If you can tell the President on Christmas Eve "Let's Go Brandon" which means something vulgar and you don't go to jail then you live in a free country
If you are incarcerated in a re-education camp because of your religion then you live in an unfree country
I think people forget, "Let's Go Brandon," isn't even always a gripe at the US president.
Everyone, the reporter included, knew fully well what the crowds were chanting. That phrase sums in 3 words how corrupt the media is to whitewash and censor any criticism of the establishment president and the mainstream narrative.
The US is orders of magnitude different to and better than China, but still has room for improvement.
I guess an old Soviet anecdote is very relevant here:
US citizen: I live in a free country! Nobody will prosecute me if I go next to White House and shout out loud "<name of US president>! You are an old stupid son of a bitch!"
USSR citizen: I also live in a free country! Nobody will prosecute me if I go to Red Square and shout out loud "<name of US president>! You are an old stupid son of a bitch!"
Let's go Brandon is not widely known, I am inclined to think, to the typical audience of President's Christmas Eve address. It does not warrant any action because of this.
I can make violent threats against the President at his face and nobody would bat an eye. But my country is at the peak of unfree. So you didn't help :(
Edit: Ah, silly me. That was just a thinly veiled insult against China, the great big devil.
No nation is truly free, all societies are ruled by a small elite that is only concerned with its own wealth and power. How the elite rules depends on different factors, but their motives are always the same.
I grew up under military dictatorship in Latin America. Back then you could get in serious trouble if you said or did the wrong thing. There is a lot more “freedom” now but the people are still oppressed by their own social condition. Plus ça change…
Those that have individual rights, including freedom of speech/thought/religion and property rights. Independent courts. Freedom of movement. The right to your own body.
Probably a nation whose citizens feel comfortable and free in their nation without constantly having to remind themselves or the world that they are a "free-nation".
No people are truly free, and that's ok. No one should be allowed to walk down the street and attack others. It's not "truly free" in the sense of "absolutely free". It's "to have the correct freedoms".
Which nations are truly free then?