by Joseph Whalen

Created on: February 11, 2008   Last Updated: December 17, 2011

There are few people in the country today that can truly understand and appreciate the concept of freedom. Those that understand what freedom really is are those who have made the sacrifices necessary for the entire country to enjoy the freedoms that many of us take for granted. Only those who have not sacrificed are counted among the few unfortunates that consider the concept of freedom over-rated.

Around the world there are millions of oppressed and impoverished individuals living in countries that lack the same basic freedoms that we in the United States enjoy. Even these less fortunate people who lack the freedoms we cherish do not consider the concept of freedom over-rated. Those lacking freedom aspire to achieve it, regardless of how hopeless their situations may seem. To over-rate something these people consider so sacred is an insult to the struggles they endure.

Complacency is a luxury we cannot afford when it comes to our freedom. Yet complacency is exactly the attitude that many Americans have towards even the most fundamental of freedoms our great country affords us. We treat our basic freedoms with disinterest and contempt causing other less fortunate countries too look at us with disgust. Americans are perceived as pompous, arrogant and over privileged by much of the rest of the world. When abroad in other nations we fail to conduct ourselves in a manner contradictory to these perceptions, damning us to the ridicule and insults common to many Americans outside of our home.

As with so many things that we have become used to having without the need to put forth a tremendous effort, freedom is something that we quickly lose appreciation for. Once you no longer appreciate the gifts in life it becomes far too easy to consider them over-rated. We see news reports of Americans dying overseas each and every day for the freedoms of other people and we question whether or not their sacrifices are justified or worthwhile. Too many people jump to the conclusion that other peoples freedoms are not worth the lives of Americans. The instant we make that monumentally misguided leap in judgment is the day we consider freedom over-rated.

While the heroes of our armed forces are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect and preserve our freedom, most Americans are not willing to exert even the most simple of efforts to do so. Freedom does not demand everyone put their lives on the line to make the ultimate sacrifice, but governments like ours that offer

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