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m12k an hour ago

Americans don’t define freedom the same way I, as a European, might (e.g. having agency, not being broke, not being in prison, not having to fear bankrupting my family if I get sick). They define it simply as not having to give a shit about anyone else. By this definition, they are in fact getting more and more free year after year.

janalsncm 16 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

The US doesn’t protect positive rights (requiring the government to give you something) in the same way as Europeans.

But this case is pretty clearly about negative rights (preventing the government from doing something) which based on the original Bill of Rights is pretty clear.

> The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

winter_blue an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This is on the dot. The entirety of their argument can be summed up as “I don’t want to give a shit about my neighbor”. And, “I don’t want to care for the hungry”. Or, “I don’t want to share medical costs with my neighbors”. Basically, “I don’t want to share anything”.

butvacuum 43 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

uncomfortably close to the nail. American society is depressingly based on being able to point and laugh at somebody worse off than you. Never take a chance that a change that's good for everybdoy might place the person you laughed at yesterday above you.

panny 4 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I'm healthier than my neighbors. I carry 4-6 gallons of water a mile every couple of days on foot. I don't own a car either, I ride a bicycle. If my neighbors and I share medical costs, I'm definitely losing a lot there. My neighbors are obese. 40% of Americans are obese. 80% are overweight. Americans are not healthy in general. They don't even try. How is forcing me to participate in their healthcare a freedom?

The American healthcare system is fundamentally broken on top of this. How is forcing me to pay into a system that is broken and a system I won't use, how is that freedom? Americans spend more money than any other country only to recieve worse outcomes. You can walk into an American hospital, tell them you have just returned from west Africa where there is an Ebola outbreak, and tell the nurse you have Ebola symptoms, and that nurse will send you home with a perscription for antibiotics that don't work against viral infections at all. And then you die. I'm citing a real example that actually happened.

https://abcnews.com/news/story/ebola-patient-released-texas-...

Given the state of American healthcare, I wouldn't go to an American hospital even if near death. I'd try to get myself to a hospital in some other country before going to an American one.

dreamcompiler 33 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Americans also want to be able to use the roads for free, eat food and drink water that "somebody" has inspected to make sure it won't kill them, and have fire, police, and EMS show up quickly if they have an emergency.

The cognitive dissonance is staggering.

redsocksfan45 40 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

[dead]

paulpauper 18 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

freedom from any rights, positive or negative

jvdrhbcsgn 34 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[flagged]

2_foos_in_a_bar 25 minutes ago | parent [-]

It's actually the opposite of racist, because the vast majority of immigrants to the United States are PoC who actively want to embrace that mindset. It shows that greed and gluttony transcend ethnic identity. The American dream is now the wet dream of being able to look down on others because you were smart enough to get yours first, and you can now comfortably watch other people suffer more than you.

When you think about it, non-European migration into the United States actually does strengthen their national identity, because the core identity of America is trying to horde as much as you can and interact with your community as little as possible. It's a match made in heaven!

drstewart 39 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Europeans define freedom by smugness and they lead the world in it

victorbjorklund 8 minutes ago | parent [-]

Really? Polish people are smug?

drstewart 6 minutes ago | parent [-]

Suddenly we're not identifying as generic European??

randyrand 41 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

As an American I agree. Low taxes, let me live and make my own decisions.

pkulak 27 minutes ago | parent [-]

This take is great, because it's nearly always made by someone who drives a giant truck on public roads, from a far-flung exurb that requires all it's infrastructure to be heavily subsidized, to drop their kid off at the school that gets federal/state funding because there's not enough property tax to keep it afloat. He'll also pass a few state troopers on his way, as his town doesn't pay for any local police. Maybe a FD ambulance/truck as well, on it's way from the nearest larger city, to narcan his neighbor.

Henjam 18 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

Considering Americans gave an estimated $617B to charity in 2025, and ranked #6 in the world in the CAF 2024 World Giving Index (ahead of any European country), I would have to disagree that Americans define freedom as "not having to give a shit about anyone else".