Freedom is as Freedom Does

Americans like to talk about their freedom as the cornerstone of democracy. Indeed, political and religious freedoms were a big part of the reason people flocked to the New World throughout the 17th and 18th centuries and beyond. However, to an ex-pat like me, the word, “freedom” is defined differently depending on where you are and what your interests are. Here are a few of the differences between freedom in the U.S. and freedom in Brazil based on my 9 years in the latter.

In the U.S., freedom of speech is a main point used by the press and by political extremists alike. The freedom of speech is guaranteed to all people in the U.S. in the Bill of Rights and has probably been invoked as much as any other part of the Constitution in history.

In Brazil, freedom of speech is limited on certain occasions but no one complains about it. For example, it is illegal to use racist speech. So if you say that black people are inferior, you can be imprisoned. Most Brazilians support this restriction on free speech, but Americans would most likely not feel the same.

In the U.S., freedom of action is more limited than in Brazil when it comes to some personal habits. For example, it is illegal to drink a beer in public in most places in the U.S. It is also not legal to sell liquor after certain hours or in certain locations in most cities around the country.

Most Brazilians would laugh at that lack of freedom and mock Americans who brag about how free the U.S. is. Here in Brazil, if you want to buy a bottle of whiskey at 4am on a Sunday morning, you need only walk to the nearest gas station to do so. If you want to drink a can of beer as you walk down the sidewalk – no problem. As long as you are not causing a disturbance, you are free to follow your adult nature.

So I would argue that, for people who are not politically marginalized or religiously abnormal, the U.S. is not an exceptionally free place to live. Your actions are quite restricted when it comes to daily activities of an adult nature.

So when someone calls America, “The Land of the Free,” I snicker a bit because I see things from a different angle. Give me the freedom to drink when and where I want, screw whomever I want, and wear only a thong while walking on the sidewalk if I so choose. I’ll take those things over calling a black man the N-word any day.