Amanda Lane
9/11/12
AP English 12.

The concept of freedom means different things to different people, depending on the level of freedom that you have in your life. When people think of the definition of ‘freedom’, they might think of ‘liberty’. The definition of liberty is having the ability to act according to your own will, as long as it doesn't affect the ability of someone else to act according to their own will. Most people would agree that this is the way that a society should function. But in America, do we have true ‘freedom’? Aldous Huxley, the author of the novel Brave New World, later writes in a commentary of the book that the ideas of human freedom have been manipulated over time. Comedian and commentator George Carlin also suggests that freedom is an “illusion”. However, there have been more optimistic views, such as those of presidents Reagan and Kennedy.
President Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.” I do not believe that ALL freedom must necessarily be fought for, but I do believe that it is important to protect and for us to teach our children about the freedoms that we have and are lucky to have. Ultimately, freedom is already protected in the Bill of Rights. We will always have the basic freedoms such as speech, religion, to bear arms, etc. It has been ingrained into us as a nation from the time of our independence.
I don’t necessarily believe that freedom is an ‘illusion’. I think we Americans have lots of freedom. But I do agree with the ideas of Aldous Huxley, that people have been manipulated over time in ways to limit their freedom. Actual laws have been made, and over time society has made its own set of non-written ‘laws’ which people also choose to accept. You see