Why do you hate freedom?

[Aramas]

People have different ideas of what the word "freedom" means. In America, freedom often amounts to the freedom to go fuck yourself for the poor, while the rich get the freedom to do everything else.

America has freedom of speech on paper. Try exercising it too much and you're free to starve or be homeless. But you'll usually find that you just can't get a platform for your views, because all the platforms are monopolized by huge corporations.

The paper freedoms of America exist to make people believe they have the freedoms listed. It's only recently that the internet allowed minority opinions to disseminate. Look how quickly they're either marginalized or shut down, or erased from a search engine.

Europe is honest about its restraints on human behavior. There are lots of individual groups of people in Europe, and they live close together. They don't want them getting upset, because that would possibly cause civil instability. So they have hate speech laws and greater restrictions against things like insults, etc. People live much closer together, and speech actually has a chance of traveling quickly and affecting larger numbers of people. So speech is definitely controlled.

People in the United States live farther apart from each other, rely on informal social censure for control, and they usually live in regional enclaves with others that share their beliefs. It's only now, interestingly enough, that minorities and groups are getting mixed together, that free speech is being debated

Politicians are nothing if not pragmatic. Most people only think of freedoms from the perspective of ideals. Think like a politician and you'll understand whatever bill of rights you have.

Europe at least acknowledges that if you can't get a job, they might have the responsibility for preventing your death by starvation or homelessness. So they restrict speech so you don't make an ass out of yourself in return.

Freedom of speech exists everywhere of course, if you know how to read between the lines and speak between them too. Most people never learn that, though, except for narcissists and politicians, and the people who realize they've been screwed.

Yes, we have freedom of speech in America, but we are also free to eat chlorinated chicken, consume questionable additives, and we have the freedom to abstain from medical care if we can't afford it. What of freedom of speech, if you're dead?

Even in Europe, private speech is protected, and naturopathy and homeopathy are allowed to exist. If grocery stores in France can't sell food, they have to give it away. In Germany, if you can't find work, the government has to pay for you to to live (sparingly) for the rest of your life. It's not much, but it's something.

Meanwhile, in the United States, homeless people die on the streets of LA county, poop litters the sidewalks, employees are run over roughshod daily without recourse, the government doesn't give a shit, and Americans still are grateful for their many "freedoms."

They are just so thankful that they can still have their guns. Meanwhile, gun ownership has yet to be totally outlawed in Germany or many other parts of Europe. And Americans pretend they would be able to stand up to the most powerful military on the planet with their old 9mm. Give me a break.

Go ahead Americans, have your guns and your precious freedom of speech that you never even use. They are wonderful consolations for your suffering, aren't they?

You're free, America! Don't you believe it?