Quote Originally Posted by Ozme52 View Post
We call ourselves Americans but it seems to tick off the rest of the western hemisphere....
Um...yeah... But pissing people off seems to be some kind of popular national past time for USA so I guess it makes sense.

Quote Originally Posted by Ozme52 View Post

You've opened up a lot of issues. Some I agree, the ones that address problems without impinging on my rights, I can go along with those. I can even see us paying for them... and it would be cheap if we eliminated waste in our government (but that's another debate,) and some I don't.

But the question 'is it worth a few freedoms...' No, it's not worth the price. Take those away (and I'm not talking about gun rights... but the one thereafter and the one thereafter and the one thereafter...) and eventually the only thing I have to fear is doing anything without prior permission.

You don't think so? It's not just about the American Revolution. Our entire history is about rights. And it's much harder to gain a right than lose it. So every time I see one eroded away it really bothers me.

My father told me I have no idea of the things I'm not allowed to do that he took for granted. As I get older, I see it too, things that were my right to decide about my own conduct as a young adult that I risk arrest and/or fine for doing today.

I can't say for other countries... but it might be an interesting question to pose to your own parents.
This is impossible to argue against. I believe in democracy. This is what you want, and US citizens like voting for, so this is the society you've got. I don't think there's a clear wrong or right here. There are strong arguments for either side. I wouldn't personally agree with your argumentation, but that is my highly subjective opinion. I don't think I'm obviously more right than you.