I love to hear glorious fables about this great and free nation that we reside in.  Don't you?  It's wonderful to have all of this "freedom".  It's great to know that we are so much better off because we here in North America have such fundamental freedoms as religion, speech, choice, and others.  It's super great to realize that we are not controlled at all.

In case that went over your head, the entire first paragraph was sarcasm. 

Open your eyes.  This is not a free country.  Quite the contrary, it's an expensive country.  The United States and Canada are two of the most expensive countries in the world to live in.  Income tax alone is rampant and can hit as high as 45%.  That's disgusting.  Why do we allow our governments to take our hard earned money?  What do we get in return?  All we do is line the pockets of lying politicians who look out for their own vested interests.  The needs of the people are ignored.

Do you own your home?  If you do, you are one of the lucky few.  If you don't, then you are a slave to the housing system where you either pay rent to line someone pockets, or you pay huge interest on your mortgage to help the conglomerate banks get richer.  Even if you do own your home, you still have to pay property tax.  My taxes are around $2800 per year and what do I get for that?  Garbage men who leave little tags on my garbage to tell me that I put too many bags out, snow plows that come three days after the winter storm, and a street full of potholes that Motocross racers would be ashamed to ride on.  I have a meter on my water line to measure how much I use so that I can be billed accordingly.  Likewise for the hydro and natural gas.  These are essential services, yet they are not free.

My truck cost a ridiculous amount of money and consumes incredible amounts of fuel.  I'm no saint, that's for sure.  Yet the greedy oil barons jack the prices of fuel up to line their pockets while the economy suffers.  Transport truck drivers can no longer afford to haul the consumables that we hold near and dear.  The government takes a large share of the gasoline revenue.  Where does it end?  Insurance, telephones, Internet, cable TV, satellite, groceries, hydro, water, heating, vehicles, daycare....  this country is anything but free.