Comment by wbronitsky

11 hours ago

I think parsing out what kind of freedom would help here. The US has a lot of “freedom of” but not a lot of “freedom from.”

10 comments

wbronitsky

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threethirtytwo  11 hours ago

Any freedom. For example you don't have the freedom to own guns in China.

  • tclancy  10 hours ago

    Is that a freedom? You're defining everything as though the US were the optimal model of society. Couldn't I just as easily define the freedom to be safe from guns?

    • threethirtytwo  10 hours ago

      What? I'm defining China, a country with less freedoms, AS more optimal then the US.

      I think that comment about guns threw everyone off. People are very liberal on HN and at the same time very patriotic. They support gun control and ironically more freedoms at the same time so I think you and the other guy didn't realize that you both support China's lack of freedom in the aspect of owning guns.

    • mixmastamyk  8 hours ago

      I contacted RINSE and got no answer as well, thanks for the reply even if HN mgmt doesn't like it. Join me in downvoting their post.

bmitc  10 hours ago

The U.S. doesn't have that much real freedom. It is nearly completely controlled by a concentrated oligarchy of people and corporations. Sure, there are rights, but these are almost entirely enforced via a massively beauractic and expensive judicial system. So if your rights are violated, it can take months and perhaps thousands or millions of dollars to prove and correct such violations. A cop murders someone? That takes like two years or more of trials and appeals if it even escapes internal affairs and the district attorney's office.

As an example, Texas is a state that prides itself on freedom but is incredibly privatized. There's hardly any public land. The entire electricity grid is privately owned. Toll roads abound in every major city. Over 20% of homes have an HOA, so those Texans have people (basically a small corporation) telling them how to cut their lawn. Women can't get medically suggested abortions. Universities are told what to teach by donors and politicans. For a while, the Texas DMV was collecting fingerprints just to get a license. Is that really freedom?