As Americans, we are given the right to life and the right of the pursuit of happiness; both of which are freedoms. But what does the word freedom mean? The World Book Online, defines freedom as the ability to make choices and carry them out. However, in order for people to have complete freedom, they must be able to think, speak and act without any restrictions and without being controlled by anyone else. If people did have this, "complete freedom," our world would not function and we would live in chaos. That is why the word freedom should be defined as being able to do what one pleases but in a rational sense.
When our country was being founded, a huge emphasis was put on making sure everyone was guaranteed the same basic freedoms. One of which is the right to vote. Living in a democratically based society, citizens have the freedom to choose their leaders and they also have a right to a voice in the way their government is run and the laws that are made. In the First Amendment to the Constitution, we are given the freedoms of speech, press, and religion. Which means, we can basically say/think what we want with some minor restrictions, write what we want with some minor restrictions, and practice any faith that we want and if we so choose, we can practice no religion at all. This is not the case in many countries.
In other countries, a persons life is already planned and lived for them. People have very limited freedom, and the freedoms that they do have are mainly given to men. In some cultures, women are only allowed to speak when spoken to, they are many times denied an education and are forced into covering almost every inch of their bodies, and then are forced into marrying a complete stranger because of many cultures believing in arranged marriages. In cultures like these, governments have an enormous say in the way the country is run, rather than the people.
