Is America really Free? And why is is called that when it is really Just America Land of Laws?

Question

is america free? Why do we have law makers and not Right restorers. Are our rights still important. I dont want to vote for law makers. Imagine a world, a country that had right restorers instead of Law makers. It would be better than reactionary law like we have now.

Answer 1

There will never be a perfect world where everyone agrees and believes the same thing. America is a land of tolerance where everyone is given a relatively equal chance to challenge and change mainstream social thinking. A world with no lawmakers would be a world with no laws and a world with no laws would be total chaos because everyone would think that their individual way of thinking is the best way of thinking. Conflicts would surely arise with no laws to mediate between them. While I do believe some laws that emerge seem ridiculous or unnecessary, they are not set in stone and dedication to changing/challenging them by a large number of people could surely make a difference.

Answer 2

Let's just say it's "Freeishness" - the state of thinking you're more free than you very definitely practically are, but we're a lot more free than other countries to be sure. However you asked about America more specifically the US.


The idea is that we are a land of laws and not subject to the whims or a single man or woman however much they may seem to be acting in the interest of the "people". Which is to say that ideally no one person is above the law, not a president, not a vice-president, and all must adhere to the laws of the land.

That's not exactly how it actually happens. Presidents have used "signing statements", maybe some not as much as others, but while they have been used before, they have NOT been used as "circumventions" as with the present administration, but rather as opinion points.

Congress and lobbyists and corporations and particularly many of the agencies of the government have successfully shredded large parts of the constitution.

Most recently the concepts of the 4th amendment have been effectively nullified and this is no longer a meaningful legal statute given the success of the Patriot Act and provisions and changes to it, various aspects of FISA and the DMCA regulations pretty much ensure the rights of agencies or corporations over those of the individual.

It allows for any speech to be deemed against government interests and thereby designates the communicator or said speech as a terrorist.

As a terrorist, the Patriot act also allows citizens to be stripped of their citizenship (so much for the inalienable rights), at the discretion of the president.

Add that up with the "experimental" legislative agendas considering the poster-boy citizens Jose Padillia and Kevin Mitnick and several hundred if not thousands of your fellow citizens whom were anonymously "detained" following 9/11, however all these individuals and more too, were either never charged with crimes or were charged in many cases months or years after they were detained and kept - usually in high levels of isolation.

This is one example concerning just one amendment.

Answer 3

There's a saying that your freedom to swing your fist ends at my nose.

I'll be open-minded here: how do you propose to handle, for example, the issue of assault, homicide, rape, etc. without "reactionary law"? What "restoration of rights" do you propose to combat these?

It sounds good in theory, until you really think about what it means to write your own law. Imagine that your family is hit by a drunk driver, and your child dies in the accident. Imagine that there is no longer any law punishing drunk driving. Imagine that this individual goes free as a bird. Imagine how many others feel fine now about driving drunk, free of the fear of consequences. How many more dead children would it take to convince you that we needed a "reactionary law" to combat the situation?

If everyone's conscience were in good working order, what you propose might work fine. Unfortunately, that's not the case. There has to be a way to ensure responsible, orderly behavior and apply consequences for harmful actions.

Answer 4

I'm an American and I live in Italy and as much as I love it here, I'm fully aware how much better off we have it in the US. The Italians are pretty much free, but there is stuff that goes on here, stuff that really affects the lives of these people, that would never be allowed to go on in America. Something as simple as garbage and how many Italians are forced to live with garbage piled all over because the law makers refuse to do anything about it. I'm not talking about a little garbage here and there, I'm talking piles and piles of it. They have to burn it every few weeks just to get rid of it. People here go months without phone service because they can't get anyone to come and hook up their phone line. Electricity is so expensive here, most Italians don't even have an air conditioner or dryers in their homes because they cost so much to run! ( Our average electric bill runs us close to 900.00 a month. If the Military didn't give us a cost of living allowance, we could never have moved off base and lived in an Italian house. ) The driving is seriously dangerous, not to mention endangering small children who are often seen crawling around in their parents car as they go zooming by at 85mph. It would be like this in the States if we didn't have laws and people to enforce them.
The stuff I mentioned may not sound like a big deal, but when you live with it and see it with your own eyes, you realize how lucky we Americans really are.

Answer 5

I like your point about right restorers vs. lawmakers.

But living in a society is all about striking a balance between freedom and order.

A Supreme Court Justice once said that "Law does not insure justice (though justice will hopefully result) it is merely a method for the peaceful and orderly resolution of disputes."

Answer 6

It is the land of the free in the sense that the people are free. Free to choose a religion; free to speak their minds; free from government oppression; free to ask stupid questions. The people enjoy freedom of the press and the freedom to choose their own life, liberty, and happiness. Your premise that America is just America Land of Laws is incorrect. It is much more than that. It's bigger than that. Much bigger. Much greater. It's apple pie and baseball! It's......

Answer 7

Although a careful eye must be kept on politicians (I believe many are corrupt) in the US one is given rights. Our rights are quite important. What we should be working on is giving more of our own people hope for a better future so that they don't feel as if they need to resort to crime. Also, the US needs to get a grip on it's national debt, which is spiraling trillions and trillions, where will that end?

Answer 8

I think you are trying to distinguish between arbitrary laws and those specifically aimed at the protection of individual rights.(?) - "to the end it may be a government of laws and not of men"

A law for any other purpose is invalid...

Answer 9

"Freedom" does not mean you have the right to infringe upon the rights and freedoms of others. Freedoms and rights are limited. The limitations are those needed to allow everyone to exercise their freedoms to the maximum extent without infringing upon each other's freedoms.

Whenever you have total freedom with no responsibility, you have anarchy and violence.

Answer 10

There is an inherent conflict between my right to take your stuff and your right to keep it. Laws are a pretty good thing in general.