Someone please tell me. How does "Freedom isn't Free" apply to the war?

[garybeck]

Who is being freed? Us? the Iraqis? That statement makes no sense to me but I see it around.

ON EDIT: I"m referring to the CURRENT situation. I see people holding these signs and putting the sticker on their car. I understand what it means in the greater sense, but not in the current conflict, especially now that the new Iraqi constitution is drafted and there are not new freedoms.

So who are they referring to, when they hold up the sign to day? The Iraqis or us? Am I missing something?

[CanuckAmok]

1. It's been around for ages.

I remember it being in National Guard ads in magazines back in the seventies.

It means, basically, that freedom occasionally demands sacrifices from its citizenry. That the price of freedom is the blood of its defenders.

And next week, I'll tell you all about magnets!

[The Traveler]

8. No, man! I can't wait

Tell me about magnets NOW! :bounce:

[The Traveler]

21. I prefer "Freedom is a two edged sword ..."

"... one edge being Liberty and the other being Responsibility." The author's contention was based on the contention that those who pursued liberty without regard to ideology could not possibly sustain freedom; those who insisted on responsibility while sifling liberty could produce only tyranny. His thesis was that only when a proper balance between Liberty and Responsibility is achieved can Freedom be attained.

Pity the Free Marketers, the so-called Libertarians, the Corporatist vampires that have for so long been ascendant just don't get that point. What Bush calls progress many regard, with reason, as the rape of the world and the squandering of the American future.

[garybeck]

20. I know, I'm talking about the CURRENT situation. I don't see how

it applies to today. ARe they referring to how we are supposedly freeing the Iraqi people?

[CanuckAmok]

25. I believe...

...they're still clinging to the debunked idea that Iraq and Al Qaida are interrelated (of course they still believe that; there's no other possible justification for the invasion of Iraq).

I think they're saying that the shedding of American blood in Iraq is a justifiable expense which is keeping Joe Average American "free".

[garybeck]

28. so it's saying that Iraq was going to attack us, and if we didn't

pay the price and start the war, we would have been attacked and we would live in a colony of Iraq now, and we'd be less free?

[CanuckAmok]

32. I think, more "accurately", that...

... the freep mindset is that attacking Iraq was one and the same as attacking Al Qaida... that even if it didn't kill a single Al Qaida operative, it crippled their finance network and sent a message "Don't Tread on Me!".

Nevermind that Saudi Arabia writes blank cheques to Al Qaida and that there are undoubtedly more Al Qaida operatives/sleeper cells in the US than in Iraq.

But, hey, it doesn't really hinge on logic.

[DBoon]

30. agressive military action keeps us free!

When Woodrow Wilson banned The "Nation" for opposing WWI, wasn't it the military that stopped him, and didn't the military keep Eugene Debs out of prison?

When the IWW tried to exercise their free speech rights, wasn't it the military that kept local vigilantes from lynching them?

When corrupt racist politicians tried to send Japanese Americans to detention camps, wasn't it the military that prevented this?

When African Americans tried to exercise the right to vote, wasn't it the marines that protected them against the Klan?

It wasn't?

But our military strength keeps us free, doesn't it?

[CanuckAmok]

36. You know that expression that we get the government we deserve?

I think the same applies to the military.

Having "been there, done that, got the t-shirt", I understand the the first objective of any military is to dismantle the notion of free will, and force the candidates/recruits to work as a unit, unquestioning and loyal to a fault.

The military can only be as good as the government which facilitates it. I don't want to sound elitist, but I think that's a fundamental difference between the Canadian Armed Forces (and most of the other NATO forces) and the US military; we were acting on behalf of a government and society which is non-expansionist/non-imperialist, and our training reflected that ideology of civil support and defence vs. offence.

That said, there is a repository of severely trigger-happy freaks in our military, too, and they always have the same moustache.

On edit: it was the Red Army who crushed the White Russian/ruling class resistance of the Peoples' Revolution. I'm sure there are dozens of othewr similar stories, but I can't cite any off-hand.

[DBoon]

39. the military protects our sovereignty

it protects our nation from foreign invaders

it does not protect our freedom from its most powerful enemies - corruption and intolerance from within.

The military does not really keep us free. Judges, lawyers, and other advocates for freedom who sacrifice their reputations and their lives do.

[DBoon]

40. dupe dupe

dupe!

[DBoon]

31. Meso American civilizations required blood sacrifice

The Aztecs were notorious for this, and the Mayans also practiced human sacrifice though on a smaller scale.

The Spanish conquest put an end to that.

Brutal as the Spanish were, they could not stomach human sacrifice.

Leave it to Americans to revive this old idea.

Leave it to Americans to revive a practice that the barbarians of Baroque Spain found inhuman.

[CascadeTide]

38. does Switzerland have this saying?

they haven't done too much bleeding and they seem to be doing OK :P

[Journeyman]

2. It refers to the idea that freedom must be defended at times. . .

and that the price for it is the lives of our soldiers.

[Webster Green]

3. To quote Mr. Natural....

"It don't mean shit".

Nothing more than freeper double talk.

[JohnLocke]

4. It means to keep quiet about the war.

Freedom isn't free, so we must sacrifice our freedoms lest we lose them. :eyes:

[leveymg]

5. It means: War is Still Good Business, Invest Your Kids. n/t

[girl gone mad]

6. It means that in order to be free...

you have to give up all of your rights and sacrifice your first born son.

Freedom Isn't Free = propoganda prelude to the draft.

[niallmac]

7. Think of it this way.

"Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose,
Nothing don’t mean nothing honey if it ain’t free, now now."

I don't mean to call you honey and furthermore I have no idea what it means either.
Apologies to Ms Joplin RIP.

[EstimatedProphet]

9. It means the same thing as "Why do you hate America?"

[klook]

10. Means you have to spend $5.6 billion per month

fighting a war against people who pose no threat to your freedom, until you get enough of them riled up against you that they finally do pose a threat to your freedom.
For more information: http://www.ips-dc.org/iraq/quagmire/

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. has a very long history

in many ways going back to actually Jefferson, who once wrote (after the 1800 events) the tree of liberty requires the blood of patriots from time to time

Freeperland has taken this and completely changed its meaning... for Jefferson, and anybody who knows the history this means that at times we may even have to sacrifice lives to remain free from tyranny

For the freepers, well you know we are spreading democracy out there :sarcasm: hence we should be able and willing to sacrifice some lives in this

[garybeck]

15. I'm just talking about the current situation.

people are using it today. I see signs, stickers.... who is being freed? how does it apply to our current situation? it makes no sense.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. That is when knowing the history is a good thing

For example I had a pro war chicken hawk tell me, freedom isn't free

You are right kid, it is not free, that is why I will pay the ultimate price if need to be to keep this coutry free

Eyes wide open, I see you get it

No, you mised it, I quoted Jefferson... about that tree of liberty... and tiranny

You are a commie (yes he missed who I was quoting he was proof possitive I was quoting Marx)

... to protect and deefend the Constittuon of the US against all enemies, both foreign and domestic...

His eyes got real big.

Yes kid, you are that threat to freedom, now speaking of freedom and your version of it, I will drive you to the recruiter right now.

he walked away

[rodeodance]

16. There is no free lunch (for anyone)

[NMMNG]

12. Originally it meant you had to be willing to sacrifice in order to keep

the freedoms that we as Americans cherish.

Nowadays it means that you have to be willing to kill, exploit and swindle to maintain the illusion of freedom.

[johnaries]

13. The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance.

Thomas Jefferson.

Boy, the Sheeple really fell down on that one, didn't they?

Here's another one by Robert Jackson:
The price of freedom of religion, or of speech, or of the press, is that we must put up with a good deal of rubbish.

Ain't it the Truth!

[DanCa]

14. Chimp is listening to bobby mcgee again drunk

He got the words wrongs. Just like how he misinterpets everything that the bible says.

[Maraya1969]

17. That is part of the Repug spin. They try and act like fighting in Iraq

equates with saving OUR freedom. Next time you see a sticker ask the person what it means. Ask them if they think Iraq has the capability to overtake our country. Ask them if killing terrorists in Iraq is going to stop terrorists that live in this country right now.

They have no answers and many have not even bothered to ask the question.

It is the same thing with "These colors don't run" I saw that around for a long time and finally realized that they are saying WE are not running from......What? We are fighting and not running.

The whole thing is insane but I think if you can ask "nicely" what those stickers mean to the person who has them they might actually begin to think for a change.

Edit once again because I cannot spill

[garybeck]

22. as you say, "Next time you see a sticker ask the person what it means."

I think that's a good idea.

[CanuckAmok]

27. No, they will say Iraq = Al Qaida.

These are people who, if they are able to make the distiction between the hundreds of Middle Eastern cultures and ideologies, choose not to.

These are people who think all Ay-rabs are one and the same, and that they're all conspiring to destroy America.

[Maraya1969]

37. It doesn't matter because no one will be able to kill off each and

every terrorist in the world. Remind them that Al-Qauida's headquarters in not in Iraq.

[Verve]

18. Well, it depends on who's saying it, IMO.

Militant republicans take the stance that you have to die for your freedom.

(True) Conservative Republicans are definitely thinking in monetary terms.

Anti Abortion Republicans are thinking that your freedom does not include your body.

Fans of Faux news are thinking that freedom does not include free speech, just theirs.

I'm sure I've left out a few but it's a start. It's a confusing term that no one really knows the true meaning to?

[jbnow]

19. In this case Kristofferson was right

(made famous by Joplin)
Freedom's just another word
for nothing left to lose
and nothing
that's all that bush has left (fill in the blank)

[expatriot]

24. to me it has a double meaning....

Conservatives interpret it as meaning that freedom is an entitlement of citizenship and it is paid for by soldiers (mainly poor kids) on a distant battlefield that will engage in wars not only to defend our borders but to make sure we keep our global position and prosperity... freedom to them is based on a very materialistic thing... "God Bless America, etc."

Progressives take personal responsibility for our freedom. We realize that freedom is not a gift of god or an entitlement given to us by demigod heros on foreign fields, it is only reaped when we put in the hard labor of active citizenship.

[The_Casual_Observer]

26. Used in the context of the occupation of Iraq is hilarious.

Freedom to form a hardline Islamic government that will be subject to endless attacks by disenfranchised Sunnis. "Freedom my ass", and the suckers in the good ol' USA continues to pay with blood and money.

[garybeck]

29. "Freedom my ass"

someone should make a sticker

[MikeH]

33. I first remember as a 60's song by the group "Up With People"

This doesn't have to do with the original poster's question, but I thought I would share that I first remember the song "Freedom Isn't Free" as one of a number of catchy tunes by the group "Up With People" in the 1960's; I remember them once coming to my high school.

Freedom isn't free.

Freedom isn't free.

You gotta pay a price,

You gotta sacrifice

For your liberty.


More about them here

http://xserver1.its.mu.edu/286034568604752.bsp

and here

http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=up%20with%20people

[samsingh]

34. it only applies in a freepers insane or below-average mind.

[Borgnine]

35. "Freedom isn't free. Thank a veteran."

I will, as soon as I find a survivor of the Revolutionary War.

(not that I'm disparaging veterans, but come on, that old chestnut is pretty empty)

[DBoon]

41. "freedom isn't free. Thank an ACLU Attorney"

I'd like to see THAT bumper sticker