well stated, Susan. The word "freedom" and all that is attached /associated to it....... have become a meaningless slogan. Just propaganda.
One is "free" to drive, IF one follows the rules. (an example).
People may think and even believe they are 'free"......yet ignore the fact they are enslaved to money, their jobs, their possessions, their beliefs , and then there are the folks who enslave themselves to the variety of substances available now.
freedom does NOT mean one can do anything they want. say anything they want, etc. There are laws to obey or society would be chaos in no tme. Even in speach. Tact, diplomacy & sensitivity is called for in a civilized society.
It also depends on what a population is used to. The only real "freedom" one has is the one within oneself.........where one is free of prejudice, negative emotions, of obsessions, fixaed ideas about things. .... etc. One can have an inner peace and freedom ANYWHERE. .....and it is the inner dimensions that really matter . (IMHO)
