Are we loosing our freedom?

[Ron Collins]

This question was recently posed in a discussion group with some people I know. Here is my response, I am interested in hearing yours.
---------------------------------------

The Truth is we lost our freedom decades ago and the passing is still celebrated in earnest with every purchase we make. The problem is one of perception. The death was never perceived en masse by the hapless public and is just now starting to become overtly evident in the aftermath of our current economic strife. One truth has always and will always be true whether in Roman republics of 2500 years ago or today. A free people will always sacrifice said freedom for the illusion of safety and the serenity of material bliss.

Now you cant blame that on a certain political ideology. This is not a Dem vs Rep thing. Instead it is the voice of a consumer based culture that by the very nature of material acquisition drives class separation. It is in that class separation that, typically in times of great socioeconomic stress, you start to notice the simplistic idea of freedom eroding under the hardship. In essence the paint begins to peal. Klaxons sound, dogs bark, heralds......herald... and political parties blame each other.

But rest assured as soon as the current whoas begin to heel a fresh coat will be applied and we can all drift silently back into that sweet bliss of situational ignorance once again. Or maybe I am just being a cynic.

But, lets look at me. I can see through the thinest of the veiled facades of that creature. Does it make me enlightened or somehow less responsible because I can point it out? NOPE! I still want the bright red Ferrari, house in Hawaii, and my own personal 200 foot submarine.

So essentially I will do what everyone else does and has done for centuries. I'll bitch when times are lean and complain when times are good. As long as it doesn't interfere too much with my life I'll try to look into the current candidates positions for a few minutes and vote him in or out as I can. Unless of course I am too distracted with my Xbox.

Now if this were the only thing that made me a bastard I would be in good shape, and in good company.

Screw it, who wants pie?

 

[AnnetteMarie]

I think freedom is an illusion. We gave it away aeons ago, when we realised being truly free meant being completely responsible for our own actions, our own health, our own food, our own mistakes, our own choices: everything.

It is so easy to give up that responsibility to someone else, giving us the option to blame 'them' when things don't go the way we want them to, and allowing us the illusion of how we would do so much better if only the choice were ours; lack of freedom being our only leash preventing us from a perfect life.

A few of us notice this now and then - those of us who prefer to make their own decisions, learn from their own mistakes, and take care of their own futures. And, the occasional batty old broad who now and then has a moment of clarity...

 

[skeptoid humanoid]

We just lost more freedom with the passage of this health care "reform". We will soon no longer have the right to use our own money to pay a doctor with our cash for a service, for example. It is unbelievable that this could happen in America! And it could get a lot worse. We will loose a lot more freedoms if cap and trade legislation is passed.

 

[ALPHA ROMEO UNIFORM]

Freedom, is word our politicians like to use as a foundation for democracy and use it when they are committing its citizens for war. However, politicians tend to be the last to send their children into the line of fire for it these days.

Ja Love,
blowfish

 

[AnnetteMarie]

Are we losing our freedom?

We just lost more freedom with the passage of this health care "reform". We will soon no longer have the right to use our own money to pay a doctor with our cash for a service, for example. It is unbelievable that this could happen in America! And it could get a lot worse. We will loose a lot more freedoms if cap and trade legislation is passed.

don't be so afraid of health care. It doesn't bite. Think about all those folks out there who don't have cash for health care, think they give a damn if it is cash or medicare when they NEED health care?

If we don't like what we get up here, and have the cash, we can get health care elsewhere. The basics are what are not really portable, and even that has a work around, I am told.


Where I live, our basic health care plan costs me just over a hundred a month for me and hubby. That is basic and does not include cosmetic surgery or dental. But if I break a leg, or get mugged and hurt, nice to know I won't have to sell the family farm to pay off my hospital bill. And seeing my doctor - well I could make as many appointments as I needed in any given year, and not pay extra. I would pay for any forms I needed for work-related reasons, or unemployment insurance reasons, that sort of thing, but if I just need to spend some time with my physician over health concerns or an illness, that is not going to bankrupt me, either.

I seriously do not understand why so many people in the US are so worried about universal health insurance. Your HMOs already have you all scrunched down to statistics and averages, and if your illness or doc visits go over a certain amount, you face being cut off, or fighting for vital coverage when your energies need to be focussed on fighting a life-threatening illness.

I really don't get it?

I would worry more about the cap and trade than the health care if I lived in the States.

 

[truthnotterror]

Are we losing our freedom?

i do initially agree that our freedom is lost and that it is also something that we ourselves have given away. i further agree with ron collins that for the most of us the idea of freedom is relative, especially when economic times are good and we concern ourselves with our comfy lifestyles. (not to be confused with freedom!).
I think that most have a onesided understanding of freedom, they usually equate it with freedom from , rather than freedom to. The other side of freedom is responsibility, for ourselves and collectively, you cant really escape it. Our choices collectively, will collectively affect others around us near and far. i would even venture to say that if you care not for being responsible then you care not much for freedom.
As afar as economic freedom is concerned, i think we have been , collectively, left to fend for ourselves since the removal of the Keynesian style of economics in the early to mid 70s, with its evergrowing gap between the rich and poor, the downfall of education among the young and the stalemate of real wages for the population since the 70's, in contrast with the adoption of the "freemarket " system which eventually led us to where we are today. Both systems have their inherent downsides but the current one leaves the majority feeling alienated, lost and afraid.

 

[bogie13p]

Are we losing our freedom?

Even if there are flaws, I'm just glad we are trying something else. You can't find anything that works unless you at least try something different.

My husband is from the UK and the first time he came to the ER with me in the US, he was amazed at how slow the process was compared to ER trips there, which he thought were slow anyway. He thinks its crazy how if people can't afford insurance, they pretty much don't get helped.

Before I started back to school, I was working at a mom and pop pet store. I had to pay for my own insurance and I couldn't afford it. BCBS kept getting more and more expensive (over $350 a month). Like I said this was a little pet store, so I was only bringing home about $200 a week. I just couldn't afford bills and healthcare, so I had to drop it. That is when accident struck and my achilles tendon randomly tore in half. Luckilly my grandma was nice enough to pay the $10,000 for my surgery I needed and hospital bills. A normal person who didn't have a rich relative couldnt have done it though. Before I went to her for help, I went to every free clinic I could and none of them could help me. It sucked so much.

When I spent a summer taking painting classes in Italy, one of the other US students became very very sick. The care was AMAZING! A local doctor made a house call and the student ended up having to go to the emergency room. He had also hurt his head and they had to do all kinds of scrans and stuff that would have cost a lot in the US. He told the people at the Italian ER that he has insurance in America and they were like, "don't worry about it" he still worried about it though because they were doing so much, he knew it couldn't be cheap. They assured him though that the most it would cost would be $100 US dollars and if that is the case, they will bill him. He ended up not getting charged a penny.

Another girl broke her glasses and didn't know her prescription, they did an eye exam in the little town down the hill and hooked her up with glasses for like $30 Euro.

I'm not saying American healthcare is going to be anything like the good experiences I have had overseas, but like I said, I'm just glad we are going to try something different. People really should have health insurance because shit happens and hardly anyone can just afford the outrageous prices out of pocket.

I'm just really glad my husband and I have insurance through work that we can afford.

 

[truthnotterror]

Are we losing our freedom?

"I'm not saying American healthcare is going to be anything like the good experiences I have had overseas, but like I said, I'm just glad we are going to try something different. People really should have health insurance because shit happens and hardly anyone can just afford the outrageous prices out of pocket. "

Healthcare is available to most other first world countries, it is responsible to the people rather than driven by profits which can decide to drop coverage the moment their profits are endangered

 

[Jose Collado]

Are we losing our freedom?

This was an eye opener

<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pilG7PCV448&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pilG7PCV448&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>