freedom

[grider]

i want to ask what freedom means cause i dont think we all hear the same word and i really want your opinion all are wecome and requested

[Murco]

Freedom means different things to different people and it's definition is probably rooted in where you grew up and when. For me, freedom is the ability to travel at will, speak my opinion, pursue most any dream I have, attain wealth and property, to basically do as I please when I choose to do it.
I have travelled to 33 countries and met many people who's idea of freedom is much different. Most have much more modest ideas of what freedom is and there is little to fault with that. However, I think true human nature lusts for freedom.
As a 45 y/o American citizen I grew up with high expectations of the future, the primary one being little restriction on how I lived my life.
America is truly unique in human history, and truly exceptional when you consider that the founding fathers were going against every historical model for society.

[oldblu65]

According to Janis Joplin's famous song " Me and Bobby McGee " - " Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose " ! Of course , that's not the true meaning of freedom ! To me it means the ability for one to choose their direction in life without interference from others including the government .This assumes the direction doesn't include illegal activity . Ask a million people and you're likely to get a million different answers ! It is whatever you want it to be . Just my !

[GeoRandy]

Freedom is the ability and fortitude to accept responsibility for one's actions.

I am mystified by people who say they want government to stay out of their business yet they use and continue to use government services daily. We drive to work and travel on an interstate highway system that no private business would have ever attempted or accomplished. The government (we the people, mostly our ancestors) built and paid for it. And, most use it and other government goods and services without respect or recognition that it is a priviledge and not a right, which took planning, the right people in charge, along with sacrifice and dedication to future generations to get it done. Most drink, flush and waste water planned and maintained by government. How many people continue to use the US Postal Service?! We do need less government in many areas and an adept government where necessary, that does what we pay them to do. Our founding fathers set up a federal government for our good.

I don't take Janis's definition. She was a junkie who died of an overdose.
Rather, Freedom is another word for "everything to lose."

Just my (one of the million definitions) opinion.

And of course, the moderator has the freedom to delete this.

[Murco]

Originally Posted by GeoRandy

Our founding fathers set up a federal government for our good.

Actually, our founding fathers sought to limit the size and scope of the federal government to the absolute minimum, basically giving it only enough power to raise and sustain an Army. States were to hold all the power (10th amendment), something that later federalist progressives like Lincoln and Roosevelt watered-down.

As for some of your other assertions...

Originally Posted by GeoRandy

I am mystified by people who say they want government to stay out of their business yet they use and continue to use government services daily.

I am mystified as to why you are so enamoured with the federal government yet seem to have no historical knowledge of what it's roll was meant to be, what is has become, and most importantly, how it has become what it is today. Most things the federal government does it bans private companies from doing, mostly to protect gevernment employee union jobs. FedEx and UPS have demonstrated several times how they could deliver mail more reliably and far cheaper than the postal service. That will never happen because of the postal union and we will be paying more for less for the foreseeable future...

Originally Posted by GeoRandy

We drive to work and travel on an interstate highway system that no private business would have ever attempted or accomplished. The government (we the people, mostly our ancestors) built and paid for it.

Wanna bet?! Engineering and paving contractors built the damn thing, not the government! We the people backed it with bonds, it wasn't built out of the government's coffers. The biggest roll government played was using "eminent domain" to steal people's property for the project! And we are still paying for it today, and it's upkeep. If the roads were maintained by private firms I promise you they would be in much better condition and work zones wouldn't stretch for 15 miles!!!

Originally Posted by GeoRandy

And, most use it and other government goods and services without respect or recognition that it is a priviledge and not a right, which took planning, the right people in charge, along with sacrifice and dedication to future generations to get it done..

"GOVERNMENT GOODS AND SERVICES???? What "GOODS" does the government make?? Do you have any clue of what the government really is and does?? I'm picturing a 4th grader that thinks the government makes things...

Originally Posted by GeoRandy

Most drink, flush and waste water planned and maintained by government..

At a far higher expense than needed...

Originally Posted by GeoRandy

How many people continue to use the US Postal Service?!

HA! See above!!!

[dolanan]

to me freedom was everything without rules and limits

[GeoRandy]

Originally Posted by Murco

Actually, our founding fathers sought to limit the size and scope of the federal government to the absolute minimum, basically giving it only enough power to raise and sustain an Army. States were to hold all the power (10th amendment), something that later federalist progressives like Lincoln and Roosevelt watered-down.

National security is a good thing. You shouldn't have a problem with that.
And, while we are speaking of governments, note that states are governed by governments.


As for some of your other assertions...
I am mystified as to why you are so enamoured with the federal government yet seem to have no historical knowledge of what it's roll was meant to be, what is has become, and most importantly, how it has become what it is today.


Enamoured, I'm not. Laughing, I am. Playing the cards I've been dealt, you bet. See comment above regarding historical knowledge.

Most things the federal government does it bans private companies from doing, mostly to protect gevernment employee union jobs. FedEx and UPS have demonstrated several times how they could deliver mail more reliably and far cheaper than the postal service. That will never happen because of the postal union and we will be paying more for less for the foreseeable future...

What does it cost to send a post card by either of the two mentioned, and do they come by your house every day just to check?

Wanna bet?! Engineering and paving contractors built the damn thing, not the government! We the people backed it with bonds, it wasn't built out of the government's coffers. The biggest roll government played was using "eminent domain" to steal people's property for the project!

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/faq.htm

Eminent domain? I know people who have made hugh profits selling property to the government at over inflated prices, they liked the government then. The government came and took my house after a flood and wouldn't let me rebuild. I was mad. I loved that piece of property and 100 acres on that creek. Am I mad at the government? I was, but they bought me out at a fair price (less that what I waid I would sell it for though before the flood. I got over it. Like I said, I just play the cards I'm dealt.

And we are still paying for it today, and it's upkeep. If the roads were maintained by private firms I promise you they would be in much better condition and work zones wouldn't stretch for 15 miles!!!

I want mobilization superb if our homeland is attacked. Upkeep is a good thing. Do you use it, i.e. do your goods and service providers use it? Mine do. I want gasoline to arrive at my local gas station, I want groceries to arrive at my local grocery. I want auto parts to arrive at my local part retailer....on government roads, with traffic signals, policed and maintained. If there is a defect, we call the government and they fix it hopefully. They may have the option to contract it out to private firms or do it in-house. I.e., goods and services.

"GOVERNMENT GOODS AND SERVICES???? What "GOODS" does the government make?? Do you have any clue of what the government really is and does?? I'm picturing a 4th grader that thinks the government makes things...

Did your capital lock button stick on you?

Take a look at the Colorado River Lakes in west Texas right now and the cities that they supply with water. Government to the rescue, local, state, possibly federal. How bad would the Mississippi floods be without control measures taken decades ago by government(s)? Would BP have done anything about the gulf spill if we had no federal government? Most people look to FEMA for help when they've lost everything, I'm glad for them when they get the help.

A 4th grader? Thanks bud (that's sarcasm). You seem to like putting people down by associating them to a certain level of grade school education. Maybe you know what grade do they teach punctuation? You can believe whatever you want. I'm happy for you.


At a far higher expense than needed...

Expense? Who bids on the jobs and does the work....the private firms. So, are they charging our government more than they should?

HA! See above!!!

Lol.