BonosSaint
Rock n' Roll Doggie
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2004
- Messages
- 3,566
This was prompted by Angela Harlem's comment that she believes Australia to be freer and more citizen friendly than US.
It started me thinking as to how much American freedom is myth and how much of it is practical day to day reality. It appears we have some of the strongest freedom-protecting laws in the world, but are we deluding ourselves that we practice any greater freedom?
Seems to me a fair generalization is that the more affluent you are, the more access to truthful information you have, and the more you exercise your freedoms, the freer you are, but that is not meant to be part of this discussion. Just wanted to get it out of the way.
Having not lived in other countries, but having visited several, I just wanted some opinions from people who have actually experienced the difference between countries.
1. Other than looser libel laws, is American press any freer than
any other "western" country? I love to read other country's papers and do not see any lack of government criticism there.
They are as mouthy as we are. And since many American newspapers and media practice self-censorship for varying reasons, do we actually benefit from a free press as much as we
think we do?
2. We do not have serious hate speech legislation as of yet, so perhaps, the ugliest practices of our free speech are more protected. What countries do have hate speech legislation?
3. When the key criteria for mainstream freedom of artistic and other expression is the bottom line (which leads to remakes of other films, music, etc. and reality TV), does it really matter that we have freedom to express when it is so underappreciated?
4. Do we have more freedom of movement than other countries?
Do we have more freedom to move from one social class or
economic class to another? Are our lives more private than
other countries?
5. Have we become so complacent about our freedom that we no longer appreciate it or use it, just brag about it? Is censorship for reasons of economics or fear of being controversial much different than legal censorship? Sometimes I find it so ironic that some of the freest expression comes out of the underground of the most repressed socieites. Maybe that is the way it works.
These are just a few issues to hopefully start a discussion. I wanted to keep out of other areas that might disintegrate, but I am curious about the reality of all of this.
Do Americans believe we are in actuality a free country and do other countries believe this?
Is freedom the legislation that protects it or is it the quality of the day to day practice of it? How valuable is it really? How much do we value it?
It started me thinking as to how much American freedom is myth and how much of it is practical day to day reality. It appears we have some of the strongest freedom-protecting laws in the world, but are we deluding ourselves that we practice any greater freedom?
Seems to me a fair generalization is that the more affluent you are, the more access to truthful information you have, and the more you exercise your freedoms, the freer you are, but that is not meant to be part of this discussion. Just wanted to get it out of the way.
Having not lived in other countries, but having visited several, I just wanted some opinions from people who have actually experienced the difference between countries.
1. Other than looser libel laws, is American press any freer than
any other "western" country? I love to read other country's papers and do not see any lack of government criticism there.
They are as mouthy as we are. And since many American newspapers and media practice self-censorship for varying reasons, do we actually benefit from a free press as much as we
think we do?
2. We do not have serious hate speech legislation as of yet, so perhaps, the ugliest practices of our free speech are more protected. What countries do have hate speech legislation?
3. When the key criteria for mainstream freedom of artistic and other expression is the bottom line (which leads to remakes of other films, music, etc. and reality TV), does it really matter that we have freedom to express when it is so underappreciated?
4. Do we have more freedom of movement than other countries?
Do we have more freedom to move from one social class or
economic class to another? Are our lives more private than
other countries?
5. Have we become so complacent about our freedom that we no longer appreciate it or use it, just brag about it? Is censorship for reasons of economics or fear of being controversial much different than legal censorship? Sometimes I find it so ironic that some of the freest expression comes out of the underground of the most repressed socieites. Maybe that is the way it works.
These are just a few issues to hopefully start a discussion. I wanted to keep out of other areas that might disintegrate, but I am curious about the reality of all of this.
Do Americans believe we are in actuality a free country and do other countries believe this?
Is freedom the legislation that protects it or is it the quality of the day to day practice of it? How valuable is it really? How much do we value it?