After a long international trip, I always welcome the plane plopping down in the USA. I yearn for the feeling of going home to sleep on my crisp, fresh sheets. I want to discuss the latest news with family while grilling outdoors. Yes, those are American pastimes…and I love them. But, these cherished customs do come with a price.
Having the ability to enjoy freedom is never free. It comes from sacrifice and humility to maintain the ideals that formed this great nation. Apathy is the silent destroyer of freedom. Regardless of all other factors, eliminating apathy helps save what is left of these precious pastimes.
Don’t become distracted. Settle in and let me explain why freedom is never free on a deeper level. You will find the answers to your question below.
Apathy
Problem
When you don’t care whether you have freedom or not, that’s apathy. You don’t feel a loss or a sense of urgency when customs that you love slip away.
I’ve stayed in hotels on the 5th floor with the blaring sound of a fire bell warning at 3 am. You wake up grumpy, tired, and distrustful of the legitimacy of the fire bell warning being real. We all have a distrust of situations that we consider false.
We are all guilty of rolling over in bed hoping the screeching sound of the fire bell to halt, but it doesn’t. It keeps ringing, ringing, and ringing.
I understand that you have important events the next day. You need to be well-rested for them. Your personal safety, however, can’t be understated.
By staying in that cozy bed, your apathy is causing you a great disservice. Do you care about your life anymore?
I don’t want to be stuck at the top of a burning 5-story building.
“If only I had escaped while I had the chance…”
ambrozinio / shutterstock.com
This is what we all ponder reflecting on our ineptitude at the different times in our lives.
Apathy is that silent destroyer that will kill you if you stay locked in your room, you will fail to see the billowing smoke in the hallway. That sign alone tells your brain that it is time to leave.
Don’t be that person that is apathetic toward important situations. The lack of caring will cause you to be an ember of history- just like liberty.
Apathy in Politics
What kinds of emotions do people feel in politics? Where does apathy fit?
As you scroll through your smartphone to verify the election results, you wonder who that random name listed on the results page happens to be. You don’t recall them in your small 15-minute internet search before showing up at the polls.
I will congratulate you. At least, you voted. Hey, you even did some research.
The majority of Americans only vote once every 4 years. Even then, voters only show up if they see that there is a contested election. They don’t want the balance of power to shift against what they believe.
Once the election is over, people are emotional- especially if their candidate lost. You can’t even discuss the election with close family even if they believe slightly different than you.
Election cycles bring rage, frustration, and apathy. All of these emotions build on each other leading to apathy in the end.
|
Emotions |
Action |
Result |
|
Frustration |
“I really wanted my candidate to win.” |
Anxiety, resentment |
|
Apathy |
“Who cares? It doesn’t matter.” |
Return to normal, forget until the next cycle |
Another trend that you see is that one set of voters is more emboldened than another set. The dominant party will have the White House and control Congress for 2 years. Then all of a sudden, the balance of power will switch.
The less dominant party at the time will control Congress but not the White House. Then the cycle of apathetic voters caring and not caring will continue into the future.
Here is just a taste of voter turnout during the last few election cycles.
[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]
[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]
To rid yourself of apathy, look to the small guys fighting the fight.
Before the Declaration of Independence, a small group of farmers in Massachusetts fought the British. This is a small-known fact in history that receives little recognition. They had grievances with the British and knew that the city folks in Boston would not save them.
Their tenacity (lack of apathy) toward their own grievances forged the inspiration to help start this great nation. These are unsung heroes of the American Revolution.
Don’t let apathy ruin freedom. It sneaks up before you realize it. Face it head-on. You don’t want to be at the top of a burning building as it crashes down when you had the opportunity to escape.
Sacrifice
Your brothers and sisters in the armed forces make the ultimate sacrifice to preserve freedom. That is the reason for the armed forces: Protect America from Enemies.
Politicians, however, involve America in unjust wars. America’s sacrifice to preserve freedom starts in our own self-interest. The last situation any American wants is to be involved in a war where the sacrifice isn’t worth it to preserve American freedom.
I understand if you are reading this from around the world, you are thinking: “America is the strongest military power in the world and should defend us.” The answer is yes/no depending.
Defending foreign countries has to be in America’s interest for us to spend our resources on a foreign problem.
I will use some of America’s founding documents to determine the answer to your thoughts.
What are just wars?
The goal of any nation is to maintain peace. Peace brings prosperity on scales that vastly outnumber any during wartime.
In Federalist Paper #3, John Jay gives us the just causes for war. For those of you that don’t know, the Federalist Papers justified the ratification of the Constitution. John Jay became one of the primary authors to write this epic historical document.
You can find the Federalist Papers here.
“The JUST causes of war, for the most part, arise either from violation of treaties or from direct violence.”
John Jay- Federalist Paper #3
You can use these 2 points as causes for rational wars in the founder’s eyes.
1. Violation of treaties
2. Direct violence, or aggression, toward a country
Violation of Treaties
When countries form treaties, the goal is to negotiate so terms are favorable to both parties.
You negotiate daily without realizing it. The following are examples of negotiating: garage sales, a farmer’s market, or trying to satisfy your children’s wants and needs.
Any business book will tell you that it takes compromise and sacrifice to reach a successful outcome.
Yet, wars happen with the failure of diplomacy when the negotiation process failed.
1. Trade Treaty Violation
For instance, let’s say 2 countries negotiated to trade valuable natural resources between each other. Those valuable resources are critical to each nation’s stability.
Without the proper amount of those resources, the desperate country is in jeopardy of failing or descending into uncontrollable political chaos.
The treaty functioned as an equilibrium to maintain that stability. A violation is cause to renegotiate the terms of the treaty to maintain peace.
2. Problems With Commitment
Human nature is unpredictable. That is the only given in today’s world.
World leaders are fickle. They’ll tell you a half-truth.
They will also tell you one plan of action but change it at the last minute. Trust with caution.
Hitler signed a peace treaty (German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact) between Germany and the Soviet Union in August 1939. This treaty became useless in June 1941 when Hitler invaded the Soviet Union.
Hitler didn’t commit to his promise.
Looking back, Hitler broke numerous other promises. No other world leaders trusted him after that expanding the devastation that World War II brought.
Direct Violence
Have you slapped someone for no reason? I won’t say about myself, but that is direct violence toward someone.
Don’t be surprised if they decide to fight back. You declared war on that person. They will defend their survivability.
During the American Revolution, the British deemed the colonists’ actions as direct violence against the British empire.
Americans saw British hostilities as direct violence toward them.
In addition, well-established treaties became absolved. They meant nothing.
War and violence became the solution.
Other Causes for War
The Founders’ vision and justifications for war were narrow. America should reevaluate why we need to sacrifice American lives in other countries.
Other world leaders do go to war for reasons such as:
- Religion
- Genocide
- Revenge
These are seen as irrational by most people including the founders.
Our last remaining question on sacrifice to maintain freedom is “preventative war”.
Can you deliberately justify going to war to prevent the 10% or 80% chance of another country invading?
I will say this. Before America becomes involved in other countries’ wars of aggression, think with logic about the consequences of entering the war.
I will not arbitrarily post another country’s flag without researching the true meaning of the movement inside that country.
For more information about different justifications for going to war, click here for a paper written by Stanford University associates.
Humility
Apathy and sacrifice are the 2 precursors to humility. The humility of every individual is the life goal.
How does humility depict that freedom isn’t free?
With humility, you have a bigger picture of the world.
Everyone has seen the classic picture of fallen service members with American flags near their graves.
With humility, you display empathy for the sacrifice made by the soldier and the soldier’s family.
Your apathy disappeared because you gained humility knowing the consequences of defending liberty and freedom.
Values of Humility
1. Recognition
Your intuition is spot on. Your ability to anticipate human nature is unprecedented.
You think 2 steps in front of the problem instead of 5 steps behind. You recognize lies being told to you as false.
You know the actions necessary to stop the loss of freedom.
2. Control
You have control of your life. You don’t have the illusion of control.
You control your thoughts, behaviors, and vices. The ultimate freedom is being able to control what hinders others.
3. Growth Mindset
Freedom is never free without having a growth mindset. Learning, reading, and striving for virtue are qualities that people with humility and a growth mindset possess.
LEARN MORE about Reading, Writing, and Liberty Here
The Founders had to have a growth mindset.
Imagine the founders after the Revolutionary War wondering what to do after all that sacrifice to win independence from Great Britain. They needed to know the next step.
The Articles of Confederation turned out to be a disaster. But famous founders as James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton had the fortitude and humility to recognize, control, and grow the Constitutional movement.
For a more in-depth view of humility, click here for a well-written article.
Conclusion
Freedom is never free. It sounds like common sense until your friend is oblivious to the freedom they exert in their daily routines.
Their ignorance is disguised as apathy. I would like to think that most people are ignorant. Yet, I know it to be false.
In fact, most people suffer an extreme case of apathy.
People are apathetic voters, students, spouses, and even about their own health.
It is not all bad news though. There is a process to bring these lost individuals back down to reality.
The act of sacrificing brings people humility. Without humility, the world resembles dark thunderclouds on the horizon intending to destroy what lies in its path.
Inspire people to have humility. The world and the cause for freedom will thank you – even your grandchildren!
