I live in THIS country and visited a few others, but I can only compare it to this one.

If you feel my opening is a sham then I don't feel offended. I want to know other people's points of view, as I would like to know yours too.