neofreedom

Freedom (noun) - the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

the concept of freedom has played a large role in this country. it was the reason why a group of oppressed citizens ventured accross the vast, unknown atlantic ocean and why they eventually set up a government based on those strong convictions to a society of free people. but it seems that over the years this preception of freedom has strayed from the definition above...some may feel it is for the better, but i feel very differently. americans have forgotten what true freedom is (the freedom spoken of by the founders of the constitution) and the price that is occationally payed for it.

america has been physically attacted only twice in the past century, a small amount compaired to the numerous times of other countries, but both times freedom granted by the constitution in the first ammendment has been severly restricted. one who has studied the basics of the first world war could recall the racist camps that housed japanese american citizens like abused animals during the war. yes, american citizens in america, not jewish citizens in germany. and most americans alive today can tell you where they were when the trade center fell in new york..and the comparison here to the the racist camps of world war two is bush's patriot act, defined as:

Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism

this did not unite or strengthen america, but hack further at our freedom granted by the constitution. just like the racist camps, the patriot act of 2001 took america one step further from the vision of the founders.

my point here is not to critique the president, or to rant about the many grotesque actions of this country's government over the years as it is not entirely their fault. the blood also lies in the hands of us: the voters and consumers. we as voters have the responcibility of electing responsible candidates, which are nearly impossible to find, and as consumers to give our money to businesses who have the best intrest of mankind in mind. neither one of these are achieved often. companies like at&t and viacom have been working for years to hack at 1st ammendment rights (most recently at&t in their plot to spoil the neutrality of the internet) and to mold america's art, music, films, and media into products right off the assembly line. yes, it's true, the popular culture sucks. music played on the radio has no heart, coke ads are more recognizable than artists like vassily kandinski or hassam, movies are meerly a business, and america's mass media keeps feeding the minds of ignorant american citizens with all of this crap.



so my point is that our freedom has been raped by presidents, ignored by congresses, misinturpreted by the corporate media, and all the while we sit and take it. freedom comes at a price and that price is not always paid on the battlefield as the masses think. but freedom is reaped and payed for by the individual every day when we wake up and step outside in a dangerous world, filled with people who hate and kill.

we dont need wire taps and homeland security to preserve our freedom. so far, all its done is restict it. true freedom is not knowing if you are going to be killed in an attack, or if the bomb threat is actually real, but accepting that risk and loving your freedom to the death. not letting it be taken away by presidents or terrorists because a president is a terrorist if he(or she) takes away your freedom as a natural living being.

personally, i would rather been bloan to peices than for my freedom to be taken away. but i've only met a few other people who share my belief of true freedom.....