What is Freedom?

[Liana 689]

Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

 

It is eternal and infinte bliss.

 

Freedom to give and to share.

 

To think, to know, to achieve and to grow.

 

Freedom from failure becomes freedom of success.

 

From hate befalls freedom of love.

Freedom to live and to die.

 

To laugh and freedom to cry.

To speak and to listen.

 

Freedom from wrong and being right.

To choose and to reject.

 

Freedom from lust and greed.

 

Freedom from within and not having to hide.

 

Freedom from body and mind.

 

Universal.

[Malika Fantasy 144625]

Freedom is being able to be who I am. Without apologizing for.

Knowing that I may betrayed some friends in order to not betray my true self

[castle 38816]

Freedom is being able to do a major day-long cleaning of your apartment....completely in the nude...all day. Often being in all kinds of unflattering positions....bending over with the dustpan....getting wrapped up and struggling with the power cord of the vacuum cleaner.... cleaning the toilet, etc....and not once having to worry that the sight will gross anyone out!

[Nathalie L 112512]

"Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose" from the song

by Janis Joplin.

 

According to Nathalie Lefebvre, freedom is not the ability to choose between multiple options, but rather, the ability to do nothing at all. ;)

[Code Blue 3585]

"Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose" from the song

by Janis Joplin.

 

According to Nathalie Lefebvre, freedom is not the ability to choose between multiple options, but rather, the ability to do nothing at all. ;)

 

"Freedom is a loose leash. Freedom is the license to be different.."

Erica Jong 1994, Fear of Fifty.

 

CB

[roamingguy 300292]

Sounds like an introductory university philosophy course

Freedom is a fine balancing act between the needs of the individual versus the needs of society as a whole.

If everyone had absolute freedom to do what he/she wanted, unrestrained, then really only the strongest would survive, because you would have a anarchical society where might makes right. Really, in final analysis, complete freedom is a fallacy

If everyone had absolutely no freedom, very restrained, then you would have a dictatorship where the will of the leader would be all that matters. Obviously this too isn't freedom

Freedom is a balancing act. Allow the individual as much freedom as he/she is allowed without it infringing on the freedom of others. And the state has a balancing act to allow this freedom, while enforcing legitimate state rules (law) codified in legislation and adhering to the Rule of Law

Now get a couple tylenols, got a headache from that one, not to mention flashbacks to university LOL

RG

[MightyPen 67414]

As RG points out, freedom has its limits: we all start out free to do whatever doesn't impinge on the freedom of others. After all, we're all subject to the same rules. My zone of entitlement ends where yours begins.

 

(I used to daydream as a kid, "what if I could read people's minds? That would be awesome!" Until I thought further and realized it's unlikely I'd be uniquely gifted out of the entire world. Chances are if I could read minds, there would be someone else in the world somewhere who could read MY thoughts. And that would suck.)

 

But freedom isn't the absolute measure of the quality of our lives. Most of the best things in life come with burdens that limit our freedom: friends require mutual loyalty, lovers require that you be mutually faithful (however you define that together). Children require that you support them. A rewarding job with great colleagues still needs you to be there and hold up your end, even on those days you'd rather not. But they're worth it.

 

The most important measure of freedom isn't how few limits we have on our actions, but how free we are to choose those limits for ourselves. Choose the friends you have, the lover(s) you have, whether to have children, or not. Choose your career. Have none of these things imposed on you by others.

 

None of us has been totally free to make ANY choice about how we've conducted our own lives. Our thoughts and inclinations are largely channeled in certain directions by the time we are three years old, by forces we couldn't possibly control. And our interactions with the larger world are greatly shaped by how well we survive our adolescence, subject to social forces some master sooner than others.

 

But we can aspire to maximum freedom of choice within the boundaries we inherited before we were adults, and we can hope to transcend a few of them as we continue to grow further.

 

Finally: some freedom comes at too high a price, from too much safety. Avoiding the risks of life -- ensuring that we're free from pain -- can also leave us "free" from a chance at joy. But once again, real freedom doesn't come from avoiding these risks -- it's from choosing the risks ourselves.

[Jhena Grey 25615]

To me freedom means being able to do and/or say anything without the fear of consequence(s) for ones actions.

 

I believe we are free to a certain extent. In theory we have freedom of speech but this notion gets challenged in the legal sense. You can get sued for defamation of a person or a company.

[MightyPen 67414]

To me freedom means being able to do and/or say anything without the fear of consequence(s) for ones actions.

Hmm, I don't think I'd put it that way. Freedom doesn't really mean "do what you want without fear of consequence", nor should it. If you're evil toward someone, you should expect there to be a price. I prefer to live in a world that has consequences.

 

Freedom to me is to be able to, when we know what the consequences of our actions will be, to choose our path AND accept the consequences of those choices.

[loopie 15358]

Society granting you permission to do something is meaningless if you don't have the resources to do it.

[MightyPen 67414]

Society granting you permission to do something is meaningless if you don't have the resources to do it.

Yup, absolutely true. And the flip side too -- society limiting a freedom may not affect everyone equally, if it's a thing that some people never need to do.

 

I'm reminded of Charles Dickens ridiculing his contemporaries who would argue "of course it's perfectly fair that there are rules against sleeping in parks or under bridges. The same laws apply to the wealthy as they do to the poor!". Of course the laws only affected the freedom of the poor, because the rich would never need to sleep in a park or under a bridge.

[Nicolette Vaughn 294340]

I think I realized my freedom last night.

[RobX 2084]

The importance of freedom in a democratic society often becomes more evident when governments restrict or limit such freedoms, as the Quebec Government has done recently by passing Bill 78, which imposes important limits on freedom of assembly and freedom of association - a draconian mesure to deal with the Quebec student uprising. Interestingly, the so-called "Liberal" Government of Quebec siezed upon the opportunity to restrict the rights and freedoms of not just students, but those all of it's citizens. Here is just a sample of the clauses in Bill 78 limiting freedom of assembly:

 

Bill 78

Section. 16.

A person, a body or a group that is the organizer of a demonstration involving 50 people or more to take place in a venue accessible to the public must, not less than eight hours before the beginning of the demonstration, provide the following information in writing to the police force serving the territory where the demonstration is to take place:

(1) the date, time, duration and venue of the demonstration as well as its route, if applicable; and

(2) the means of transportation to be used for those purposes. The police force serving the territory where the demonstration is to take place may, before the demonstration and to maintain peace, order and public security, order a change of venue or route; the organizer must comply with the change ordered and inform the participants.

 

Section 25.

Anyone who contravenes section 3, the first paragraph of section 4, section 5 or 7, the first paragraph of section 10 or section 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17 is guilty of an offence and is liable, for each day or part of a day during which the contravention continues, to a fine of $1,000 to $5,000.

However, the fine is

(1) $7,000 to $35,000 if the offence is committed by a senior officer, an employee or a representative, including a spokesperson, of a student association, a federation of associations or an association of employees, by a senior officer or a representative of an institution, or by a natural person who is the organizer of a demonstration; and

(2) $25,000 to $125,000 if the offence is committed by a student association, a federation of associations, an association of employees or an institution, or by a legal person, a body or a group that is the organizer of a demonstration.

The fines prescribed by this section are doubled for a second or subsequent

 

Section 29.

Anyone who, by an act or omission, helps or, by encouragement, advice, consent, authorization or command, induces a person to commit an offence under this Act is guilty of the same offence and is liable to the fine prescribed by the first paragraph of section 25 offence.

 

Bill 78 is now being challenged in the courts on the basis that it violates the Quebec and Canadian Charters of Rights and Freedoms.

[Meg O'Ryan 266444]

As I become older (and hopefully wiser) I have realized that freedom is being able to be the real me.

 

I do have morals, convictions, beliefs and causes dear to my heart but in the end, I am here for me first and all else is second. That may sound selfish and so be it.

 

Freedom to me is being able to live my life as I see fit. To believe in what I choose, to offer help where I see fit, to love whom I wish, to dress how I want, to eat what I like, to learn what interests me and to be who I am. That is why I am proud to be Canadian even with the elements that may be annoying.

[Liana 689]

Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

 

It is eternal and infinte bliss.

 

Freedom to give and to share.

 

To think, to know, to achieve and to grow.

 

Freedom from failure becomes freedom of success.

 

From hate befalls freedom of love.

Freedom to live and to die.

 

To laugh and freedom to cry.

To speak and to listen.

 

Freedom from wrong and being right.

To choose and to reject.

 

Freedom from lust and greed.

 

Freedom from within and not having to hide.

 

Freedom from body and mind.

 

Universal.

 

Just for the record this message that I wrote does not mean free services.

[mrgreen760 37785]

Just for the record this message that I wrote does not mean free services.

 

Good catch!! :)))

 

Peace

MG

[wantsome 100]

Freedom to choose. Freedom isn't free.

[tslolatoronto 102]

I think freedom is being a good person and having sense of humour , not touching or effecting other lives.If we all had respect to each other the world would be free all over

shemalele LOLA SWIFT

[Guest jake_cdn]

Just having the right to express your thoughts and convictions to all who will listen without the fear of condemnation, oppression or ridicule. This is confirmed simply by this group having this discussion on a board of this type.