Like, I was talking to this woman about life in Europe, and she said, “well at least in America, I am free”. What the hell does that even mean? Do Americans believe we’re all over here in schakels or what? I live in Germany, which is a more free country than America. How many incarcerated people in the US. Not to mention the terrible work/life balance. I’ve an uncle in Arizona, all he does is work and go to bed. Who gives them this illusion that they have the freedom and no one else? If America is the land of the free, then Germany is the land of the funny!
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Most of us don’t.
Because they are all brainwashed to think that
>>If America is the land of the free, then Germany is the land of the funny!
That’s actually pretty funny
The propaganda is strong and the schooling weak.
It’s the right wing pitch to scare the proles into swallowing the corporate shit
Propaganda
Populism is a compliment in the USA. Here in germany it‘s an insult.
Because it’s what their media and politicians constantly tell them combined with an ignorance of the rest of the world.
In your example, the person is stating that in their country, they are free, not that it’s the only place where there is freedom.
Nonetheless, this value was true as initial settlers looked for a land of freedom for their god, their business, and their way of thinking. Not many other countries were formed with that in mind.
Nowadays, that principle is kept alive more of in the nature of propaganda, which backs up their war efforts and moral superiority. So their media and overall culture repeat that slogan as the propaganda it is.
It’s not that America is the only free country. We are just a touch more liberal with our liberty.
For example in the UK or Germany if you dress your dog up as Hitler. You can be arrested. It happened in the UK.
In the US you could create a traveling circus with Circus animals dressed up as members of the third reich. You could have thousands of people come. You could even expose hate against groups. As long as it’s not violent then you’re good.
That’s the difference. Also guns.
You should read about Negative and Positive Liberty. It may give you some insight.
SOME Americans say/believe this, and it’s purely due to propaganda. Nothing more, nothing less. There is no real reason or logic they can give to you as to why.
I mean I don’t. But yeah a fair amount of the population does which is silly. They usually aren’t registered to vote.
Many American do not think this way. But also many of us are just genuinely insane. Sorry about that one she should be here drinking unpasteurized milk.
Because a lot of the harmful policies here are sold to voters in language emphasizing their “freedom”. Like our lack of gun control is obviously freedom to own weapons, our lack of environmental regulation is freedom to run your business the way you like, our dog shit healthcare system is freedom to choose (and pay for) your own medical care. Frequently these things end up stripping away peoples’ actual freedom for important things, but on a surface level it’s something a lot of people are blindly patriotic aboutt
Because freedom is a really broad word. So when an American claims they have freedoms that Europeans for example don’t have, sometimes that’s true. Sometimes it’s sorta true, and sometimes it’s a misunderstanding of foreign laws and is false. But it really depends.
Americans have some pretty staunch freedoms in that one of our founding documents is an explicit limit on what government can and can’t encroach on. The first one, speech, is taken for granted, and many people feel like America is no better than non American countries when it comes to speech. I would disagree. A European may say for example, well we have laws against the encroachment of free speech, without understanding how ingrained our law is and why that’s so important. People probably won’t like this example but it is factually a point towards American freedom over other western countries freedoms. In Canada truckers who participated in protests had their assets frozen. Thats just impossible for the American government to have pulled off. In the UK people can and are, whether you think its reasonable or not, being arrested for speech that does not directly threaten any specific person but is categorized as hate speech. In the US, notable leftish leaning groups like the ACLU have been known in the past to fight for the right of free speech for explicit hate groups like the KKK or Nazis. There are lots of other guaranteed rights by our constitution that would take so much political will to change, that it’s more likely that our government collapses completely before those laws are able to be changed.
In conclusion, what may be the disconnect is the framing of the word freedom. Americans have a very individualistic view of the word freedom, where Europeans have a very egalitarian view of the word freedom, freedom might mean equality to a European, or it might mean unity to an Asian culture. Americans view it as “their freedom” not a shared freedom it’s a possessive MINE. For better or for worse, in my opinion for better.
There was a similar question posted last week (can’t find it rn).
But the top answer essentially summarised it as two different points of view:
Feedom to and freedom from
Americans are free to buy whatever, to say whatever etc. Vs non Americans view freedom more as “we’re free from constant mass shootings, free from unhealthy foods, free from discrimination”
propaganda and bad education
Americans are raised to believe they’re the best country ever, and that everything else has to be worse than them, especially since 99% of Americans will never learn anything about other countries, so they aren’t forced to face the actual facts of said countries
Maybe because this is the ONLY land where you can freely be dumb and feel proud of it?
Also, only here, the corporations have the ultimate freedom to bribe and buy politicians?
And the health insurance companies can freely exploit people?
It’s the greatest country to some people, just not all the people.
I’m free to do a nazi salute without getting arrested, my understanding is that is not the case in Germany.
Do I WANT to do one? No.
Do I WANT to be able to? … … … Yes.
Would I trade the ability to do nazi salutes for getting rid of health insurance companies and having medicare-for-all? Yes.
In some cases we also have too much freedom. We have the freedom to own guns that can kill a hundred people in under a minute. We don’t need that.
I think people see america as this “I can do whatever I want” type of mentality.
I think what most people don’t realize is there is a freedom that is afforded by a safety net. Freedom from worry, financial ruin, and other issues that are common in America.
As an American who has lived abroad most of their adult life and mostly only knows liberal-minded Americans…I always forget so many of my countrymen are like that. (Well, the recent election was a stark, horrible reminder as well.) It’s really embarrassing for me to meet weird patriotic Americans. Please don’t think we’re all like that!
We definitely have more freedom in our speech. That’s probably what they are referring too.
Work/life balance various from job field or job.
Your uncle is probably just low income. But, there’s plenty of people that are not.
TBF, i think it’s less the only country and more the most free county, like take the UK. For example, they aren’t allowed to own guns or certain types of knives. Hell, people are going to jail for Facebook and Twitter posts.
We don’t even wanna talk about China or Russia. Don’t know a lot about Africa ngl. My ancestors would be ashamed. I’m not super sure about Canada either tbh.
And as far as South America goes, there’s just a lot going on. The gangs run most things, so I wouldn’t call it free personally
America has more individual freedom in regards to government oppression or over reach. The main example is a lack of hate speech laws, thus more freedom of speech.
People with your view tend to talk about the feeedom index, which focuses on freedom as ability to pivot. For example USA is rated lower for lack of tax funded health care.
I don’t know for instance the uk doesn’t have freedom of speech and in Germany you can get fined for flipping someone off
Not everyone has the same perspective and understanding of the world at large. In general, the western culture nations have the most individual freedoms for citizens and foreign visitors, but there are variations within these countries. I think the U.S. is still the leader in protecting the Right to Free Speech(1A) and the Right to Bear Arms(2A). If we lose the 2nd Amendment, then the 1st Amendment will follow. Look at what the U.K. is doing arresting people for silently praying and telling people who live within a certain distance from abortion clinics that they are not allowed to pray against the clinic in their own homes.
There are problems in our justice system at the federal and state levels and I’m not versed enough on the subject to even know where to start, but there are people working on it.
Your uncle works and sleeps, and nothing else? Why doesn’t he find work somewhere else? Depending on his citizenship status, he has the freedom to find another employer, move to a new city or change states, just like he would in Germany and other nations. If he is still a German citizen, why doesn’t he move back there if it is so much better?
I work 40hrs/week as an HVAC tech and have time for social dancing, going to the gym, spending time with friends and family, and enjoying other hobbies and interests.
Yes, there is less of a social safety net, but that is how we want it. Government has one tool for enforcement, a monopoly on the use force. So, it should be very limited in its use of that force. Most Americans don’t like the growth of bureaucracy and licensing that has happened over the last century because they make so many rules people cannot keep track and there is no accountability to the voters.
It used to be that when someone never left their village, neither did their opinions. To our own collective detriment, the internet has given every last one of us an equal voice.
The US was much freer much sooner than most of the rest of the world, so it’s mostly a cultural hangover from that. While most of Europe was under monarchies, kaisers, czars, autocracies, dictatorships, etc, the US was (at least for a portion of its population) a constitutional republic with guaranteed freedoms. And don’t forget we’re not talking about some hazy, mythic past: half of Europe (including half of your own country) was demonstrably unfree into quite recent times.
The freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights are arguably still stronger than those found in many other countries. This is not to say that the US is currently the world pinnacle of human freedom, just that the self mythos doesn’t come from nowhere.
I wouldn’t say work/life balance is a sign of lack of freedoms per se, as opposed to other things wrong with a system. Ditto crime levels: sadly, Americans just commit much more violent crime.
For what it’s worth I’m an American living in Germany. It’s a wonderful country.
Americans and Europeans have radically different ideas about what freedom is.
Americans believe in freedom from government.
Europeans believe in freedom through government.
Once you understand that it becomes far easier to see how both Americans and Europeans think they are more free than the other.
Eh I wouldn’t say German is AS FREE as America.
Better quality of life is not the same thing as free. Not that Europe is even close to authoritarian, but safety is the main argument for authoritarianism. Americans by and large have chosen freedom over safety, even if they would be happier with a little more protections.
In France, it is illegal to wear a hijab in public.
Freedom of speech is weaker in a lot of countries to the point where people get arrested for insulting public officials online or being politically correct.
In America, you are innocent until proven guilty. Others have since copied this, but they give exceptions.
We can have guns. Which is a freedom many European countries have given up for public safety.
It is more dangerous to be a trans person in the UK where even the liberals hate them.
There is less nepotism in America since we have no hereditary noble families. I believe there is less racism as well.
In her mind: Freedom of speech maybe? (Not for long apparently)
Land of the Free, I believe, is to reference a haven for immigrants and those seeking freedom from prosecution.
The current administration is bent on destroying the foundations our country was built on.
Because we don’t get arrested for social media posts
Disclaimer: I am Panamanian, not American. Don’t live in the US either, just went to college there
I doubt most Americans, except a small percentage of very illiterate or naive hillbillies, believe no one else has freedom. Their belief is more to the tune that America’s ideals are rooted in freedom, and/or they have a special tradition of freedom.
Perhaps it sounds as propaganda now, especially considering the current state of Western Europe politics, but you have to understand where it comes from.
For starters, the nation had a constitution with universal guarantees for citizens (bill or rights) at a time when many countries had absolute monarchies.
Even in the 20th century, you had fascist and/or communist dictatorships in just about any country in Europe: Hitler, Franco, Mussolini, Tito, Stalin, Hoxa, Quisling, etc. True, is not that everyone was in SHACKLES, but in those dictatorships the rights of the individual were pretty much suppressed.
This is also true of many other places in the World. Here in Panama we enjoy freedom now, but I remember how we suffered persecution for dissenting back in the 80’s.
And, surely Europe, Japan, Western Europe and most of Latin America enjoy freedom now. Yet many many other large nations don’t. Good examples are China and Russia, so compared to their rivals, they are free.
Because that’s what we’re told and too many of us don’t do any research or look any deeper than what they’re told IF it makes them feel good.
It’s because people in the USA have more “freedom to” (own guns, protest and use the most extreme amount of free speech, attend any church or even cult of their choosing, declare bankruptcy over and over etc.) but a heck of a lot less “freedom from” (losing your house over medical treatments, being detained for decades in for profit prisons, getting shot in a drive-by, and accessing affordable healthcare).
So those who value “freedom to” aspects of the US feel more free than Germans. For example, even as a European myself I don’t agree with German police waiting at airports to check for parents who are taking their kids on vacation out of term time. But then again I also wouldn’t want to live in a country where my neighbour can legally have 40 guns in their house.
Tbh many European countries now imprison people for mean words on Facebook, I don’t think that’s more free.
You don’t have to like what someone says, but when you send in a doorkicker team because of a facebook post, there are fundamental issues
I honestly don’t understand it either. As an American I do not at all feel free. There are so many rules, schemes, crime, and corruption everywhere. It’s a very greedy place driven by money over people’s health and safety.
“In order to be free, you must be dumb, that’s why it’s call free-dumb (freedom)”
-Eddie Griffin
Propaganda. Same reason we believe that the military is somehow protecting our freedom
It means that our media does a better job of insulating us and making us believe things are better than they really are.
The propaganda is pervasive and they get you right from grade school
When americans can afford to go abroad they mostly come back disappointed to what they coming back to.
It’s indoctrination.
We think we are freer because so many come here and we equate that with we are better and must be freer. We don’t really think about it.
I think it’s a general laziness, lack of curiosity.My wife and I (both Americans) were watching a British cop show and I mentioned that something on the show could be explained by “freedom of the press”. And she said “well, that’s our thing. They dont have freedom of the press”. I was dumbfounded. I mean I’m not expert but I assumed in general the UK has many of the same guarantees of freedom that we do in the US. And since the show seemed to be demonstrating that I felt my guess was pretty solid. My wife however, just assumed the opposite. Since she had been told the US was exceptional in so many ways we must have some sort of monopoly on freedom, despite a show we are watching suggesting otherwise. And she was far more confident in her assumption than I was in mine because I knew I didn’t have solid facts to back it up.
With its cowboys and guns and steam train rides, America became known as the land of the free. Which must have come as a surprise to all the slaves.
I am from the states and for a long time have believed its an illusion
American exceptionalism. It’s what we’re taught in schools as kids. We’re just taught that we’re so much better than everyone else and how we are the reason WW1 and WW2 was won. We are the saviors and protectors of the world.
Luckily for me, a son of immigrant parents I’ve always had a more open mind than that. And honestly, football/soccer exposed me to different countries and cultures.
Propaganda
I was born in 1980. Throughout my childhood and adulthood “Land of the free” was pushed hard. No specifics no concrete “this is what freedom is” just “We’re the land of the free” and it’s been used to justify everything from “I can tell the President to go fuck himself” to “I’m going to be a bigoted asshole”
The people who believe we’re the only country with freedom can be summed as such “I have freedom so I can live however I want but I won’t because other adults will judge me.”
I’m not talking things they should be judged for either “No that’s for kids, women etc.”
America is also very big, where:
In other words, people are isolated over here, so never have experiences to counter the propaganda.
Because that’s what we’re taught