"Freedom isn't free", "freedom is not free", or "freedom ain't free" is a popular American idiom, used widely in the United States to express gratitude to the military for defending personal freedoms. The idiom may be used as a rhetorical device.
History
The idiom expresses gratitude for the service of members of the military, implicitly stating that the freedoms enjoyed by many citizens in many democracies are only possible through the risks taken and sacrifices made by those in the military, drafted or not. The saying is often used to convey respect specifically to those who have given their lives in defense of freedom.
"Freedom Is Not Free" is engraved into one wall at the Korean War Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.. There is a fountain in front of the memorial.
In popular culture
- The song "Freedom isn't Free" by Paul Colwell circa 1965 formed part of the Up With People repertoire.
- The song "Freedom ain't free" by country singer Chris LeDoux was written in 1981 and released by Liberty Records on the album Old Cowboy Heroes.
- Yngwie Malmsteen has a song called "Freedom Isn't Free" on his 2002 album Attack!!
- A satirical song called "Freedom Isn't Free" was written by Trey Parker for the 2004 film Team America: World Police.
- "Freemium Isn't Free", the title of an episode of South Park.
- The first single on rapper Lupe Fiasco's para
- Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 (2012) is titled "Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)".
- "Thank You", a song by India.Arie on her album Songversation, references this idiom with the lines "Oh say can you see? That all freedom isn't free".
- In Machine Head's Song Clenching The Fists of Dissent, from the album The Blackening, there is a line "they say that freedom isn't free, it's paid with the lives of sons and families"
- The phrase is used in the chorus of Mos Def's song "Katrina Klap", in which he criticizes the government's response to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
- In 2017, Chicano Batman released a single titled Freedom is Free (off the album with the same name) that directly confronted this idiom.
See also
- Gratis versus libre
References
