What is Freedom?
I am always thrilled to hear a perspective different than my own. Am I wrong? Are my facts not straight? Is there something I missed? Here we hear from a reader from Denmark. I will not respond to his comments, but rather let them stand on their own (with just one minor clarification in brackets].
P.S. I have to add a little note on politics (inspired by your blog) – you are very welcome to just ignore this last part, but I have to get it off my chest:
It appears to me that you have a very negative view of the government in general, and based on things like Federal Reserve Banking [Fractional Reserve Banking], expanding bureaucracy, spending running rampant, and other things, I can totally understand you.
However, when you make (or refer to?) ultimate statemates, like “Every time government expands you lose control of your life.”, I must say I cannot understand you. Where I live, in Denmark, we have a relatively high tax-rate. We also have a completely free* educational system, where everyone can choose whatever education they wish, and even get a monthly economical support for educating, meaning they don’t have to work and can concentrate on the education. I claim that when people are able to choose relatively freely from all occupations in society, they very much gain control of their life – in opposition to only being able to choose whatever you can afford.
We also have almost completely free* medical insurance by birth. This gives me as an individual an enormous safety and freedom, as I will never have to worry about getting ill (apart from the illness itself) – if I do catch an illness, I have a guarantee it won’t ruin my financial situation. I can testify how absolutely fantastic this is, as I have recently been diagnosed with a benign tumor in my brain (no terminal danger). All medical checks, blood samples, MR scans, and even the medicine prescribed to me for the rest of my life is free! If this isn’t freedom I don’t know what is. On top of that it really motivates me to complete my university education, to get a job, to pay my taxes with joy, just so I can help someone else!
*When I say free, I mean of course “publicly funded”.
What I’m trying to say is: In my opinion, the government itself is not the problem – far from it! The problem is (in)efficiency and bureaucracy in the system. You guys have a public health-care system as inefficient as Ghana(If my memory serves me)! In other words – in Denmark we get three times as much health care for our money compared to the U.S.!
Now I’m not trying to bash anyone here – nothing is simple enough to be described in an email, and Denmark is nowhere near the unachievable perfect – but all in all, I cannot see why you attack the government in principle, when it is the government in practice you hate [I really must protest here– I don’t hate or attack anyone, even if they’ve done me wrong– milder semantics are in order].
Hmm… My conclusion is not coming off too good. I’m sorry. I just hope I have nuanced your view of the government (and its possibilities) just a little.
Anyways. I’m sorry for taking your precious time with this babble, Shawn. I hope you will still answer my questions 🙂
Best wishes,
LC
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ñïà ñèáî!…
tom
20 Nov 14 at 2:33 pm