What Is Freedom In America Essay
Many things make the United States of America the country that it is today. One of the key components to that is freedom. Freedom is defined as the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint, but freedom goes far beyond this definition.
Freedom has many attributes. We have national freedom, political freedom, individual freedom, and spiritual freedom. So, as you can see it is not just a value based on the country that you choose to live in, but the very citizens within that country. Many countries want the freedoms that the United States enjoys, but do not necessarily want their government structured the same way. The first thing I will talk about is national freedom. National freedom is a nations
freedom …show more content…
from foreign rule. It does not matter what kind of government or leader a country has, most of the time they typically desire and long for this kind of freedom and are more than happy to do whatever it takes to receive it. We can see two different examples of this in our history.
The first we can look at is Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. Both of these men were evil leaders.
They would destroy anyone or anything that got in their way and forced their ways and beliefs onto the people they conquered. They also had many followers to help them. Although the followers were fighting only for their country not for their leader. The second example, unlike the last, is the opposite. Alexander the Great was first seen as an invader, but was later realized to be a great man after some of the earlier territories were taken over.
He did not make them change anything in their territories, nor force his beliefs onto them. He allowed them to keep their local customs and cultures, as long as they recognized him as their leader. This actually allowed his further conquests to go smoother, because many of his future conquests welcomed him in with open arms.
The next thing we will move into is political freedom. Political freedom is the right of citizens to be actively involved in their government. This is, in part, why the colonies revolted from England. A democracy or a republic falls into this category. Like I had mentioned before many people do not want this freedom and are far from willing to do anything for it. Even so,
Americans make the mistake and assume that everybody does want what we have. Along with political freedom we have individual freedom as well. Individual liberties and rights are insured by some form of documentation, like the bill of rights. Many people are granted these liberties and rights, but unfortunately since they are given they can very effortlessly be taken away at any time. Billings Learned Hand once said, “A society in which man recognize no check upon
their freedom soon becomes a society where freedom is the possession of only a savage few.” He explains it almost perfectly. In addition, an equally important aspect of individual freedom is “a decent standard of living for all individual men and women and children in all Nations. Freedom from fear is eternally linked with freedom from want.” (FDR)
The last thing I will talk about is spiritual freedom. Spiritual freedom allows man to worship his deity in the manner he chooses. It was this desire that drove people to settle the new world. Religion is the thoughts along with beliefs that live within us. These beliefs have been around since the beginning of time and for many have been taught to be right since an early age.
Despite this there have been many times people were punished or even killed for the things in which they believed in. An example of this is the extermination of Jews by both the Nazis and
Russians. Jews may have been the main target, but many other groups of people were targeted too. Many also try to utilize this freedom to their own advantage. By joining the catholic church and being baptized along with giving the Roman Catholic church its own state, Benito Mussolini endeared himself to the people and was made a ruler over Italy.
In conclusion, our freedoms depend largely on our fellow individuals and the nations we reside in. “The best interest of each Nation, large and small, demand that all freedom-loving Nations shall join together in a just and durable system of peace. In the present world situation, unquestioned military control over disturbers of the peace is as necessary among Nations as it is among citizens in a community.” (FDR) Ronald Reagan said, “Democracy is less a system of government than it is a system to keep government limited, unintrusive; a system of constraints on power to keep politics and government secondary to the important things in life, the true sources of value found only in family and faith.”
Freedom has many attributes. We have national freedom, political freedom, individual freedom, and spiritual freedom. So, as you can see it is not just a value based on the country that you choose to live in, but the very citizens within that country. Many countries want the freedoms that the United States enjoys, but do not necessarily want their government structured the same way. The first thing I will talk about is national freedom. National freedom is a nations
freedom …show more content…
from foreign rule. It does not matter what kind of government or leader a country has, most of the time they typically desire and long for this kind of freedom and are more than happy to do whatever it takes to receive it. We can see two different examples of this in our history.
The first we can look at is Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. Both of these men were evil leaders.
They would destroy anyone or anything that got in their way and forced their ways and beliefs onto the people they conquered. They also had many followers to help them. Although the followers were fighting only for their country not for their leader. The second example, unlike the last, is the opposite. Alexander the Great was first seen as an invader, but was later realized to be a great man after some of the earlier territories were taken over.
He did not make them change anything in their territories, nor force his beliefs onto them. He allowed them to keep their local customs and cultures, as long as they recognized him as their leader. This actually allowed his further conquests to go smoother, because many of his future conquests welcomed him in with open arms.
The next thing we will move into is political freedom. Political freedom is the right of citizens to be actively involved in their government. This is, in part, why the colonies revolted from England. A democracy or a republic falls into this category. Like I had mentioned before many people do not want this freedom and are far from willing to do anything for it. Even so,
Americans make the mistake and assume that everybody does want what we have. Along with political freedom we have individual freedom as well. Individual liberties and rights are insured by some form of documentation, like the bill of rights. Many people are granted these liberties and rights, but unfortunately since they are given they can very effortlessly be taken away at any time. Billings Learned Hand once said, “A society in which man recognize no check upon
their freedom soon becomes a society where freedom is the possession of only a savage few.” He explains it almost perfectly. In addition, an equally important aspect of individual freedom is “a decent standard of living for all individual men and women and children in all Nations. Freedom from fear is eternally linked with freedom from want.” (FDR)
The last thing I will talk about is spiritual freedom. Spiritual freedom allows man to worship his deity in the manner he chooses. It was this desire that drove people to settle the new world. Religion is the thoughts along with beliefs that live within us. These beliefs have been around since the beginning of time and for many have been taught to be right since an early age.
Despite this there have been many times people were punished or even killed for the things in which they believed in. An example of this is the extermination of Jews by both the Nazis and
Russians. Jews may have been the main target, but many other groups of people were targeted too. Many also try to utilize this freedom to their own advantage. By joining the catholic church and being baptized along with giving the Roman Catholic church its own state, Benito Mussolini endeared himself to the people and was made a ruler over Italy.
In conclusion, our freedoms depend largely on our fellow individuals and the nations we reside in. “The best interest of each Nation, large and small, demand that all freedom-loving Nations shall join together in a just and durable system of peace. In the present world situation, unquestioned military control over disturbers of the peace is as necessary among Nations as it is among citizens in a community.” (FDR) Ronald Reagan said, “Democracy is less a system of government than it is a system to keep government limited, unintrusive; a system of constraints on power to keep politics and government secondary to the important things in life, the true sources of value found only in family and faith.”