I want to live in a country where I could pray in school if I wanted to, but the school didn't make me pray if I didn't want to. If I want to declare that my country is "one nation, under God," I want to be allowed to. If I want to pledge my allegiance to "one nation, under Allah," I want that right. If I want to say "one nation, created by lifeforms that evolved due to random mutations in nature," then I want to be allowed to. I want freedom of religion.

I want to live in a country where I can speak my mind about important issues, without being put on a list of people to watch, or a list of people who can't fly on airplanes. I don't want the government to label me a "domestic terrorist" because I disagree with them. I want to be able to state my opinions without fearing retaliation at the hands of the government. I want freedom of speech.

I want to live in a country where news and information are exchanged freely and accurately, and the media comes from many unbiased sources instead of having it spoon fed to me by three or four multibillion dollar corporations. I want freedom of press.

I want to live in a country where the ability to form a group of people to discuss or protest something is a right I can exercise, not a privilege I can apply for a permit for. Whether I'm standing with a group in a park holding up signs about a political issue, or just having a party with my friends in my own home, I don't want to worry about the police sending me to jail or fining me for it. I want freedom of assembly.

I want to live in a country where I can elect people to represent me, and if I petition them to do something they have to at least read it. I don't want to write letters to my leaders, and receive an automated response based on the keywords in my letter. I want the right to petition.

I want to live in a country where I'm allowed to own the tools I need to protect myself from whatever I feel is threatening me, regardless of how outmatched I am by that threat. And I want to be able to choose those tools for myself, and I want the ability to decide for myself what accessories and features I need on that weapon. I want the right to bear arms.

I want to live in a country where the police can't rip my car up because they claim they smelled something in it. I don't want any government agency to be able to listen in on my phone calls, whether I'm calling my neighbor across town or some church in Pakistan. If I leave my own country for a vacation, I want the private information on my laptop computer to stay private. And if there's ever a darn good reason to violate this privacy, I want that reason signed and approved by a judge and shown to me by the people doing the search first. I want protection from unreasonable searches and seizures.

If I get accused of a crime, I want a fair and balanced method of determining my guilt no matter how severe the crime is. I don't want the cops running around on the 6 o'clock news saying I did it unless a judge and jury have already said I did it. I don't want to sit in a pen in a secret prison without any rights if somebody accuses me of terrorism. If I get sued, I don't want to lose the lawsuit because the other guy got a $300,000 per year lawyer and I had to dig mine out of a box of Cracker Jacks. I want the right to fair trials.

I want to live in a country where I don't have to face stiff fines and penalties for minor crimes. I don't want to worry about having my license revoked for forgetting to renew it on time. I don't want to be put in the same class of criminals as rapists and robbers and murderers for owning the wrong plant. I don't want to live where the police can electrocute me on the spot for not doing what they say. I want protection from cruel and unusual punishment.

I want to live in a country where basic and obvious rights can't be denied to me simply because they weren't specifically stated in the Constitution. For example, I don't want to face fines or penalties for collecting rainwater or tapping a spring; I want it to be just assumed that I have the right to provide myself with water to drink. I want to live in a country where my freedom is a right, not an enumerated list.

I want to live in a country where the state I live in can have laws and powers that we, its actual residents, feel are in our best interest. I don't want members of some federal government that has never set foot here to be able to declare power over my state unless the Constitution specifically grants it that power. I want a country with a limited Federal government.

I want to live in a country whose government doesn't think that it can force me to serve in any sort of Citizen's Corps. I want the right to be compensated for my work with money that's worth more than the paper its printed on. I don't want to be handed money for my work that might have no value tomorrow. I want to live in a country where I am not a slave, and slavery is abolished.

I want to live in a country where all levels of the government have to recognize my rights, not merely the Federal government. If the Federal government gives me a right, I want the states to be required to uphold it!

According to the U.S. Constitution, I *SHOULD* already be living in just such a country. Why is it... that I am not?

i think we all do, people from every single country in the planet
awesome text! sf

You know what astounds me? When we try to tell people that they are letting the government take their rights away, they come back with "Oh yeah, well I have the same rights I always had!"

I kind of wrote this thread for people like that. There are people who honestly don't think we've lost any rights, they truly believe we have all the freedoms that we're supposed to be guaranteed. They think that just because it hasn't happened to them, it isn't happening.

When you try to point out all of the infringements of our rights the government is perpetrating against us, they still shut their eyes and begin screaming all the off-topic political talking points to try and deny reality. I blame a school system that's more concerned with teaching the Birds and the Bees than history and the Constitution.

And, gee, I wonder who set the school system up that way?!

Excellent post enjoyed it and I too would like a country like that also. We all need someplace like that.

Anything not specifically mentioned in the constitution is left to the states.

The only law specifically listed in the constitution is treason.

I'm sure many of you can point out federal laws that are not treason that shouldn't exist today.

Your an amazing person for stating this. And absolutely correct.

Your an amazing person for stating this. And absolutely correct.

Excellent thread! I truly hope this makes the front page.
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Excellent thread. Love it! It should be passed around to everyone. Great job on putting it together and wording it so well.

If you get all these rights you will have to deal with other problems that may cause you to want to lose those rights. It is hard to please everyone all the time.

The place the op talked about, is a lost dream. Oasis had a song with the following lyrics.

"While we are living, the dreams we have as children fade away".

Sums up our world, and as we all become more cynical here, i see the dream of the op, slowly getting faded and going of into the distance of time and space.

Most of us just want to live, but animals, have taken the power they get from there new techs, and are making this a hell of earth, for so many. The rest will just be false dreaming, that they are happy.