Freedom

What does freedom mean in the United States? Most would say that we have the following freedoms: elections, religion, speech, press, and assembly. Along with those, we have the freedom from: usual search and seizure, self-incrimination, lengthy trials, cruel and unusual punishment, taxation without representation. To many, the most important freedom is the one to become rich. Most people in the United States think that we are unique in the world for these freedoms, but to a greater or lesser degree, most countries, democratic or socialist, have this now. 

The worst offenders of these freedoms are countries, mainly military dictatorships, that kidnap citizens in the night to imprison and torture them. Well, guess what? The Patriot Act allows our government to do that. It doesn’t allow our people to use physical torture, but sometimes we take suspects to other countries for torture, sometimes we use mental torture (solitary confinement in very small cells), and sometimes we just beat them up. In December 2002, two Afghan detainees died in U.S. custody at Bagram and their deaths were classified as homicides in March. Both showed signs of blunt-force trauma. One was 22 years old, and the other was 30 years old. Anybody familiar with the Rodney King or Jeremy Morse cases should be aware that cops beat up people when they get angry. Tens of thousands of Americans know that from personal experience, but unless it gets videotaped, it doesn’t make the news.

Most countries have elections, but they may not be honest elections. For many years, U.S. elections were far from honest, especially in the South. We still register voters who weren’t allowed to vote, and a Supreme Court that ruled against a recount of chad. We have redistricting schemes that are created to favor one political party over the other. We have candidates who spend millions, given to them by special interests, for political spots created to smear their opponent. We have a two-party system that basically eliminates any third party from winning.

To fix the chad problem, we might get electronic balloting machines that lead to greater dishonesty, especially if there isn’t any paper verification. The goal of the Neo-cons is to make the Republican Party so dominant as to effectively make the U.S. a one-party nation. The Neo-cons fear and loath democracy, and will go to nearly any means to prevent real democracy (see Neo-cons).

We have freedom of speech and of the press, which allows me to write this book. But if this book becomes popular, that freedom won’t protect me from the vicious attacks that I expect to get from the Neo-cons and conservative talk shows. I fully expect to be investigated by the FBI and the Neo-cons. I expect to be criticized for many parts of this book when the real reason for the attacks will be the section on Greed (see Greed). Every time you hear or read something that is extremely critical of me, or of this book, realize that the freedom of speech and press is still under attack. I can write, but if the rich and powerful don’t like what I write, then I will be punished to discourage others from doing something similar (see Fear). 

Many will say that if I am so critical of the U.S., why don’t I just leave the country? My reply is, this is my country. I was born, raised, and educated here. I am critical because I see the Neo-cons steering us toward a huge hole, and I am trying to see if we can work together to steer this country safely around that hole. The freedom to become rich has resulted in many people who are so greedy that they want to take away or limit everyone else’s freedoms.