[Insert initial paragraph to fill in the preview of this post so that viewers are more likely to read it]. There, hopefully now you’ll take the time to read this in its entirety to understand my contrarian sentiment.

Last week was July 4th, a day of American festivities and pride. No shortage of red, white, and blue pigments of sorts, family gatherings, and commemorative social media posts of armed servicemembers, depicted as a black-silhouetted soldier who is likely saluting. Ahh the quintessentials.

What I’m about to say goes against the ol’ words of wisdom about freedom– that it isn’t free. Ho, as the title of my post claims: freedom actually is free………for those who didn’t pay for it.

Think about it. “There are no free lunches” because the money had to come from somewhere. But, to the person that was given that lunch, as far as their ledgers were concerned, they debited a lunch with no cost or liability. What I’m saying is if you didn’t pay part of the price of freedom yourself, freedom is free to you. Freedom is free to civilians who never served, with the exception of military spouses.

Sure it’s a theory, but if you ask me, a pretty damn good one. If you frequent old time American veteran clubs like the American Legion, VFW, etc. you’ll see quotes like: “All gave some, Some gave all”. In a way it’s mind-jarring how some could give everything for the same product that their civilian neighbor paid nothing for. In today’s era, the sacrifices look more like that which renders disabilities, time away from family and friends, and various degrees of stress affecting mental wellness. All these things are prices that former and current servicemembers paid for freedom.

Like I said, it’s a theory, but a damn good one. An analogy to this is paying taxes. However, in this example, EVERYONE pays taxes for the same goods and services: public amenities, infrastructure, government services, etc. You could argue that fractions of those tax dollars are indeed allocated to military budgets. In this case, everyone who pays their taxes supports national defense. But of course those forces still need to be supplied with sufficient manpower.

And so, ask yourself, who’s covering the tab on freedom?