What Is the Cost for Freedom?

             The liberty principle for this freedom Friday is the simple fact that freedom is not free. Americans are free today because preceding generations considered liberty to be worth the fight.

            President Ronald Reagan made a statement that has become famous over the years: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.” 

            The “Greatest Generation” fought Hitler and the Nazis to save the world, and they came home as heroes. My generation fought in Vietnam in the name of freedom and came home to jeers and insults. An important question is, “Is the next generation willing to fight to protect freedom?”

            As Cal Thomas said, “Probably every generation thinks the succeeding ones could never be as good as theirs.” My parents’ generation thought my generation was being corrupted by rock and roll. Elvis Presley was considered to be an evil influence with all his hip swinging. We may have reason to be concerned about the next generation as shown by the results of a recent Quinnipiac University survey. 

            In the survey, people were asked if they would fight for their country if America was invaded by a foreign power, much like the people of Ukraine are. “Would they stand and fight, or would they cut and run?” Thomas described it thus:

To some, the breakdown along party lines might seem predictable: Fifty-two percent of Democrats said they would flee if America were attacked by invaders. Only 40% said they would stay and fight.

While Republican respondents scored better – 68% said they would stand their ground – that still leaves 1 in 4 members of the GOP who said they would flee.

Writing about that in The Wall Street Journal, Matthew Hennessey, the newspaper’s deputy editorial direction, asks, “What in the hell has happened to this country?” His question should not be seen as rhetorical. The answer has been coming for many years, but few have done much to try and stop it.

One must have a reason to fight, to put their lives on the line for an ideal.

            This is where America has a huge problem. Our public schools and major universities are full of liberal teachers and professors who teach that America is a terrible place founded to preserve slavery. Besides, America is wealthy, and “record wealth is an embarrassment.” Why should we expect the rising generations to be willing to pledge their life and liberty to protect and preserve such a place? Thomas quoted the late Secretary of State George Shultz who said, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance and a willingness to act in its defense” and then wrote:

If the Quinnipiac survey is accurate – and given the current cultural condition, why wouldn’t it be? – the willingness to act seems to be shrinking. Inertia can only last for so long before the power that launched it expires.

We have been living off the bravery and sacrifice of “the Greatest Generation” for some time. It must be renewed if freedom is to be extended for us and for other nations.