What It Means To Be Free Research Paper

665 Words3 Pages
People throw around terms like 'freedom' and 'liberty' without ever stopping to think what they mean. I mean people are wiling to die for them without ever understanding, or even thinking about, what they actually are. This exercise is obviously meant to make you think about them. I think the problem is that freedom is mostly defined by what it is -not-. If you lived in a brutal dictatorship and suddenly were -free-, you'd certainly see the difference. Living in a free country all your life, you don't -see- freedom, just as a fish doesn't know it's swimming in water. Freedom means you are -free-, of course. Free in many ways. Some of those things are carefully spelled out in the Bill of Rights, the ones that were thought most important. Freedom of speech, of religion, of assembly, etc. If you are accused of a crime you have many protections to allow you to defend yourself, your trial must be local and open to the public, the charges must be spelled out in detail, you have a right to a lawyer, to be released on bail (in most cases), and you have the right to confront your accuser in court and cross-examine him.…show more content…
We don't have a class system so everyone is seen (at least in terms of the law) as equal. Meaning that you can be a doctor or a lawyer even if your dad wasn't one. You don't have to live in the crappy neighborhood you grew up in, you can move anywhere you can afford to live. You have the same chance to get into a good college or university as anyone else (providing you can afford the
Open Document