Please tell me why we are FREE in America again?

Question

Okay...I pay 58% of my income to the government. I pay 7% sales tax on everything I buy. I pay $4000.00 in property taxes(RENT) every 6 Months and I pay that until I'm dead even when my home is paid off and will always go up. I have to ask permission to my town to put a storage shed in in my back yard..it cost $90.00 to ask and 2 weeks for approval. They also tell me my grass my not be more than 4 1/2 inches long, my children are forced to only go to the school they say...I have no choice. I have to ask permission from the State Department to leave this country (called Pass-port) If I take more than 10K out of the country (MY MONEY) I have to ask for permission. My State taxes me 69 cents per gallon of gas I buy. My retiement is a tax form 410K..that THEY watch like a hawk

My list goes on and on....

How am I free?

Okay...just venting! I love America, but I really loved some of your answers..you really made me laugh on this bad day!

Answer 1

You can complain about it.

Answer 2

You are free to dig a bomb shelter as long as it's a secret.
Free to keep and bear arms but only in your house.
Free to stockpile a year's food but don't let the hoarding police find out.
Free to worship but not on government property.
Free to publish as long as you don't tell people how to avoid taxes.
Free to travel, but better carry ID.

But on a higher note, you are free to change your station in life, your legal status, economic clout, lifestyle. There is no caste system in America. You may be a hippi communist or start your own religion. You can employ guerrilla marketing.

You can avoid most of your complaints by going rural. Complicated urban societies require high levels of regulation. Out in the country you'll still pay property taxes but you can call your unmown lawn a "wildflower garden", build your own shed wherever you want. Enjoy your new hat while riding your horse into town to buy or sell or just visit. Build a treehouse and have just as ugly a mailbox as you can contrive.

It's all up to you. Your choices have lead you to this state of unhappiness. Different choices lead to different results.

(And by the way, while Freedom can be quite real if you work at getting off all the databases, "American Freedom" is a propaganda myth and no longer applies)

Answer 3

Well, You can own a house, can own a car to
put the gas in. Get unemployment and other government run help,
then , you can complain about it to anyone who will listen.
You can have a job of your choice to earn a living. You can improve your lot in life, or not as you choose.
if you lived in Iran, ( during Saddam) you sure would not complain to anyone, punishable by death. You would not have been able to write the above question, there would be no such sight as yahoo Answers. Iran was not and is not the only country that you would be afraid each and every minute of your life.
Travel some. You need to see the world to appreciate what you do have.By the way, take that American dollar with you, the people in other country's love it.

Answer 4

My wonderfully angry sister...I feel your pain! The present lack of freedom in America is the result of a slow, gradual decline in freedom over the last 100 years. The American people have been slowly conditioned by this gradual change, to the point that they no longer recognize real freedom. Hense - most of the above answers. The mentions above, about the lack of freedoms in other countries, is a bit of an unintentional smokescreen. There are lots of countries in the world, where you do not need government permission to do the things you mention. However, in all countries there are always evils.

This problem is growing rappidy recently, and I sugest my brothers and sisters check this out... http://www.freedomtofascism.com/

Answer 5

well let's see --

Who is forcing you to live in this country? I'm not being forced to stay, and to my recollection - none of my friends and family are being forced to either.

As for the schooling - your kids are not forced to go to the public school - you as a parent have the RIGHT and responsiblity to send your children to a school that you see fit - - be it public, private, online or homeschooling.

As for the building codes -- move to another town, or better yet - run for council and make the changes to the city codes and taxes yourself. No taxation without representation.

Your property taxes sound expensive - so MOVE... again - who is forcing you to stay in your current residence? Have you commited a crime and are under house arrest? If not - then you are FREE TO MOVE.

Don't pay your taxes, take the money and buy a passport for your family and revoke your citizenship and move to France if you don't like it here. Stop complaining and do something about it - because we are free to do that here in the good ol' US of A

Answer 6

You are free because we have imposed all of those taxes on ourselves. If we did not want the things that government does with that tax money (schools, roads, military, police, social security, Medicare, etc., etc.) we would not have voted in representatives who enacted those programs. The things you choose to buy with your tax money are really not that different from the things you choose to buy with your discretionary income. The only difference is that we make the decisions on taxes and spending collectively, and not everybody is going to be happy with each and every one of those decisions, and we make the decisions on what to do with our discretionary income individually.

But even the money that doesn't go to the government I don't feel too free as to how I spend it. My wife tells me how to spend a lot of it. A huge amount goes to a bank to pay off a mortgage loan, and then I have to feed and clothe my kids. So I am not free either, but it's not all the government's fault. In many ways, we might be better off if taxes in this country were higher and the government were providing better services, as in Europe or Canada, where taxes are higher but public education and health care are cheaper and better.

Answer 7

Look on the bright side your alive and not being shot at... things could be much worse. Turn on the news, the world is not on a paycheck or bill statement, the world needs results, not frustration about how your about the house you live in is not big enough for all of the retail stuff that a person in Africa could save a whole life for and never attain, You are free to make a difference, give it a try...

Answer 8

AWW, you poor baby. You have to live in a place that makes your grass be less then 41/2 inches? Well, places like that along with the rest of your whining description tells everyone that you are a well off individual. Get used to paying for being rich or get the hell out of the USA and go to cuba where everyone is equal and poor.

Answer 9

To put it in perspective, the US has the lowest tax rates of any industrialized country in the world. In Canada taxes are higher but your medical care is taken care of--financially that is a very good deal. Nobody likes paying taxes so we should be sure when we do its for something useful like our medical care and not an avoidable war that costs taxpayers like you a billion dollars a day.

Answer 10

1. it's freedom, not free stuff
2. we're a capitalist society, money runs our world
3. don't like the taxes, move
4. as for persmission to add on to your house, have long grass, or send your kids to another school (which in some areas you can, and of course there's always private school), move to another area. I know here we don't have that problem. my stepbrother goes to a school a town over and I added onto my house without having a need for a permit (they just don't recognize my structure as a third bedroom and I can't rent it out)
5. you don't ask for permission to leave with a passport, you insure you have permission to come back. and it's so people know where you came from. it's for your safety
6. permission for more than 10k (usually cash) is to help track terrorists (as criminals generally move large amounts of money across borders to hide their true intent). don't like it? don't use money.
7. and if you don't like your 401k, don't have one, it's not a requirement

Answer 11

would you rather live in Iraq or Lebanon or in Russia,China,India .
or any other country. yes we can complain about how bad we have it here. but any other place is much worse go try living in Rwanda and making your life there. don't worry . you will die one day and you will not have concerns. then you will be totally free.
or become a vagabond. give up and sell everything you own put it into cash and put it in a bank only to draw from for food. live in a warm climate and live on the street you will be free. maybe a tad uncomfortable but free. yeah yeah i solved you freedom problem. that will be $100.00 for my advise. nothing is for free.