Today, citizens will exercise their constitutional freedom by voting for federal, state, county and local officials.
The national anthem states that the United States is “the land of the free,” but what does that mean, exactly? Cato Institute and Fraser Institute’s Human Freedom Index, which attempts to measure personal, civil and economic freedom, ranked the U.S. the ninth out of 152 countries in 2012.
Tim Dixon, associate professor of legal studies and history, said freedom is the ability to positively enjoy social, political or economic rights and privileges.
“It’s freedom of private action that’s protected from government intervention,” he said.
However, Dixon also said that the concept of freedom is often ambiguous and can mean different things to different people.
So, what does freedom mean to NSU students?
Defining freedom
Mitchell Gilliland, sophomore marine biology major, said that freedom is the opportunity and availability to do what feels right to you.
“Freedom is definitely important,” he said. “It makes us unique as individuals and allows us to make choices about our lives to really define who we are.”
According to Jarod Harrington, freshman theatre and legal studies major, freedom is the ability to do what you love to do without being judged or persecuted.
“Freedom gives us the ability to be ourselves without having to worry about what other people think,” he explained.
Harrington also said that freedom means something different in the U.S. than in communist countries.
“[In communism] everything is equal, no one is greater than anything else. So their idea of freedom is different than our idea of freedom,” he said.
Freedom in the US
Is the U.S. a free country?
Ebunae McBean, freshman communication major, said that the U.S. is free in a sense.
“People can say what they want, but at the same time there’s rules and laws that govern what to do. You can’t go steal if you want to steal,” said McBean.
Cynthia Exavier, senior biology major, also said that the U.S. is a free country to a certain degree.
“You can’t really do whatever you want here, and that’s a good thing because it helps with safety…If you’re free do whatever you want, crime rates would go up,” she said.
Dixon said that there’s not absolute freedom in the U.S. because of restraints on people’s activity that are generally considered rational, like laws against crime. According to Dixon, freedom in the U.S. is limited by the general beliefs of society.
Working toward freedom
Exavier said that she couldn’t think of areas where U.S. citizens should be more free, while Gilliland and Harrington said that certain groups don’t have as many freedoms or opportunities as other groups and that the U.S. should work on changing that.
Harrington said that his uncle, who is gay, was declined acceptance to a university because of his sexual orientation.
“That needs to change,” he said. “People shouldn’t be judged or discriminated against for anything that includes sexual orientation.”
McBean, said that in Cayman Islands, where she’s from, she can say things that she would be more careful about saying in the U.S.
“There are people that would be offended by what I might say or what I might do, even though my intentions are not [to offend],” said.
So, opinions on the extent and definition of freedom in the U.S. vary among NSU students. Although it’s an abstract concept, many students agree that freedom, whatever it may be, is valuable. However U.S. citizens define freedom, today they are free to head to the polls to decide who will represent them.
