I think disregarding the beliefs of others as brainwashing is not giving why they feel the way they do a thorough enough examination; even if they genuinely do live in a manner oppressive to their own freedoms, it's often that they accept it because they think it's necessary to avoid the things that they abhor in the way WE live. And in my own opinion, many things about the way we live legitimately are worth abhorring.
>And in my own opinion, many things about the way we live legitimately are worth abhorring.
Sure, but how can you argue that people are free to accept anything that is forced upon them? I'm not sure any large number of have true "freedom", but some certainly have more than others.
I know I live a life that is driven by a need to fulfill debts that I was tricked into by a society that told me I had to go into debt to become successful. Now I have little choice in what I do but to make as much money as I can in order to make those debts go away and my desires and passions have little say in the matter. I'm grateful for what I have, but it sure doesn't feel like freedom. American freedom is proportional to your wealth, and competition for that wealth is ceaseless. I might be willing to give up a lot of my "freedoms" to be free of that.
