“May we not think of freedom as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to what is right.” (Peter Marshall). Some people don’t think about freedom as that. Freedom is doing the right thing but when one chooses to do it. Freedom is being able to have certain rights like speaking your mind, and making one’s own decisions.
Freedom, to many people does not necessarily mean they are free. There are many degrees and definitions of freedom throughout the history of America many different races, genders, and ethnicities experienced. The varieties of freedom come from multiple groups of people such as slaves, indentured servants, Native Americans, property owners, and Puritans. All of these groups had their own definition of freedom they experienced, ranging from little to no freedom, freedom from the land they possessed, and the freedom to worship any God they so choose. However, some of these freedoms conflicted with the freedoms of others.
Today we accept that freedom is a basic right human right but what exactly is freedom. 1On one hand, there is physical freedom. People who are not imprisoned or enslaved are free. On the other hand, there is freedom as a the right to act, speak or think what you want. People cannot reach their full potential if they are not free in both senses of the word.
Assuming that the unattainable concept of what we call freedom can somehow be minimized to a level of human comprehension, than it is made self-apparent that the definition of the word is merely an ugly contradiction of itself. The Merriam-Webster dictionary definition for the word "freedom" reads as follows: "The power to act, say or think as one wants without hindering or restraint." This meaning of the word as we know it has been forever lost to the way that society has been constructed, for the selfish purposes of control. Even in the United States of America, the advertised success story and posterchild for freedom, we know only strict parameters under which we can exercise such choice.
All around the world people talk about freedom; America has more freedom than Russia, twenty-one years old as more freedom than a fifteen year old. What does “freedom” mean? Many have different definitions of “freedom”. For some it could be the freedom to speak and act as you want and others it could be to go where ever you want.
There is humanly no possible way to merely or easily define what “freedom” truthfully is, as every distinct person and each social order has opposing restrictions for what this belief is. Bureaucrats and social researchers, for example, have vastly diverse philosophies of what institutes freedom. This primeval belief has been ingrained into mankind since the beginning of time. Century after century mankind has fought in numerous wars for this concept of “Freedom”.
Freedom means different things to different people at different times, depending on what political context is being used. The two major senses of freedom are: freedom of and freedom from. Freedom of means freedom to do something. It is the lack of constraints on behavior. Freedom from means immunity from discrimination and it comes close to the concept of equality.
What is Freedom? Freedom is what we have. It symbols that citizens like us to
“Freedom is being you without anyone’s permission” by anonymous. This means that a world of freedom is a world of peace, where you don’t have to worry about your decisions. Freedom is a very important aspect of U.S. History. There were many different political and social struggles that made America what it is today, free. I believe that the U.S. is considered the “land of the free” because of the many people who did whatever they could to see the nation succeed.
The word freedom is often associated with the idea of an unfettered liberty to select from a range of alternatives coupled with a sense that our actions will not affect our natural state.
The notion of freedom can mean different things to different people, it all depends on the level of freedom you have over your own life. It could be freedom of speech, religious freedom, freedom of the press or even freedom of economy. However you see it they all seem to describe a sense of personal freedom, which no doubt everybody wants, but only some seem to have. No other democratic society in the world allows personal freedoms to the degree of the United States of America. They have been able to establish a set of legal rules that systematically protects all forms of freedom. Freedom remains the lone basis for American society as we know it. Without freedom the great nation of America would have never been created. Just as how the
Freedom means to mean to have the right to choose what you would like to do, and making your own decisions.
Freedom is the power to live as one would choose. Contrary to what some people may assume, religious freedom is not simply the freedom to worship or to believe the way one chooses. Rather, religious freedom, also includes our, freedom of conscience to make and follow our own moral convictions. In America there are people from many different religious backgrounds. All of them are able to practice their own religion openly and without any fear and I am one of these people.
What is freedom? Is there a specific meaning to the word? Could the meaning be different for everyone? There is of course the obvious answer, where you might say that freedom is the essence of not being controlled by anyone. In the same way, you could reply by saying that freedom is having the ability to make your own choices. Both answers are correct in their own way. However, it could also be described in a very different manner if you were to ask Walt Whitman. A common theme is a lot of Whitman’s poetry is freedom; he observed the world around him, and had his own ideas of the true meaning of freedom. The definition of freedom may be simple to most people, but the true meaning is very deep, personal, and specific; it can never be explained, only experienced.
What is the true meaning of the word, “freedom”? According to Webster’s Dictionary, “freedom is the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action” (Webster). Even though that is the formal definition of freedom, others may their own meaning of the word “freedom”. For some people, freedom is acting as one pleases. And for others, freedom is always feeling joyful. For most, freedom plays a positive role in their life. When people have more freedom, this generally means more rights, choices, and opportunities. In the United States, citizens have the freedom to worship, congregate, speak, and vote. Americans often take these freedoms for granted. Unfortunately, this situation is not the case in other parts of the world. Freedom has many years of history, has many causes and effects, and has its’ own meanings of negation.