by Ronald Manalastas

Created on: May 28, 2008   Last Updated: June 21, 2008

America is not losing her freedom. But her competitiveness behaves in an inverse relationship with the improvements made by her global counterparts. American competitiveness has suffered a "chipping off" that causes dysfunctions and discontinuities in the life of the American people. This development, borne out of the adverse impact of globalization, has cultivated that erroneous public perception that American freedom is being lost.

It is difficult to imagine how America can lose her freedom, not an iota of it, the country being a bastion of freedom. America upholds and puts high premium on rights, liberty, and equality. It is for this reason that we will continue to see a head-strong America persistently fortifying her offense and defense against any erosion, deterioration, or loss of the sacred word "freedom."

Just like any politically independent and sovereign nation, America, with a dominant super power status, has the proven capacity to assert the primacy of the American interest in the global community of nations. The predisposition of America to freely act in order to advance her strategic interest is rich in historical content.

The American "manifest destiny" that led to major westward expansion and acquisition of Mexico, as well as the fateful intrusion in Vietnam, gives a clear idea as to what America can do in the exercise of her freedom to exist as a sovereign nation. In some circles, the Five D's of American imperialism (i.e. destiny, duty, deity, dollar, and democracy) are considered active ideological muscles that America can flex any time when politically or economically necessary. In contemporary times, the hotly debated issue of American war involvement in Iraq is a similar manifestation of the strong American bias for freedom, regardless of its global diplomatic impact.

But while freedom is not lost, life in America has become much different from what it used to be. The socio-economic malaise now constricting America continues to dispossess people of what they were accustomed to fully enjoy before. And it is exactly the paradox: there is freedom, yet there is socio-economic dispossession among the broad ranks of Americans.

America is just immersed into new and cold adverse realities, which, as a nation, she never had the thought of going through. We can cite the key causal factors as to why people think they are losing their freedom when, in fact, they are not. These factors are:

1. Restricted Choice of Goods and Services

The range and quality

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