Saturday, July 31, 2004

Freedom is not Free


The words 'Freedom is not Free' are carved into the granite near the Korean war memorial.

The implication is that war is somehow necessary and justified. It implies that the price of freedom can be picked up by the government and the military. But what is meant isn't the freedom of the government or of the military. What is referred to is the freedoms of the American people. It could have said 'The price of freedom is eternal vigilance' - but that might be too much of a jolt. It, rightly, puts the onus back onto the individual. Freedoms have never been won by Governments. They are won by people - often struggling against governments that act in the interests of established powerholders.

As Aldous Huxley wrote: "Liberty is not given, it is taken".
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