The idea has somehow gained currency in Britain that America is an essentially peaceful nation. Quite how this notion took root, I do not know. Perhaps we were unduly impressed by the protesters against the Vietnam war.
It is an idea that cannot survive a visit to the National Museum of American History in Washington, where one is informed that the "price of freedom" is over and over again paid in blood.
The Americans' tactics in Iraq, and their sanction for Israel's tactics in Lebanon, have given rise to astonishment and anger in Europe. It may well be that those tactics are counter-productive, and that the Americans and Israelis need to take a different approach to these ventures if they are ever to have any hope of winning hearts and minds.
But when the Americans speak of freedom, we should not imagine, in our cynical and worldly-wise way, that they are merely using that word as a cloak for realpolitik. They are not above realpolitik, but they also mean what they say.
These formidable people think freedom is so valuable that it is worth dying for.
Yes. We do. But freedom is so integral a part of our lives; so like the air we breath or the sun on our faces; we can also take it for granted and think that it will always be there.
My daughter played me a song from a new album she downloaded yesterday that made me think of exactly that. It also made me consider that one of the greatest freedoms we have is...taking freedom for granted. In a truly free society like ours, we don't even have to think about it much. We can enjoy it like a child who never worries about tomorrow and lives totally in the moment. Freedom won't cry because we are ignoring her, after all. Freedom won't leave us; it is we who will thoughtlessly and carelessly wander away from her-- if we don't consciously consider and appreciate all she gives us. (Listen to part of the song here)
Freedom Never Cries
by Five For Fighting
I took a flag to a pawn shop
For a broken guitar
I took a flag to a pawn shop
How much is that guitar?
I took a flag to a pawn shop
I got me that guitar
What’s a flag in a pawn shop to me?
Saw a man on the TV
In a mask with a gun
A man on the TV
He had a ten year old son
I saw a man on the TV
His son had a gun
He says that he’s coming for me
Chorus
I never loved the soldier
Until there was a war
or thought about tomorrow
‘til my baby hit the floor
I only talk to God
When somebody’s about to die
I never cherished freedom
Freedom never cries
I wrote a song for a dead man
To settle my soul
A song for a dead man
And now I’ll never grow old
I wrote a song for a dead man
Now I’m hollowed in the cold
What’s a song to a dead man to me?
I never loved the soldier
Until there was a war
or thought about tomorrow
‘til my baby hit the floor
I only talk to God
When somebody’s about to die
I never cherished freedom
Freedom never cries
You can cry for her
Die for her
Lay down your life for her
Kiss and wave goodbye to her
Anything at all
You can cry for her
Die for her
Make up your mind to her
Anything at all
There’s a baby on the doorstep
Wailing away
There’s a baby on the doorstep
Longing for the day
There’s a baby on the doorstep
Who’d give his life to take
A flag to a pawn shop
A flag to a pawn shop
May he forget why he is crying
Someday
To your scattered iPods go--and download the song. I think you'll like it.
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