Quote:
Originally posted by Nono,
The "1984 is here now" thread over in General Discussion prompts me to ask a question that often comes to mind about "the land of the free" and the assumptions made by so many people living there: In what way are Americans any freer than the hundreds of millions of people living in other Western democracies? |
I can only speculate, but....
(1) We are not watched constantly by 4,000,000 close-circuit surveillance cameras (as in Britain).
(2) We have legal access to firearms (unlike many western nations).
(3) Until recently, we had fewer restrictions on political speech (thanks a lot, McCain-Feingold). I think we still might, but I'm not sure.
(4) We do not prohibit certain parties from participating in the political process just because we disapprove of their message (Germany).
There's more but those are just a handful of major points.