Land Of The Free? Not So Much. Americans' Sense Of Freedom Drops, Poll Finds.

[Purveyor]

Americans are feeling 'less satisfied with the freedom to choose what to do with their lives,' according to a Gallup poll. The trend could be linked to a perceived rise in corruption.

By Gram Slattery, Staff writer July 1, 2014

This Independence Day, Americans will celebrate the nation’s core values, especially freedom. But according to a new international poll, Americans have become significantly "less satisfied with the freedom to choose what they want to do with their lives."

Seventy-nine percent of US residents are satisfied with their level of freedom, down from 91 percent in 2006, according to the Gallup survey, released Tuesday.

That 12-point drop pushes the United States from among the highest in the world in terms of perceived freedom to 36th place, outside the top quartile of the 120 countries sampled, trailing Paraguay, Rwanda, and the autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Recommended: How do key countries rank on corruption?

Only 10 nations experienced as sharp a drop as the US in terms of the satisfaction of citizens with their level of freedom: Egypt, Greece, Italy, Venezuela, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Romania, Yemen, Pakistan, and Spain.

Among the people most satisfied with their own level of freedom are New Zealanders, who top the list at 94 percent, and Australians, who come in second at 93 percent, according to the report.

more...

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2014/0701/Land-of-the-free-Not-so-much.-Americans-sense-of-freedom-drops-poll-finds

[old guy]

2. I pay little attention to polls.

I pay no attention to Gallup polls.

[liberal N proud]

3. Thanks Agent Mike

[conservaphobe]

4. Really?

There's not one thing I could do when I was born 26 years ago that I can't do now.

These people are idiots.

[frazzled]

6. That's what I was thinking ...

What exactly are the freedoms that we suddenly don't enjoy? (Unless, of course, we work for a company like Hobby Lobby--but not even then, really, because the benefits of ACA afford far more freedom—such as freedom to leave a job without fear of no insurance— to far more people than they had before the act; these bad SCOTUS decisions aside.)

PS: I was born 64 years ago, and I think we have more freedoms now ... especially if we are, say, LGBT (which I'm not, but I'm just saying).

[Bluenorthwest]

10. It mostly comes down to financial ability to make choices and carry them out

But when you add LGBT rights, which for all the glory straights like to give themselves are still no where near equality. 29 States you can be fired for being gay, or evicted. More Freedoms!!!! Those gays should be grateful!!!!

[dickthegrouch]

13. I think you're right, Blue

Only 10 nations experienced as sharp a drop as the US in terms of the satisfaction of citizens with their level of freedom: Egypt, Greece, Italy, Venezuela, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Romania, Yemen, Pakistan, and Spain.

Each of those other countries has also experienced a significant downturn in personal wealth as corruption and joblessness increases.

[frazzled]

15. It's immensely better than it was.

And if we can't recognize progress, we won't make more. Thanks for insulting me, by the way. I've been advocating and working for gay rights since the 1980s. But then, what am I, just a breeder I guess.

Jeebus. And BTW, financial ability to make choices is not "freedom" in the sense of human rights or liberties, which one would have thought was being discussed. It's an economic condition. And it's one, in this country, that African Americans and women have been facing for ... forever, with little progress at all.

My sense, when the poll discussed loss of freedoms, was that it meant "institutional" freedoms granted by the government through laws, not a "sense of freedom" inhibited by economic conditions. It's true that the laws that affect our economic situation filter down to impede people's personal livelihoods, but that is really not the quite the same thing as a government restricting someone's freedom of speech, etc. Until such a poll can define what it meant by these terms, it's really pretty meaningless.

I'd still rather be living here than in, say, Egypt. I bet you would, too.

[Bluenorthwest]

9. That's not what anyone said.

This country has refused my right to marry, to file my taxes truthfully as a not single person. To use the medicine of my choice is also considered a crime by the US.
Tell me how super free I should feel.

[conservaphobe]

12. You are correct.

But it's safe to say most of the respondents to this poll didn't answer the way they did for the reasons you listed.

My response was about people like my aunt who hates Obama because "he's taking away our freedoms."

Not people who have actually experienced a lack of freedom, as those in the LGBT community have.

Sorry for the confusion.

[bluedigger]

5. Sorry, but my employer prefers I don't participate in polling.

They'll let me know if their position changes.

[lpbk2713]

7. Anyone ever stopped for DWB can attest to that.

Or having ninja cops beating on your door in the middle of the night.

[Orsino]

8. Unfortunately, most are blaming the wrong people for the wrong reasons...

...and the right people for the wrong reasons, too. It's not exactly an awakening going on, alas.

[BootinUp]

14. so its the loss of freedom to discriminate? I will have to

read the article.

[iandhr]

11. How many of these people are teabaggers

Who's definition of a lack of freedom is a N word president.

[applegrove]

16. There is nothing free about being poorer,

as many Americans find themselves now.