The freedom they give you means nothing because they can take it away at any time. “They” being the beloved government that protects you from terrorists foreign and domestic. “They” being the thieving corporatist elite that controls the unfree market dictating what kind of jobs you can have and how much you can earn. And “they” being the oligarchs who hold all these pieces together to perpetually keep themselves in power at the expense of honest, hard working folk.

As long as you play by the rules of these lying criminals, you are not free. They control the very meaning of the word for people who can’t think for themselves. “You live in a democracy therefore you’re free” when in reality they neither live in an actual democracy nor would that give them any freedom if they did. Catchphrases with an ounce more subtlety like “freedom isn’t free” roll nicely off the tongue, but it’s no surprise that the esoteric meaning (and its use as propaganda) goes over their heads as is the natural order.

Freedom is risk, freedom is the unknown, and the unknown is danger. Even a slave in Egypt had the choice between risking death for freedom or continuing the slavery where at least he knew what to expect. You can thank a soldier for your freedom if you have no courage to speak of or you could look within where you may find a warrior instead. A soldier fights for whoever is in power. A warrior only fights for righteousness.

Freedom isn’t free. No one’s going to give you freedom without conditions, least of all big government and big corporations who will do nothing but the opposite and strip you of every freedom you could ever wish for. The only freedom worth having is the freedom you carve for yourself, but beware. There are no rules in the jungle and those with experience have learnt the hard way that freedom without context isn’t necessarily the best idea nor the highest goal in life.