[Theodore R.]

So long as Americans "believe" that they are the "freest people on earth," they will remain contented with "big government." The only way to beat the system is to work FOR "government"!!!!

[Dead Corpse]

The 10th most Free?

I'm suprised we scored that high.

[eno_]

WE'RE NUMBER TEN!

WE'RE NUMBER TEN!

WE'RE NUMBER TEN!

We have 150k-200k armed JBTs in the fedgov. Was the Stasi or Soviet Interior Ministry Police ever that large?

[Pern]

Americans believe that they are free until they encounter the "justice" system, at which time they learn that they are as helpless as medieval serfs.

That ain't no lie. I was caught up in the 'justice' system a few years ago, and I wouldn't wish that experience on my worst enemy. You are totally at their mercy.

[templar]

Americans today are really just modern day versions of sharecroppers: Free in a sense, but in bondage in another sense. They just don't know it. Could be a lot worse though, our masters are fairly benign (for now), and we can still leave the farm (sorta).

[The_Eaglet]

Campaign Finance Reform thread-day 47

[sergeantdave]

Am I a serf or a slave?

[newgeezer]

So, I was left wondering, which 9 countries are ahead of us?

1. Hong Kong (for the 10th straight year)
2. Singapore
3. New Zealand
4. Luxembourg
5. Ireland
6. Estonia
7. United Kingdom
8. Denmark
9. Switzerland

[jimkress]

What an OUTSTANDING article! Thanks for sharing.

[lodwick]

bttt

[freeeee]

Land of the Free, Home of the Slave

by Steven Greenhut

America is such a wonderfully free country that I thoroughly understand why the Bush administration, like the Clinton administration before it, is so eager to take our freedoms and spread them across the globe. Without the U.S. government, backwards peoples will have to labor on in their own delusions, never understanding what true liberty is all about.

I am so free. If I want to paint my house, or build a deck out back, or install a new air-conditioning system, I am free to call the building inspector and get his approval first. If I want to put a new toilet in the bathroom, I am free to buy only the low-flow toilets the government approves. I am free to buy a property near the beach, provided the government Coastal Commission approves whatever I want to do with that property. That approval might take decades, and the final thing that I build will be what the commissioners want there, not what I want, but I am free nonetheless.

I know I am free because this is America. And America is a free country ? the best one in the whole darned world. If you don't like our freedoms, you should move somewhere else.

Any other questions?

Unlike those pathetic souls in other less-free and non-free countries, I am free to open my own business, provided I pay my employees the minimum salary demanded by the government, and give them overtime in the exact proportion stated by the government, and offer them breaks that conform exactly to the standards set by government. I can operate my business in complete freedom, provided that I meet every one of the hundreds of pages of air-quality standards promulgated by the state and federal governments.

I am free to offer my employees any benefits I choose, provided they are ones approved by the government. I am free to operate my building in compliance with all the building codes and standards defined by the government. I am free to place a sign on that business provided it conforms to the city?s sign ordinance. I am free to hire a lawyer to defend against the government's charges that I discriminate because I have fewer minority employees than the government says I should have. I am free to pay a $100,000 fine if I complain that a male employee suddenly is showing up in dresses.

I am free to have exactly the same number of parking spaces the government says I should have, and to follow the specific standards the government established when it gave me a conditional-use permit. True freedom always has conditions. I am free to vote in elections, provided that the ethnic balance of those elected conforms to the dictates of the Justice Department. I am free to invest money in the stock market provided I don't take advice from anyone who knows any real information about the stock. If I do, I am free to spend several years behind bars. I am free to pay half my earnings in taxes. You know what they say, taxes are what we pay for a civilized society. Civilized and free. What more could a person ask for?

I am free to get to work on government-built and managed roads, in a car that meets government safety and pollution standards. I am free to pay hundreds of dollars a year in car taxes and gas taxes. I am free to borrow money from a bank to pay these taxes provided that the lender meets every government code and offers special terms to those people the government says should get special terms. I am free to send my children to the government-run schools, where they are taught whatever the government wants them to learn. I am free to raise them exactly as the government demands, or watch child protective services take them from me and give them to a foster parent.

I am free to get on an airplane and fly anywhere I want in this free country, provided that I let a government employee search my stuff and even my person. I am free to tell the federal government exactly how much I earn and let agents audit me and take me off to jail if I fail to tell them every source of income.

I am free to take any drug I need or please provided it is sold by a pharmacist or a drug store. I am free to work in any sort of profession, provided that I gain the proper government-granted licenses. If I work in manufacturing, I am free to give a union a lot of money or am free to find another job. I am free to hand over my property and take a pittance in return for it when the government uses eminent domain on behalf of a politically well-connected developer.

I am free to have a dog provided I buy him a government-issued license. I am not free to own a ferret, although in truth I hate those nasty little critters and don't really want one. I am free to let a police officer search my car for any reason. I am free to let federal agents search my property, tap my phone lines, look at my library records.

I am free to live my life in total freedom provided that all my choices are approved by government, all my earnings are taxed by government, and all my moves are subject to close examination by government. No wonder the Iraqi people are so eager for their American overseers to show them how this freedom thing is done.

[CSM]

"Any American who thinks he owns his labor can test the proposition by refusing to pay his income tax. He will quickly discover that he is not a free person."

Just about 50% of the americans are "free" by this definition. The requirement to pay income tax only falls on half the population, the rest is forcing slavery upon the productive!

[CSM]

"Americans believe that they are free until they encounter the "justice" system, at which time they learn that they are as helpless as medieval serfs."

Nail on the head bump!

[theFIRMbss]

[AnalogReigns]

I have European friends who when visiting the USA are amazed at all the regulations for public behavior we accept. Prohibitions against public drinking and smoking are one big example; unknown in most of Europe.

They quickly tend to ask, "Land of the free? Who are you kidding?"

[AnalogReigns]

One thing I have to ask myself though, is what's the alternative? Granted taxes are way too high...and government is way, WAY too big--however, taxes, along with death, are always with us.

In terms of what we can say, where we can go, and what religion we can practice--historically, we are more free than at any time on earth. Are we over-taxed and way overly socialistic? Yes, no question. However the logic of the article would say any taxation is slavery--any "witholding of the fruit of your labor" is the same as involuntary servitude. I think such doesn't do justice to the horror of real slavery--and a real lack of freedom.

Ask any immigrant you find from the former (or current) Communist countries if we are free...income tax and all.

[Lady Eileen]

bump.