What is your idea of "freedom"!? What do you think of this former North Korean prisoner's concept of freedom!?
He was born in a prison camp in North Korea, being punished for his parent's crimes!. Three generations are punished if one family member commits a crime in North Korea!. He escaped the prison camp, fled to China and then went on to seek asylum in South Korea!. The video is really long but I wrote down excerpts from his interview, when he was explaining his ideas of freedom!.
http://www!.youtube!.com/watch!?v=Ms4NIB6xr!.!.!.What was your concept of freedom in the camp!?
-Inside the camp, I had never heard of the word "freedom"!. Other words like "human rights" or "basic rights" were never used inside the camp, so I had no knowledge of these concepts!.
Did you ever wonder why you were doing the work assigned to you!?
-No, I didn't even have time to have such thoughts!. Because we were criminals, and in my case, I was born from criminals!. I always thought I was working to be absolved of my parent's wrongdoings and I deserved that work!.
What was your first impression of the world outside the camp!?
-The question I'm asked often in South Korea is, "weren't you shocked when you came to South Korea!?" But I always tell them, nothing in South Korea has shocked me!. The most shocking experience for me was the day after I escaped the prison camp!. Even within the prison camp boundaries, you're only allowed to go to certain places!. If you work at a factory, you can't go anywhere else without permission!. I escaped the camp during the night, so the day after I escaped, when it was bright, I saw North Koreans and they seemed so free to me!. We all wore uniforms in the camp, but people outside were wearing red, black and white clothes!. Same with the headscarves!. Women in the camp wore the same headscarves!. People outside moved around and ate so freely!. That was so shocking to me!. I couldn't believe a world like this existed!.
When I was in the camp, I thought it would be the same outside-- that is, before I heard otherwise (from the guy from Pyongyang) months before the escape!. Even when I heard those stories, I didn't believe him!. I remember thinking those stories weren't true!. I wasn't interested at all in his descriptions of interactions with other people!. But when I came out and saw for myself, everything was shocking!. People bought food with a piece of paper!. Nobody was regulating them!. It was like I was struck by lightning!. During the 2, 3 days after the escape, I even thought I was still in the camp and imagining things!. The people didn't look real!. That's how shocked I was!.
But I wasn't able to think that was freedom!. I was too shocked at the sight of these people freely walking about!. I wasn't able to understand freedom in China, either!. Even today, I'm still unsure of the concept of freedom, what it really means!. Because, to me, I felt free in North Korea just outside the camp!.
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My idea of freedom is this!.
Self determination is the greatest aspect of freedom in my opinion!. The ability to make for yourself a life that you are comfortable with, happy with and the ability to defend that life against threats of physical, political and other means!. Thus the importance of the 1st and 2nd amendments, the need to fight monopolies and the importance of true Democracy!.
Ability to pursue one's own happiness as long as it does not prevent others from enjoying theirs in an unavoidable fashion!. I believe in the castle doctrine!. If it's not a WMD, not a direct substantial threat to those around you without your actions!. For example cooking meth next door carries the threat of explosion, toxic chemicals leaking into the groundwater, toxic gases entering your home in substantial enough strength to pose an imediate short term hazard!. Storing explosives is another example!. If they are stored in large enough quanity to destroy your home as well as the owners then that infringes upon your freedom!.
Storage of munitions which would require severe conditions to pose a threat does not qualify!. Unless there is intentional actions or catastrophe which would in itself be a greater threat than the stored ammunition or other such threats, then it is not an infringement!. Neither is 2nd hand smoke as the "danger" of it is long term if at all!. Nor is it an unavoidable hazard or an imediate threat!.
As far as I'm concerned if a person's actions are not a threat to others under the above guidelines even if those actions are illegal they should be free to do as they please!. The exemption being if the actions they are taking reach out of that home such as hacking, fraud, or any other activity which may be harmless in it's creation but which is used outside!. So a drug dealer would be a legitimate person for the law to target in their home!. They are enacting a criminal enterprise which extends beyond their own home!. The only way a drug dealer could be legal under this castle doctrine is if all drugs were produced in the home and consumed in the home by full time residents of the home!. This could be defeated by making the articles to grow/manufacture those drugs illegal thus negating the castle protection for such an enterprise!.
Crimes with victims such as child molestation, rape and robbery would also be punishable offenses as they are a threat to others and not covered under the Castle doctrine!.
Homes should be taken from the owner only as a last resort for a serious offense such as non-payment of a mortgage!. The Texas Homestead act is an excellent example and should be the start of laws!. Home owner's associations should NEVER be able to take a home!. To be honest I'd love to see them banned or at least forced to work under tightly prescribed guidelines to prevent harrasment and abuse of power!.
The principle is simple!. The world is a dangerous enough place!. There should be one place in the world you can go home too and relax!. Be free of the world's dangers!. Doing this would eliminate most government abuses!. People could invest in a home that is their fort against bad times!. If paid for a home should never be taken lightly!. Eminent domain should be used only in cases issues of great importance to the populace such as a badly needed bridge that cannot be reasonably located elsewhere or an important military base that needs to be at that location, not just because somebody wants your property!.
This plays into the 2nd biggest aspect of freedom and that is the right to live life without undue fear!. That doesn't mean just because somebody is scared of you because you wear the wrong clothes or listen to the wrong music or are the wrong ethnic group that they have any rights to infringe on yours!. It means that people have a right to reasonably expect to perform every day affairs without being arrested, robbed, kidnapped or killed!. That does not mean people have to like you or say nice things to you!. In fact the pursuit of happiness and free speech guarentee their right to say not so nice things to you!. What it means is they cannot interfere with your ability to pursue your own happiness through action!. That means excluding you from jobs, preventing your freedom of movement, extortion, etc!.
Freedom to me means the ability to step away from the norm and not be persecuted for it!. It doesn't mean that I can inflect my abnormal actions upon others, just that I am free to practice them in whatever sanctuary I may find!. Intentionally offending others is in itself an act of depriving them of their pursuit of happiness!. In case of political dialog that is a necessary evil but when walking down the street certain actions can and should be deemed offensive!. If you want to take a dump in your own back yard, that is your right to do so!. As long as there is a fence between you and your neighbors and it does not pose a sanitation hazard that is fine!. Doing it on a sidewalk is however offensive enough to aWww@QuestionHome@Com
My idea of freedom has expanded dramatically!. I doubt many of us would last long in these conditions!. Www@QuestionHome@Com
Thank you!. It's a powerful piece, and a reminder of what happens when a government controls the means of production, all property, and censors all thought!.
My nation once stood against this kind of totalitarian oppression; now many of our leaders are dupes and operatives trying to establish such control here!.
There are certain basic rights, which the founders of the United States explicitly said were granted by God --not because they were all of the same religion, or even worshiped the same God --- but they stated this because previous to the founding of the U!.S!., all rights were granted by those in power (the State), and a right given by a man can be taken away by a man!.
This is a chilling reminder that those who take their freedom for granted, or those who have been stripped of their power to protect their rights, will ultimately lose them!.
Vote wisely!.
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there is a story of a village of cave dwellers who only new of life inside the cave and thus new nothing of the light!. Their world was clearly defined for them and all was available to make their lives comfortable!. there was no strife or hard ships, sickness or sorrow!. Everyday was the same!. To keep this community thriving no one was allowed to leave the cave even though there was clear evidence that something lay beyond the entrance way!. No one ventured out, because it was forbid and no one had actually ventured out to see what was beyond!.
In other words they were content to have the world be what they could see and nothing more!. Are they free!? In there minds!. Is this freedom!? Not even close!. Is there life wrong!? Debatable!.
In basic terms!. Freedom and freedoms can never be granted by any authority!. They can only be removed by an oppressive concept of or by authority!. The removal of authority will grant many kinds of freedoms but will ultimately create anarchy!.
Freedom in a civilized society means the rights and abilities to pursue one's own interests with out the encumbrance of an others rights!. This is as close as we can ever hope to get to complete freedom with out a free for all!. It's society's duty (in the form of a fair and equitable governance for all and by all (the concept behind the US Constitution) to keep this balance!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I think there is a bit of contradiction in the story as for a persons without prior knowledge about freedom there is no motive to escape !. also he mentioned "I had never heard of the word "freedom"!. Other words like "human rights" or "basic rights" were never used inside the camp" but later he contradicted himself with the stories of (from the guy from Pyongyang)!. North Korea's regime is ruthless but the story of this prisoner has its flaws!.Www@QuestionHome@Com