Freedom Rocks!

Lately I've been reading and learning about so many different times and places in history when people (especially women) were oppressed. I don't know why it is all hitting me at once. Maybe it's just the period of history that we are studying (modern) and the books that seem to fall into my lap.

Afghanistan under the Taliban, Nazi Germany, Vichy France, China today, Saudi Arabia today, England in the futuristic V for Vendetta.

Reading about how scary, restricted, boring, painful, how soul crushing life was/is under these regimes has been making me feel so grateful to live in a free country.

I can come and go as I please. No documents. No Non-Jew papers to carry. No curfew at night. Don't need my husband's permission to go the market.

I can read whatever I want! Classics, comics, trashy novels, newspapers of all stripes. I can read them all. No mind control. (propoganda? yes. control? not so much)

I can pray whenever and wherever I want. There is no legal restriction on who I pray to, how I pray, when or where I pray.

I can listen to music. Whatver kind of music I care to hear. Beethoven, Beastie Boys, Basanova....it's all open to me!

I can teach my kids whatever I see fit to teach. We can be lefty, vegetarian, tree-hugging, eco-conscious folks. Or we can be conservative, religious, meat-eating, barely recycling people. It's our choice!

I can openly disagree with my local, state and national government. I can write articles, letters to the editor, whole books condemning my government. Whoo hoo!

And....I can leave! If I don't agree with the direction my government is headed, I am free to move to Jaimaca. Or Belgium. Or Chile. My country doesn't care if I stay or go!

Travelling freely from state to state is another, added bonus of freedom.

These are just some of the things that come to my mind. I'm sure there are other freedoms that I haven't mentioned. (must be careful, this is a PG blog)

So, at the risk of sounding corny, I've just gotta say:

I LOVE AMERICA!

And I love freedom! It totally rocks! And not just because I enjoy the convenience of not having to wear a burka. I truly think a free society makes us a better country (though I readily admit we have huge problems as a culture and a government). It certainly saves us from being a boring country. Am I right? or am I right?