The 'debate' over Personal Freedoms has reared its head elsewhere. So I thought I would ask the question (as I genuinely do not know the answer): "Aside from the much-discussed 'right to bear arms', what 'freedoms' do Americans have that the English (or any other Europeans) do not?" And please remember - no Xenophobia. And try not to get into 'us verses them'
I just saw in a post how France has a quota on how many foreign songs can be played on the radio.Here in the US,if you have a radio station you can play as much or as little as you want of anything within reason.
In the US, you can drive a car when you are aged 16, 2 years earlier than in Europe. Then again, in Europe you can buy alcoholic drinks when you are aged 16, earlier than in the US.... But are these really "Personal freedoms"?? It's more about cultural differences, when it comes to real liberties, I do not think you can say that one has more of them than the other.
The concept of freedom is very subjective. Freedom is for most people an arena in which they can express themselves as they wish, fulfil themselves without restrictions and basically do as they please. The problem is that what is your freedom sometimes also is a restriction on the freedom of somebody else. Americans are of course as diversified in their views on what gives them their personal freedom as anyone else, but I think we can allow ourselves to generalize and make abstractions, in which case I would say there is a distinct difference between the American and the European perception of freedom.
I think Americans view democracy as a way of life, but in several european countries (mine first of all) democracy is only a way of changing governments.
There's a separate topic on Democracy as a political system on this forum. Personally I don't think democracy is the same as freedom at all, though it has to do with it in that any regime other than a democracy tends to repress freedoms. Anyway, on this subject I'm with Skua; the American and the European descriptions of freedom that you'll commonly encounter simply are different. In this the Americans seem to put a greater emphasis on the freedoms defined by liberal doctrine, where Europeans define freedom slightly differently (and more vaguely).
The Americans seem to make more of a song and dance about freedom. Not a criticism just an observation / opinion 8)
Are we including Britain in Europe here? Because our concept of freedom is rather different to either IMHO, but probably more akin to the American than European concept.
17 in Britain to drive, In holland you can grow canabis and smoke it in the police station, and the police will offer you a light. (taking it far). In fact Holland is probably one of the most free countries.
The soft drug policies of the Dutch government are beyond me, and they don't seem to make a good example. The idea seems to be that growing it is illegal whereas smoking it is perfectly legal. Anyway, I'm not into that... In terms of what is causing controversy in the US nowadays, the Netherlands are indeed more free. Euthanasia is legal here, as well as abortion and gay marriage.
Got cut in the former post and i lost my thread on what i wanted to say. But what are more important? personal freedoms only enjoyed by some (soft drugs users or a woman who wants to abort, for example) or common freedoms (free elections, right of speech) And most important: WHAT is freedom?
[/quote][/quote][/quote] If you look at it that way, than the Netherlands do have a lot more "liberties" than France, because here, cannabis as well as euthanasy are forbidden. Abortion is legal, tough much more restricted than in the Netherlands. But those are not real liberties as most of the people here do not necessarily want them. But maybe people in the Netherlans would feel their liberty restricted if they did not have them. Again, it's a cultural difference.Something that is good in a given country can be seen as bad in another. The germans do have an interesting "liberty", on their highways, they can drive their cars as fast as they want!! :smok:
I guess we need to define personal freedoms. Here's a few freedoms and liberties we have (pardon my rambling but I'm going to put them down as I think of them and will surely miss some). The right to keep and bear arms, right to a speedy trial, innocent until proven guilty in court, due process of the law, vote at 18, drink at 21, drive at 16, no illegal searches and seisures, no excessive fines or cruel punishments, standard work weeks and wages(for most professions), no quartering of military personnel (involuntary), you do not have to testify against yourself, Miranda rights, Freedom of speech, religion, and assembly, equal opportunity employment, We are probably very similar to the UK considering we were a British colony for almost 200 years. Also, abortions are legal in the USA.
Which brings me back to most countries (especially from the members of this board) are free. They are just a free as each other but have different freedoms. That is why I can't understand when one group think they are the people with the greatest freedoms. I in England have certain freedoms, of which most other western people have. of those freedoms I have some restrictions whereas other countries have different restrictions on their freedoms.
In Britain if somebody goes to the Police and accuses you, or complains about you, you have the right to know about it as a soon as possible. I know this because my neighbour once complained that I coughed at half past ten in the morning.
Well haven't you heard that coughing is illegal in most Western countries until at least 11.00 AM. :lol: The "freedoms" that I mentioned above have little to do with universal rights of man and woman as they have been introduced almost everywhere since the late 18th century. They are not fundamental and not essential to a modern state. However they are personal freedoms granted here where in other places the state or the public morals prevent them. That's really all I wanted to say and I did not intend to show that the Dutch are somehow more free than the Americans. That is why I said "In terms of what is causing controversy in the US nowadays..."
Heck, in those kinda nitpicky terms, European women have the 'freedom' to remove half their swimwear on most public beaches (depending on the country), but American women do not. :-? BTW, on a related topic, while I was in New Jersey I was horrified to discover that you had to pay to get onto the beach! My host patiently explained that this was a New Jersey state thing, and the money goes to the upkeep of the beach, the pay of the lifeguards, etc. Not entirely sure why I raised this. I suppose that the connection is that I discovered both the above facts on that same day.
Any definition of freedom would vary wildly from individual to individual, depending on what was important to them. To me, for example, freedom is the right to make my own choices about what I will say, think, and live. I do have to obey both the rules God set down for my behavior and the law, of course, but within those parameters, the choices must be mine. That is freedom to me, gentlemen.
