“Freedom ain’t free” seems mostly to be a term used at Thanksgiving to mean “freedom (the current circumstances in ‘merica) has costs (but they’re worth it so shut up). An argument-ender with the same catchiness and philosophical depth as “soap-on-a-rope” and “why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?”. It’s irritating because it’s super obvious but it’s used to shut down any discussion of either the costs or benefits.
Of course this could be derailed in a variety of ways. The phrase could be interpreted as “freedom [the current circumstances in ‘merica) is not free (freedom, actually). That leads to an argument about semantics which isn’t sustainable over thanksgiving dinner, so one of you will have to step out to check on football.
Even more off-putting at Thanksgiving is to take it philosophical. Perhaps there’s more to freedom than bald eagles. First quotes that come to mind are from Victor Frankl and not Victor Frankl. That freedom (or the last freedom anyway) is not really tied to material conditions at all, and you already have it whether you think so or not, or whether you’re willing to pay.
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.
Between stimulus and response lies a space. In that space lie our freedom and power to choose a response. In our response lies our growth and our happiness.
Nietzsche adds “will” into the mix for freedom. However bringing this up carries the heavy cost of being the kind of guy that tries to quote Nietzsche at Thanksgiving.
Willing sets you free: that is the true doctrine of will and freedom–thus Zarathustra instructs you.
There are also some pessimistic interpretations of freedom. Maybe we should be a bit more unhinged at dinner, what is there to lose really?
Freedom is just another word for nothin’ left to lose
Kris Kristofferson
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