Freedom lost, freedom found

Musings on what is truly important

America is the land of the free and our freedom is the best freedom. At least, that’s what I was taught from an early age. That belief reinforced by many a Budweiser and Jeep commercial over the years.

To believe in America’s version of freedom is to deny the freedoms that exist elsewhere. Elsewhere people can speak, but not as freely as they do in America. Elsewhere people have rights, but not nearly as many rights as Americans.

This belief system is so strong that it keeps us isolated from the rest of the world, keeps us blinded to the possibilities, and potentially keeps us from our happiness.

What I have found since leaving the US is that there are trade-offs made in each culture and there are different forms of freedom. It is a result of the different kind of freedoms enjoyed in the Netherlands that have allowed me to find a level of content and happiness that had always alluded me in the US.

The differences are many so I’ll focus on the second amendment, the freedom to bear arms, and the resulting gun violence that it brings. Gun violence is something that Americans have accepted as an inevitable requirement to protect their other freedoms. It’s so core to life In America that we would rather secure entry points to our schools than deny the purchase of a firearm.

The result is a society where people are afraid to approach their neighbors doors for fear of being shot. Where you can be grocery shopping next to a random person suited in body armor with a handgun holstered on their waist. These are not fictional tales, but my own lived experiences. And let’s not think they are limited to recent times. As I think back to my childhood there were numerous others.

I grew up in the 90s when gang violence was rampant in the school system. One time while riding the bus to school our bus driver exclaimed, “Oh my god, he’s got a gun!”. Apparently one of my classmates was crossing in front of the bus and flashed the gun in his waistband at the bus driver. This same individual was later relocated to Samoa after an uzi was found in his school locker. Another time a schoolmate was shot in the face at a shopping mall that was a main hangout spot for kids of our generation. He was one of the good ones, not caught up in gangs, just a nice kid growing up in the 90s, luckily the bullet just grazed his cheek leaving him with a very large scar. This was my experience in Junior High in the suburbs!

Later as a young adult I was attending a renegade rave, outdoors in an industrial area of San Francisco. As we danced under the night sky shots rang out and people scattered, literally running into the ice cold waters of the bay to avoid being caught up in whatever was going down. After the shots stopped people started to reconvene to find out what happened. It was a simple drug deal gone bad.

I’ve never thought of these experiences as anything exceptional. If anyone had asked me about gun violence in the past I would have said it’s always been a concern but it’s never directly affected myself or my family. It’s just been on the periphery this whole time. An underlying ever present stressor.

Now that my family and I are in the Netherlands, that stress is completely relieved. I no longer worry about my wife and kids going out late at night. Our heads don’t spin with ”what ifs” when we visit a mall or movie theatre. And there’s more to it than our personal feelings.

The entire community here is free from the threat of gun violence and that manifests itself in wonderful ways. Children here play freely, roaming the neighborhood and engaging with strangers. The police and community have a much calmer and communicative relationship. Just watch a few beats of Politievlogger Jan-Willem on YouTube to see the contrast for yourself.

In trading the right to bear arms, I’ve gained a freedom much more aligned with my own values, freedom from the fear of gun violence.

Despite what we are told from the time we are children, America does not have a lock on freedom. Freedom doesn’t come in one shape and size and if the current system isn’t working for you, it could be time to start looking abroad.

And to avoid ending on a dour note, here are some recent photos of Utrecht in Fall. 🧡