What are these "freedoms" that Americans hold such a monopoly on?

I travel a lot, so I've been wondering for years what are these freedoms that Americans have that other people living in modern Western societies don't have.

I can't see any.

Don't have passports speaks volumes for this idiocy. I forgot what the statistic was. He'll I've lived in Eastern Europe and felt more free.

I'm pretty sure they see the rest of the world as either Bad Ole Muslims, France (how dare they disagree??), or Mexico (they're poor because they don't have great republican leaders!).

them thar Canucks, what are all commies 'cuz they got that thar socialized medicine. They don't have the freedom to pay out the ass for precriptons and medical attention, like we done got here in the land of the rich, and the home of the corporate wage slaves.

They're gonna take us over with their electronics/cheap plastic grap that we can't get enough of!!!

and maybe Russia (they're still godless commies of course!)

Japan will go down with the American ship-- or at least, wait until the water is lapping at the deck before manning the lifeboats.

China is the country to be concerned about.

and whining that they were going to take us over...

The difference between now and then ('80s), however, is that Japan was (and still is) firmly in the American sphere and was receptive to American pressure to cut back exports to the US and set up production facilities in the US. China, on the other hand, is a major potential adversary-- a nuclear power, at that-- that is now taking over nearly all aspects of what was once American production, with the apparent blessing of the American ruling elite.

I just returned from Amsterdam, and the Netherlands definitely fits my idea of what "freedom" is more than this version of America. This administration is the most anti-freedom crew I've seen.

able to order papers from publishing any further stories on the Aljazeera attack issue that alluded to conversations/memos between Bush and Blair.

Think of the many stories that don't get attention. I think it's intentional and this admin puts the kibosh on certain issues they don't want discussed.
Case in point, the 'new' Abu Ghraib pics. I haven't heard one word on that whole debacle recently. It's very tough getting any info on it.

No journalism outfit has them. They are currently property of the U.S. Govt. In the UK, the media has documentation but are unable to write about it.

and running with it?

It would be stupid and irresponsible to run a story without any proof, no?

stifled in the quest for the truth? Or is the American media even interested in the truth? (Rhetorical question)

earlier this week. Tallahassee to Ft. Worth to Oregon and points in between. And that's just one particular story.

Yep, the press sure has been stifled on this one.

the Abu Graib sequel photos have been delayed for what, nearly 2 years now?

or, Sibel Edmonds was retroactively subjected to a gag order?

media (as the Blair memos are in the UK). So the analogy doesn't hold water.

As for Sibel Edmonds, she is/was a Government employee, not a member of the media.

Why isn't the US media pouncing on the fact that the administration is defying (yet another) court order?

As far as that goes, why isn't the US media pressing the issue of the non-release of the Reagan (and now bu$h 1) papers, which were required, by law, to be released 12 years after the respective presidents left office?

Or the fact that Cheney has conveiniently been dodging a subpoena for refusing to release the papers from his secret energy papers?

The US media is free, all right-- free to publish stories about sharks, missing beauties, and celebrities gone astray.

that we have a free press in this country? Could've fooled me.

documented examples. Thanks.

with the way Dan Rather and CBS got smeared for doing a story on Shrubs AWOL episodes in the National Guard. Rather was smeared, and CBS let it happen. I'm impressed. Frankly, when I want the truth, not propaganda, I log onto the net and check U.K. publications to find out what's really going on. PS - I didn't accuse you of anything - ??? On edit - and incidentally, I recall that Rather was forced to apologize for doing the story. I have yet to hear any apologies from the Repukes about the lies and smear campaign they ran against Mr. Kerry, basically accusing the man of not having won his military decorations honestly. And the "free press" regurgitated their lies very dutifully.

directly suppressed the publishing of information by a media outfit, which is what the OP is about.

they do it indirectly, as in the incident with Rather that I mentioned. The administration and ruling party rely on third party sycophants to do their dirty work. At least in the U.K., they're honest about the suppression. They don't go about it in an underhanded way, and then try to maintain a phony veneer of "freedom". It's still suppression, just different methodology. A rose by any other name is still a rose.

how the hell would you KNOW if the government suppressed the publishing of information by a media outfit?

I mean if they were successful at it, then you wouldn't know, would you?

... (which is the law used to suppress publication of that memo), but we might as well have the same thing when authoritarian administrations attempt to shut down the FOIA process, such is happening now, and we have a press scared to challenge the authority of certain administrations (such as our current one).

And, not all western governments have an Official Secrets Act as strong as the UK.

Not all Western governments are quite so dependent upon--and in bed with--corporations as we are, either....

and when the crash comes, "I told you so" should be the only words spoken from our lips.

Our populace is truly uninformed or misinformed... and that's when they're not just their typical self-serving "I want it all for nothing and I'll run you over to get it too!" selves.

They say ignorance is bliss. Yet the polls show otherwise.

Think it's great go live in um...Ethopia and then coem bak and youl know ths is the greatest country on earth and everyone else sucks.

So there. :sarcasm:

Seriously...this isn't a question you dare ask in mixed company (thinking and non-thinking). It can get you attacked in parking lots by angry nationalistic mobs.

You take great risks when you dispel such illusions.

exists in Amerika.

http://www.internationalist.org/defendoakland251003.html






Left: Cop fires shotgun at antiwar protesters and longshoremen at port of Oakland, April 7. Right: Demonstrator hit by police "non-lethal" munitions. (Photos: Tim Wimborne/Reuters and Paul Sakuma/AP)

An account of the April 7 attack in the Maritime Worker Monitor (July 2003) detailed the “unprovoked, premeditated police attack.” It noted, “Reportedly, police had targeted longshoremen,” in part because ILWU Local 10 had taken stands against the U.S. war on Iraq. “In all 5 longshoremen were sent to the hospital with shot wounds. Some of the demonstrators had been hit by cops charging them on motorcycles. One of the demonstrators, June Brashares, while sitting in the paddy wagon after being arrested said in her statement: ‘Over the police radio a voice ordered the motorcycle police to go forward and bump them’.”



http://www.ftaaimc.org/en/2003/11/2049.shtml
Quote from site:

>>I sustained six rubber bullet wounds while capturing these photos. <<

That is just HORRIBLE! I am so sorry that you had to go through that....man, I am out of words here...

bullets hit me, I'd be in jail now... I am NOT a pacifist when it comes to being shot at for no good reason. I edited it to reflect that fact.... sorry for the confusion.

I've asked a few and have gotten a blank stare in respnsse

When they say "freedom" they mean US-style capitalism. Just like when they say "family values" they really mean the idea of the husband working and the wife staying home and raising the kids. imho, of course.

are synonyms.

:sarcasm: (of course)

than the USA if you include slavery (which you should). As democracies go America was the first (again ignore the slavery). But comes a time when you cannot slide in on your past. It was a new idea - many places followed. Now - 100 years later ... freedom exists all over. But not everywhere.

that America invented Democracy? Or Freedom?

Just asking.

they didn't invent it or freedom. People had been free and then lost it, and then been free and then lost it again, for eons. There were legislative assemblies in Greece - in England & certainly in the concensus building process in parts of Africa for a long time.

If you were a man.

fact is that wealth is inherited in this country now. The american dream is dead

1999, I must say that my view on USA has changed drastically and to the worse. There are so many things here that I find disgusting, inhumane, unfree, corrupt and crimial that I seriously consider moving back home despite the fact I'm fed up with the weather and that is the reason I live in Florida. :-)
I must say I praise myself lucky to be white, healthy, working for a great company with great pay and benefits. Plus the fact that I'm still covered when it comes to medical expenses from my homecountry, even if i don't live there or pay taxes there. Beeing a minority in USA must be worse than hell in many cases.

Free speech?
There is not a single country on this planet with free speech. All have some form of restrictions and as it should be.

And one of the reasons why USA is so bad these days, is the political system with only 2 major political parties. Which again results in USA ruled as a one-party state plus the fact that there is ZERO accountability in politics. And where are the people in politics? Not sure of the percentage, but it seems like every politician is a lawyer. In my country, politicians comes from all walks of life and in most cases from the regular people, not rich and powerful. Money is no factor in our elections since it is the political parties that pay for the campaign and not each individual. Corruption is virtually nonexistant and the longest prison sentence you can get is 21 years and very, very few has ever gotten this sentence, yet crime is low, esp violent crimes despite the mild sentences compared to here.

And when it comes to human rights violations, USA is a country with a long rap sheet of violations which continues today, just take a look at Amensty Internationals rankings.

I don't like a lot of the way things are done here, I love the country and have no problems with the people in general although to my big surprise when I moved here I found that the average American is extremly uninformed and to some extent brainwashed. This is not the thread to discuss that but when I started looking at the world history thaught in schools here, I wondered if this was a different planet from what I know.

I have now lived and worked for shorter or longer terms in 6 different countries, speak 7 different languages and so far USA is at the bottom of that list when it comes to a desirable place to live. Too bad because I love the country.

from childhood, to think that America is the freest, greatest, most magnanimous nation on earth. It's all bullshit, of course, but when you have it pounded into your head 24/7 almost from the day you're born, it's hard to break free of the mind set. Those of us who have studied and traveled, and who have been exposed to other cultures, see through the b.s. and realize that America is no better than other Western nations, and a lot worse than some. I know beyond doubt, that the majority of nations in Western Europe, and Canada too, are much more advanced and enlightened than the U.S. Fact is, we're extremely backward.

nt

The "home of the free" meme made sense in 1800 when the US was the most democratic major nation of the time. Now, it makes no sense, it is a stupid saying used to keep the sheeple who can't find our country on a map in line. I would guess the most free developed nation on earth today would probably be the Netherlands.

is often smeared by conservative morons, who probably don't even realize that the Netherlands contributed to our winning independence, by joining the war against Britain. Actually, they were attacked by Britain, or their Caribbean colonies were, because they had been supplying arms and ammunition to the Continental forces.

or at least so the lyric goes....

MZr7

The American freedom is not to just kill 10 with a little bomb, but to
kill 1000's with big bombs, destroying societies, and churning over all
the property stripped from its holders as new investment opportunities
for halliburton.

The american freedom is to use WMD's and to get away with it, and that
is why everyone is jealous... they all want to get away with mass
murder, and why should mass murder only be a refuge of insane nations
that actually USE such power repeatedly, criminally, to assert
monopoly on the abuse of force, the husband beats the wife, and the
kitchen falls silent as she wipes the blood off her cheek. The rule
of force is that the husband thinks he's gotten away with it. He's
proven to the woman that he can injure her, even kill her with his
brutality, and she won't seek revenge, no, rahter she'll ask him to
rape her, that she can forever carry his baby and remember the
abuse, burning it in to her soul, loving the abuse of anglo americana.

Ain't it a gass to fuck people over... that's the real american way...
for all the glossy propaganda suggesting otherwise, how tragically sad.

good post

by the highest court in the land, with barely a peep from the so-called opposition :woohoo:

Instead of a broad brush approach it would be instructive to compare just one country with another.

perhaps someone from canada can help you.

And more and more. More for any who can grab it and hang on to it. By virtually any means possible, cost to other people and nature be damned. This is true freedom.:sarcasm:

believe it or not- we still have the most open press laws.
even moreso since they did away with "equal time"...

We don't have an "Official Secrets Act".

Our libel laws are much more pro-defendant than those which exist in many other countries.