We are not free- Really
Justina Kedzierski
September 24, 2013
Dr. Dolgin
Tuesday Night English 101
We are not free- Really
“Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you,” said French philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre. This is how majority of people live day to day without realization that they are. According to Webster’s dictionary freedom is defined as, “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. “ We the people believe that we are “free” when, in fact, we are not entirely free. The freedom we possess does not exactly match the given definition; instead, it matches up with Sartre’s quote. We have altered the definition of freedom due to the society we live in. Based off of how we live and what circumstances have been placed on us, we work around it and create our own version of freedom. Our lives are greatly affected around the rules placed by the government and the expected guidelines that society imposes on us to restrict true individual freedom and change our idea of freedom. Though our government, the Government of the United States of America, gives us many freedoms (freedom of speech, religion, press, etc), we are still not wholly free. Without laws and rules chaos would arise, however; with them we are not completely free to do as we please. For instance, we do not have the freedom to drive a car as fast as we feel. We have laws and rules restricting how we can drive. But, if we think within our given restrictions, then we see ourselves as free. We can freely transport ourselves in our own vehicle when we want to where we want, but we must do so under the laws given. Another restriction the government has placed on driving is that a vehicle must have insurance on it to be driven legally. The freedom of choosing whether or not you want car insurance is out of the question. Driving a car itself is limited only to those over the age of sixteen. Anything that requires a license is restricted by the government, for example,
September 24, 2013
Dr. Dolgin
Tuesday Night English 101
We are not free- Really
“Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you,” said French philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre. This is how majority of people live day to day without realization that they are. According to Webster’s dictionary freedom is defined as, “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. “ We the people believe that we are “free” when, in fact, we are not entirely free. The freedom we possess does not exactly match the given definition; instead, it matches up with Sartre’s quote. We have altered the definition of freedom due to the society we live in. Based off of how we live and what circumstances have been placed on us, we work around it and create our own version of freedom. Our lives are greatly affected around the rules placed by the government and the expected guidelines that society imposes on us to restrict true individual freedom and change our idea of freedom. Though our government, the Government of the United States of America, gives us many freedoms (freedom of speech, religion, press, etc), we are still not wholly free. Without laws and rules chaos would arise, however; with them we are not completely free to do as we please. For instance, we do not have the freedom to drive a car as fast as we feel. We have laws and rules restricting how we can drive. But, if we think within our given restrictions, then we see ourselves as free. We can freely transport ourselves in our own vehicle when we want to where we want, but we must do so under the laws given. Another restriction the government has placed on driving is that a vehicle must have insurance on it to be driven legally. The freedom of choosing whether or not you want car insurance is out of the question. Driving a car itself is limited only to those over the age of sixteen. Anything that requires a license is restricted by the government, for example,