Bumper Sticker Mayhem: Freedom Isn’t Free?

If there’s a conservative-minded bumper sticker I see all the time, it’s this: “Freedom isn’t free.”

I have a beef with this statement.https://ramonashelton.blogspot.com/2011/11/freedom-isnt-free.html

This slogan is usually used to show support for the armed forces or a given war and whether you’re a fan of military service or support one of the wars in which we’re either currently or previously engaged is irrelevant right now.   The slogan itself is flat out incorrect.

In a recent article, Slappy defined what a right is.  If you haven’t read it, I suggest you do, as I am going to build off the ideas he explored there.  A right is inherent to your humanity.  Geographic location does not change which rights are granted to you.  The time period in which you are born does not change these rights either.

Now of course rights can be taken away.  Coercive forms of government do a good job of taking rights away.  Compare the United States to North Korea.  Americans have more rights than North Koreans because the American government has taken fewer rights away than the totalitarian government of North Korea.  So it’s logical to say you are born with your rights.

If you are born with your rights, freedom being included as one of these rights, why would you have to earn them?  Does your country of birth determine which rights you have and which must be earned?  If so, does that mean that all men are not created equal?

Furthermore, if freedom is acquired through war, the soldiers fighting and the politicians administering the war would be the source of the freedom.  That would then mean that those people could refuse to grant any rights they bestow on the rest of the citizenry.

Freedom is free.  It can be taken away, but getting it back is a restoration of previous freedom already owed to each individual.

Here’s a quick and easy example to sum things up.  You have some money stolen from you.  Another person happens to find the stolen money somewhere and returns it to you.  This person who gives you the money back is not the source of your income.  You already had the income and the returned money was already rightfully yours to begin with.

Understand the source of your freedoms and rights so that you can be quicker to pick out those who falsely claim to be the source.

12 comments

  1. I just made the argument in my previous post that what you say is true, we are all born with our rights. If I am born into slavery, I’ve had my rights taken away. If a group of people fight to end slavery, and one of them dies, but in the process they achieve an end to slavery, then the cost to restore my rights would be one life. Are you suggesting they change the bumper sticker line to “Defending our Freedom isn’t Free” to be more correct, or are you merely pointing out the fact that our rights are not granted to us from other humans?

    • Yes, my point is that rights do not come from other humans. Even someone born to slaves is born free. They don’t lose their freedom until someone takes it away.

  2. I would argue that the bumper sticker is correct to the extent that almost every person in the world, past and present, has lived under a form of oppression. The United States is one of the few exceptions. That being said, it is incumbent on us to prevent our liberties from eroding- be it to a military threat, power grabs by our own government officials, or irresponsible spending. The bumper sticker simply calls attention to the fact that freedom is dynamic, not static. We should always work to maintain the freedoms we enjoy.

    • I would argue that the United States does oppress its citizens.

      I guess I jumped on this phrase because the bumper sticker I saw read “Freedom isn’t free, it’s earned.” That carries a bit of a different connotation.

      My reason for bringing this up as an issue was because it’s something that’s pretty easy to read and accept without really thinking about it. It’s a subtle difference between what we’re talking about (and I don’t disagree that we need to fight to keep our liberties), but it’s hugely important in my view.

  3. Freedom Isn’t Free implies that we once weren’t free, until we decided to stand up for ourselves. Everybody serving in the military is sacrificing things others aren’t, for people they will never meet and probably don’t agree with how they choose to lead their lives. It doesn’t mean they are better at all, but it does mean they are sacrificing more than others, and anybody who doesn’t believe that doesn’t deserve recognition, does not deserve the right to be free. Freedom is a right, so in essemce, one could think of it as being free. However, Freedom is allowed to continue to be a right with service from our military members, past and present. The right to bear arms is also a right, but if you go to the state of California, it’s almost impossible to own a firearm there. So that right, under your assumption, should be free. And I completely agree with that. But then why isn’t it a right? Is freedom really our right anymore if we get taken over by another country? You may be thinking yeah ok, that’s just not going to happen. And i could understand why that assumption has given rise. But our military members, past and present, insure that you always have the luxury to have that thought, to think nobody would bother messing with us. Freedom is a loaded word, and until you realize the weight of it, I suggest you do not make ignornat posts such as this.

  4. Would you disagree, if it wasn’t for the military in WWII, your post would be spoken in German or Japanese? They paid with their lives so you can still speak English and live in the great USA.
    Yes, you “got your money back”, but the ones getting it back to you died in the process. That’s the cost of freedom.

  5. That’s right. Insult people who don’t agree with you. My comprehension is fine. I didn’t read the post you mentioned because I was just looking for a new “Freedom” sticker to replace the faded one on my truck and happened to come across Rollo’s post. I gave two years of my life to my country many years ago which is something you will never understand. That, my friend, gives me the right to disagree with you.

    • Thanks for checking out the blog. I sincerely apologize that I was insulting. The truth is, I don’t know if you agree with me or not, but I’d be willing to bet on 90% of issues we discuss here either you do agree or eventually would agree.

      When Rollo originally wrote this article I criticized him because I thought he was needlessly baiting people. However, when you read the article he isn’t attacking the armed forces, or saying defense isn’t needed, he is only making a philosophical point. Even the Declaration of Independence says, “they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights”. It does not say, “given to the people through the war we are about to wage”

      You are always welcome to disagree with us, everyone else can too…there is no prerequisite other than reading the articles!

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