Freedom Isn't Free
Probably one of the most common words associated with the United States is freedom. This nation was founded on the basic principles of “freedom,” but there has never been a time when all of its people have been totally free. Throughout our history there has always been freedom for the wealthy and powerful, but what about the bottom of the pile? There has always been persecution and hatred in our nation that has affected people’s freedom and rights. Just around 150 years ago a large percent of the population in America was made up of slaves, so there’s a huge chunk of people who weren’t free. And even some of the people who were free, such as racial, ethnic, and religious minorities were only free to a certain extent. People have the power to say what they want and practice their beliefs how they want until someone more powerful comes in and threatens them. A ridiculously high number of people have been persecuted and/or killed because they were hated for who they were. Fear has always been a powerful tool, because a free person can do what they want until someone who doesn’t like them or what they’re doing or what they believe in steps in and forces them out. This happens everyday everywhere in our country. Even in school, where kids are supposed to feel safe, a lot of them get bullied and pushed around because someone who’s different threatens them.
Another, less obvious idea comes to mind when I think about freedom in America. Recently I saw a documentary on Wal-Mart and how it’s pretty much taking over the world. They use cheap labor and raw materials from all parts of the world in order to keep prices low so people will shop there instead of a local convenience store, thus stealing business away from smaller companies. Then they pay their employees next to nothing and charge them high amounts of money for their medical benefits. They say there’s medical care available, but they pay them so little that they can’t afford it, and then they encourage their employees to seek state-funded care because they can’t afford anything else since their job doesn’t pay them enough. And a poor person is going to shop where prices are lowest, so in most cases that would mean putting the money they earn right back into Wal-Mart’s pocket. Also, anybody who tries to unionize is immediately fired, so workers are scared of losing their job that means too much to them because in many cases it’s one of the only jobs available. It’s like the corporation is a trap- and the money it takes in and deals out just keeps circulating and accumulating more profit for the owners each time this happens. This definitely challenges what I believe about freedom. I am a supporter of capitalism, even though I don’t necessarily like the fact that it needs a poor working class to work. Big corporations just like Wal-Mart take advantage of this system and a lot of people end up suffering because of it.
And what about the issue of education costs? Everyone in this nation is encouraged to seek higher education in order to get a better job for later in life. But the problem is that college costs a lot of money, so students have to either depend on their family to pay thousands of dollars a year or get a job and pay it themselves. The problem with that, though, is that many of the decent-paying jobs out there available to young people require a degree. So we want degrees in order to make more money, but can’t make a lot of money without having one first. It’s a vicious cycle. And yes, there are scholarships and federal and state funded aid, but that can only go so far. A full-ride scholarship is not an easy thing to come by because it’s given as a reward to those who rise above the rest. There are all sorts of categories and qualifications that determine which students are given scholarships, but what about the mainstream, middle class students with decent but not extraordinary grades? It’s already difficult enough to get into college, then being able to pay for it is a challenge of its own. Every year the amount of government-funded financial aid for education goes down and the cost of tuition keeps going up. This leads a lot of students and families to turn to loans and credit cards in order to pay these expenses. But over the course of one’s college education, anywhere from two to five or six years or more, a lot of interest can accumulate on loans. So then they’re in debt before they even begin their career, and having bad credit makes it even harder to get loans for other things in the future like a house and a car. I wouldn’t say that entering the “real world” after years of preparation and schooling in order to get a job with a bunch of debt is necessarily free. Technically it is, but it makes it harder to enjoy some of the luxuries that come with having a decent-paying job and an education.
The principles that lay the groundwork for our nation look excellent on paper, but it seems that they don’t always work as well as people would hope. I am truly thankful that we as Americans have rights that protect our freedom, because there are so many parts of the world where people are deprived of the things that we take for granted. But in societies like ours, there are always people who end up with the short end of the stick, and they’re the ones who pay the price of our freedom. Even in a nation like the United States, people face the struggle of fighting and working for their rights everyday of their lives. The truth is, a lot of outsiders see America as a symbol of liberty and peace, but from the inside looking out it can be a pretty vicious place sometimes. Except for people like the Waltons, that is.
Another, less obvious idea comes to mind when I think about freedom in America. Recently I saw a documentary on Wal-Mart and how it’s pretty much taking over the world. They use cheap labor and raw materials from all parts of the world in order to keep prices low so people will shop there instead of a local convenience store, thus stealing business away from smaller companies. Then they pay their employees next to nothing and charge them high amounts of money for their medical benefits. They say there’s medical care available, but they pay them so little that they can’t afford it, and then they encourage their employees to seek state-funded care because they can’t afford anything else since their job doesn’t pay them enough. And a poor person is going to shop where prices are lowest, so in most cases that would mean putting the money they earn right back into Wal-Mart’s pocket. Also, anybody who tries to unionize is immediately fired, so workers are scared of losing their job that means too much to them because in many cases it’s one of the only jobs available. It’s like the corporation is a trap- and the money it takes in and deals out just keeps circulating and accumulating more profit for the owners each time this happens. This definitely challenges what I believe about freedom. I am a supporter of capitalism, even though I don’t necessarily like the fact that it needs a poor working class to work. Big corporations just like Wal-Mart take advantage of this system and a lot of people end up suffering because of it.
And what about the issue of education costs? Everyone in this nation is encouraged to seek higher education in order to get a better job for later in life. But the problem is that college costs a lot of money, so students have to either depend on their family to pay thousands of dollars a year or get a job and pay it themselves. The problem with that, though, is that many of the decent-paying jobs out there available to young people require a degree. So we want degrees in order to make more money, but can’t make a lot of money without having one first. It’s a vicious cycle. And yes, there are scholarships and federal and state funded aid, but that can only go so far. A full-ride scholarship is not an easy thing to come by because it’s given as a reward to those who rise above the rest. There are all sorts of categories and qualifications that determine which students are given scholarships, but what about the mainstream, middle class students with decent but not extraordinary grades? It’s already difficult enough to get into college, then being able to pay for it is a challenge of its own. Every year the amount of government-funded financial aid for education goes down and the cost of tuition keeps going up. This leads a lot of students and families to turn to loans and credit cards in order to pay these expenses. But over the course of one’s college education, anywhere from two to five or six years or more, a lot of interest can accumulate on loans. So then they’re in debt before they even begin their career, and having bad credit makes it even harder to get loans for other things in the future like a house and a car. I wouldn’t say that entering the “real world” after years of preparation and schooling in order to get a job with a bunch of debt is necessarily free. Technically it is, but it makes it harder to enjoy some of the luxuries that come with having a decent-paying job and an education.
The principles that lay the groundwork for our nation look excellent on paper, but it seems that they don’t always work as well as people would hope. I am truly thankful that we as Americans have rights that protect our freedom, because there are so many parts of the world where people are deprived of the things that we take for granted. But in societies like ours, there are always people who end up with the short end of the stick, and they’re the ones who pay the price of our freedom. Even in a nation like the United States, people face the struggle of fighting and working for their rights everyday of their lives. The truth is, a lot of outsiders see America as a symbol of liberty and peace, but from the inside looking out it can be a pretty vicious place sometimes. Except for people like the Waltons, that is.