Those who expect to reap the blessing of freedom must undertake to support it. – Thomas Paine
God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it. – Daniel Webster
One of the indispensable foods for the human soul is liberty. – Simone Weil
Freedom cannot be given; it must be purchased. – Booker T Washington
Liberty is not to be had or held without effort. – Herbert C Hoover
There were two things I had a right to, liberty and death. If I cannot have one, I would have the other. – Harriet Tubman
Very nice -- much better than the usual sanctimonious and sentimental faux patriotism claptrap we usually are inundated with on the 4th. Too bad FDR's famous "Four Freedoms" are left out. There's a lot of econ, not just philosophy, in those. And I sure wish the right and the left could come to some agreement about what the words "liberty" and "freedom" actually mean, but no such luck. As with all such conceptual terms, the meaning is very different from different points of view. For some it's the freedom to exploit others and get away with it without consequences; for others it's simply freedom FROM exploitation by the powerful. Welcome to the 1880's and '90's all over again -- or as some see it, medieval feudalism with barons and serfs and nothing in between. The Mayans and others were right about history being cyclical rather than straight-line, I think. The cycle is simply turning on us.
And don't forget this famous quote: "People will always trade their freedom for security, so first make them afraid and insecure" -- Hermann Goering, paraphrasing Napoleon.
Gee, I wonder what he really meant by "freedom"? He was quite the exploiter of those weaker than himself, after all.
FDR's Four Freedoms: Freedom from want, Freedom from fear, Freedom of speech (and thought), Freedom of religion (belief). Pretty good definition of "freedom" ," I think, because it's functional, operational, and practical -- not theoretical, philosophical, or ideological.
