It seems that one can hardly make it through a single day here in the good ol’ USA without hearing some sort of comment on freedom. You know what I mean – comments like: “It’s a free country!” or “The troops are out there protecting our freedom!” among others.

But when we say these things about freedom, what do we really mean?

Merriam Webster Dictionary defines freedom as “the absence of necessity, coercion or constraint in choice or action.” The U.S. definitely has lots of rights that are afforded its citizens that aren’t present in a few other countries. However, calling what we have "freedom," is a slight misnomer.

We can’t make every decision free from constraint or coercion. I can’t go out and buy cocaine (not that I am arguing that I should be able to) because my choices are being constrained, therefore limiting my freedom and making it not absolute, as many people believe.

Let’s move to more serious and concerning examples of how our freedom is certainly not absolute despite the claims of the nation. We have freedom of speech to say anything we want... Unless we are criticizing the government during a time of war which is an imprisonable offense thanks to the Patriot Act. In this way, I feel like my choices are constrained or under coercion, making my freedom not absolute.

Before 2015, it wasn't legal to get married as a homosexual. That definitely constrained people’s decisions and limited their freedom.

And let’s not even get around to social criticisms that infringe on Americans' freedoms. Women, people of color and those in the LGBT+ community are continuously discriminated against and have their freedoms infringed upon.

I think the greater issue is continuously reminding everyone that America is a free country. Yes, we have lots of freedoms in the US, but unfortunately we also have some restrictions.

Furthermore, we most certainly are not the only country with freedoms. Our obsession with freedom suggests superiority, and I actually think that it is quite detrimental to continuously assert our superiority, especially when we likely aren’t the most superior nation.