Is freedom a lost concept in the USA?

MSG Anthony DiFondi — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 07:38:53 -0400

Over the years, America has become increasing more regulated. You need a license to hunt, fish, drive, protest, etc. Freedom of speech has become lost to the politically correct minions who are offended by everything (probably even offended by this post). Religion is looked down upon. You have to buy health insurance. You need to pay governments money to modify your own home. Are we still free?

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 10 at 2016 7:42 AM

Capt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 07:42:27 -0400

I believe all of the things you mentioned except the healthcare were around when I was young and that is quite awhile ago.

As for freedom of speech we still have it. And, so do those who oppose what we say. We do not have the freedom to hear only what WE want to hear.

Well, actually I do have that freedom. I just to turn the hearing aids off.

Response by SSG Michael Hartsfield made Jun 10 at 2016 8:08 AM

SSG Michael Hartsfield — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 08:08:10 -0400

I don't believe that it has. I feel that now, you are being held to a greater account for anything you do. As I have said in the past, you have the freedom to do whatever you want UNTIL in infringes on the rights of someone else. Freedom of speech is still here and hasn't gone anywhere but there are more people that will hold your feet to the fire if you say something stupid. Religion is fine and always will be UNTIL people feel that their brand of religion should be the standard everyone should follow (which infringes on the rights of everyone that doesn't believe in what you believe).
BLUF, the freedoms many of us remember growing up have and will continue to evolve and change just like it has since its inception. Adapt to it or sit in the corner griping about it. You have the freedom to do either.

Response by SPC Linda Otero made Jun 10 at 2016 8:22 AM

SPC Linda Otero — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 08:22:59 -0400

Excellent question! the unfortunate truth, is that we're constantly told we are.

Response by SPC Linda Otero made Jun 10 at 2016 8:31 AM

SPC Linda Otero — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 08:31:36 -0400

That's an excellent question, but our society will allows to believe that we are in deed free!

Response by MSG Anthony DiFondi made Jun 10 at 2016 9:12 AM

MSG Anthony DiFondi — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 09:12:38 -0400

Not to mention eminent domain, the government's ability to take your property if they like.

Response by MSgt Richard Rountree made Jun 10 at 2016 9:26 AM

MSgt Richard Rountree — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 09:26:18 -0400

A lost concept? No. One that has been perverted by those that want us to be less free. Definitely.

Live Free or Die! Want my freedom? Come and take it. Remember, you can keep what you can defend.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 10 at 2016 9:46 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 09:46:21 -0400

Before I could even answer this, I would have to ask what the definition of freedom is.....considering how the world is today.

Response by Cpl Justin Goolsby made Jun 10 at 2016 11:32 AM

Cpl Justin Goolsby — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 11:32:43 -0400

Are we still free, yes I believe we are. I wake up in the morning and I go to work a job I chose. No one picked it for me. I'm getting paid a wage I agreed upon. I'm not working for food or forced labor. When I complete my work day, I'm free to go home and spend my off time in a manner of my choosing. I can go for a long drive. Spend time with my children. Go to the movies. No one is choosing my paths for me.

Do we have some regulations, of course. Hunting and fishing aren't exactly rights, but they do need to be regulated in order to preserve populations by decreasing overfishing or overhunting species into extinction. Driving is a privilege, and not a right. Motorists should have to adequately demonstrate that they know how to operate a motor vehicle before allowing them permission to be on the road.

Religion might be looked down upon, but no one is holding a torch to your feet and demanding you renounce your God. We are still free to choose to worship or not worship as we see fit. We can be the most devout worshipper, or the most devout nonbeliever.

Do I believe there has been some government overreach, yes of course. But are we still free. Yes. I am not worried about my family disappearing in the middle of the night due to something I might say online.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 10 at 2016 11:59 AM

PO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 11:59:33 -0400

I am going to touch on a particular point of this post: licenses to hunt and fish. In most states, you do not need a license to hunt on your own property, nor do you need a license to fish on your own, or someone else's private property. The revenue collected from licenses goes towards maintaining game lands and fisheries. In Virginia, hikers were using gamelands for free (being subsidized by hunters) so they started charging a use-fee to those people. No individual freedoms are being jeopardized by requiring individuals to purchase licenses to hunt and fish. A major point in licensing and regulating fishing and hunting is not to rescind freedoms, but to maintain public lands.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 10 at 2016 3:38 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 15:38:06 -0400

Like anything of value, many (not all) who didn't earn it, don't value it. Many think, it’ll keep us safe so …”. I have a healthy suspicion of anyone touting the merits of safety or security.

My irritation spikes when I hear about City and County Permits to have work performed on my house. It’s my house but I must pay a fee to the government so they will “permit” me the privilege to have work done on … again … MY house.

Response by SPC Darren Koele made Jun 10 at 2016 6:04 PM

SPC Darren Koele — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 18:04:57 -0400

That is a big question requiring a book, perhaps a series, to truly answer. However, there are some areas where liberty is chipped away, ironically, under the guise freedom. But what is being disguised is also know as the "collective good". What has become popular as of late? The idea that health care is a right and therefore "we must all make sacrifices". The idea that college should be free because it allegedly benefits society as a whole. This concept that schools/education is a sacred cow because the children are our future (but ignores the fact that we pay more per student than most developed countries). Then there is climate change. And many more.
What do these have in common? They all require money, YOUR money. The more taxes you pay, the less economic freedom you have. Economic freedom is very much a part of individual liberty. Which brings me to my next point. Individual liberty is very much being strained. Nearly every argument I have pertaining to how something impacts my life, I am pushed aside with the "greater good" argument, which is code for, "you don't matter, it's better for society (i.e. the collective)." It is my belief that without individual liberty, liberty itself does not exist.
Look at some of the news lately. There are people that want to virtually make it a crime to speak against climate change. There are people who will curse you for asking why my neighbor's health is my obligation (especially when, in the same breath, those same people tell you that you have no right to an opinion concerning their body). Worse than making people pay for the health care of others, is then forcing them to buy their own insurance after the rates increase due to government mandates. Even anti-discrimination laws have proven to be discriminatory because they focus more forced tolerance in society than individual freedom. Think about it, in a truly free society, a baker (or any other business for that matter), can choose who or who not to serve or what events. In our less free society, the government mandates that you must serve everyone despite your Constitutional rights or personal beliefs. I would rather face the wrath of a free market than endure strangling mandates of an overbearing government.
Eminent domain and property taxes are some of the biggest rackets the government has ever come up with.
While we do have plenty of liberty left, we have lost much; it just doesn't seem like it because the losses seem so miniscule in the overall scheme of things (a little regulation here, a little taxation there). What concerns me most is focus on collectivism over individual liberty. We were not born to serve the collective. To do so means we are nothing more than slaves which, as we already know, is not freedom though it seems many are willing to themselves in those chains.

Response by SGT Jerrold Pesz made Jun 10 at 2016 9:54 PM

SGT Jerrold Pesz — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 21:54:04 -0400

Nope and what freedom that we have left may well be gone before too long.

Response by SGM Mikel Dawson made Jun 11 at 2016 12:30 AM

SGM Mikel Dawson — Sat, 11 Jun 2016 00:30:46 -0400

Freedoms are still there, but the government slowly wants to make decisions for you. You have to wear a seat belt now because the government decided it was safer for you- so you won't sue some big company or cost money in medical bills. But slowly small chunks of freedoms are being taken away because someone thinks they know something better for you. Basic freedoms are still there, but beware of the encroachments that are slowly creeping up on us. Especially now that Obama is working to divide the country on racial, political and what ever else he can keep us occupied on. We need to keep our eyes forward and on the things which really mean something.