Do you think today's Amercans have lost the concept of what it means to be free and what it costs?

Question

With all the talk about hating war, and bring the troops home, and Bush lied, and impeach Bush, and don't burn the flag, and illegal immigrants should be citizens, and raising minimum wage, and seperation of church and state, and political correctness, yadda yadda yadda, blah blah-freaking-blah.
Have we lost touch with what it truly means to be free?
Have we lost appreciation for the freedoms that our forefathers died for?
Have we lost the concept of what freedom costs and it's worth?
Do we not realize just how free we are?

I know there are those out there that do, i'm not saying everyone has. But sometimes when I hear what some people consider important and why... it makes me wonder.

"You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free."
- Clarence Darrow

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
- Bemjamin Franklin

Answer 1

I do not know if we have lost sight of it, or if the mainstream media simply delights in reporting it because after all, bad news sells better than good news.

Talk to your neighbors and friends, they are probably doing all right. Watch CNN and you will think the sky is falling everyday.

Homeless in America? If you can't get it together here, where are you going to go? There are homeless in other countries whose dream is to someday be homeless in America.-Sam Kinison

Answer 2

CANTCU, are you calling Bush a faccist because of what his grandfather did? That would be the same as me calling you a slave owner because some long lost grandparent of yours owned slaves. You HEATHEN!!

As a veteran myself, I understand what it takes to keep us free. It's not alwasy pretty. I wonder if people would be saying the same thing if Kerry had been elected and we were in the exact same place as we are now. Nah.. probably not.. he'd probably be called a great humanitarian.. (Did you know he was in Vietnam?)

When time passes and we can look back on Iraq and see all the good that has come about because of what we have done.. some of us will be happy with the knowledge that we saw the big picture at the time and appreciated what our guys and gals did over there. And some will sit back and say it was a success in spite of Bush being president. But by then, they'll have all kinds of new unsupported stuff to blame him for.

Keep up the good work over there. There are those here that believe in what you're doing and know you're doing a good job at it.

Answer 3

The Americans of today have lost the value of there freedom and the respect for the price that was paid for it.

I you look through history and really check it out to see the peoples passion for the right to be free...I am truly amazed at the ideals of people today.

All Americans contributed during WWII and it was truly a sacrifice from gas rationing,metal and rubber drives to women who worked and raised children during the war.
People flocked to join the war effort after Pearl Harbor and there was not such a turnout when we were attacked on 9/11 when about the same amount of Americans were killed.

If it was not for our government and military preparedness
and expertise in warfare that we all would a lot sorrier bunch.
So don't complain about wire tapping to find terrorist unless you have a solution and are willing to help.
Don't complain about our government and burn a flag in protest unless you have a better country to immigrate to.


My father was in the 3rd armored div in WWII and drove a tank and we donated to the constuction of the monument in Washington D.C. and to have his name put on the memmorial.

I wanted to go to the memmorial dedication and asked several people to go with me for free and even offered an added jaunt to the east coast for seafood and the general response was:

"why do want to go there...there's only going to be a bunch of old people there"

My response
" You A$$hole ....you might want to use that opportunity to thank a few of them"

The U.S. Government should reinstate the draft... I know that stikes a rift in some people but with the punks on the street today... a little discipline would not hurt them.
I came of age during the me me me selfish Reagan Years and did not serve....I regret that today!

Most people do not even know what Memmorial Day is and think it's just the start of summer.

Disgusted in Detroit

Answer 4

They never did know, because freedoms are taken away a little piece at a time, every law at a time.

50 years ago corporations couldn't pull the stunts they are pulling now.

I like that quote by Franklin. I haven't heard it in a long time.

I know how much it costs, bur what Bush is pulling now has nothing to do with freedom. He told the senator's that he didn't care what the Patriot Act said, he was going to do whatever he wanted to do!

Bush isn't Republican, he's a Fascist! His grandfather supplied the Nazi's with a lot of material, even after the war started!


I'm perfectly comfortable in telling you, our country is one that safeguards human rights and human dignity, and we resolve our disputes in a peaceful way."
—Bush, answering a Russian reporter's question at a Feb. 24 appearance in Bratislava, Slovakia, with Russian President Vladimir Putin
Source: White House web site, Feb. 24, 2005

Answer 5

It seems that it is easier to turn over responsibility to the government than to succeed or fail on our own merits. Our fear of being found wanting has put us in a position where we turn over up to 40% of our money to the government (State, Federal, and Local) so they will ensure we have retirement money, unemployment insurance, and health care. If taking care of yourself isn't the first step in having liberty then what is?
Also, Americans seem pre-occupied with equality at the expense of liberty. It is sorry that equal in the eyes of the law has come to just mean equal. For there to be true liberty then we must all be treated equally before the law, but this doesn't mean we are all equal. Some of us will achieve our dreams and some of us won't.
As a country we have become too soft and too scared to accept that kind of individual responsibility.

Answer 6

Today, "Freedom" seems to mean only what the majority wants or wishes to legislate.

A lot of people have ideas of what freedom means in their heads and get frustrated because others do not believe the same exact thing. Freedom is an abstract term, and its meant to be that way; its what our forefather's intended. I

I'm deeply bothered by how some try to manipulate the Constitution, specifically the Bill of Rights, in trying to legislate what they think is morality.

Answer 7

Mark Twain said "It is by the goodness of God that in our country, we have these three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience and the prudence to practice neither". Many people speak silly words against their country, it's leader & the military that protect them and lack the conscience to do the moral thing, but it does not change what is right & just or who is willing to stand for freedom. I feel sorry for those with so little love for the Iraqi people to be willing to protect them from the Al Queda & Saddams of their country. Yes, people have forgotten the sacrifices required for freedom that their fathers & grandfathers so freely gave.

Answer 8

Yes, we have forgotten the price of freedom. That's sort of the problem with this war. Our leaders keep implying that deep personal sacrifice will not be necessary to win it. That's because it is political suicide to threaten the comfort and convenience of Americans.

During the American Revolutionary War soldiers mortgaged land to buy weapons for their army, and many families went bankrupt. During WWII rationing of everything was a matter of course. I remember Presidents Nixon and Carter asked us to go easy on christmas lights because of the scarcity of energy.

What have I been asked to sacrifice for this war? I know I have been asked to sacrifice my expectations regarding the Bill of Rights, and I have been asked to keep shopping at the mall to keep our economy strong.

But I'd like to sacrifice convenience and laziness and comfort. I'd be willing to carpool, ride a bike, and walk to sacrifice higher gas prices for a while to wean our nation from being dependent upon foreign oil. We are smart enough that we could become energy independent within a few years, if that was a significant priority of ours.

Answer 9

Every American should go and see for themselves how crummy it is in other countries.
I don't talk about just for a visit, I mean to live. Everything is just such a pain. Just like getting a drivers license, getting an apartment. I took me 3 weeks to get a special license for a lousy radio. Look at 9/11 most ppl have forgotten. I really worry whats next?????

Answer 10

No, Americans would like to "protect and defend" our Bill Of Rights and our Constitution, it's Republicans who want to trash the Constitution and they hate the Bill of rights.
many people are very confused and many followed Hitler blindly to their death. I am very grateful to those that have died to protect freedom. Republicans spit on their grave by failing to do what they swore to do when they took office "protect and defend the Constitution". One thing for sure, Freedom is not a gift to be Given in Iraq. Freedom can not be installed as in Nation building. Freedom must be won by the blood of those that desire freedom, it can not be bought with the blood of Americans in Iraq. We lost 58,000 in Nam. How many in Korea?
The 300,000 to 500,000 civilians dead in Iraq are Free.