Freedom is Never Free [Ep. 123]

Linda J. Hansen:  Welcome. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Prosperity 101® Breakroom Economics Podcast. My name is Linda J. Hansen. Your host and the author of Prosperity 101® - Job Security Through Business Prosperity: The Essential Guide to Understanding How Policy Affects Your Paycheck, and the creator of the Breakroom Economics online course. The book, the course, and the entire podcast library can be found on Prosperity101.com. I seek to connect boardroom to breakroom and policy to paycheck by empowering and encouraging employers to educate employees about the public policy issues that affect their jobs.

My goal is to help people understand the foundations of prosperity, the policies of prosperity, and how to protect their prosperity by becoming informed, involved, and impactful. I believe this will lead to greater employee loyalty, engagement, and retention and to an increased awareness of the blessings and responsibilities of living in a free society. Listen each week to hear from exciting guests and be sure to visit Prosperity101.com.

Thank you for listening today. It is the time of year when we pause to honor those who have given their lives in defense of freedom and in service to our country. I thank God for our freedoms and for those who have courageously defended our nation over the course of history. Two years ago, I shared thoughts on celebrating Memorial Day during lockdowns and Pandemic unknowns. It was a difficult time in America. 

Last year at this time, I spoke about the changes brought on by diminishing freedoms and all-out assault on our sovereignty, security, and liberty. Our nation is at a crossroads. We can choose a path of liberty or we can choose a path of tyranny. We are truly on the precipice and our freedoms hang in the balance. Please do not let the sacrifices of our fall and be in vain. May we honor their memory by keeping the vigil of freedom.

I invite you to listen to the short replays of those two episodes recorded in 2020 and 2021. And think through the many changes we’ve seen in our nation over the last two years. Remember, ideas have consequences and policy matters. Thank you to all who have served our great nation and to the families that have served and sacrificed for liberty. May your Memorial Day be blessed and may God richly bless America. 

Freedom is never free. Memorial Day is a day set apart to remember the many who have given their lives to protect our nation and preserve our liberties. We grieve with their loved ones and honor their service and sacrifice. In this episode, I hope to honor the fallen and pay tribute to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. I’m recording this in May of 2021. Our country is at a crossroads. Will we hold true to our Constitution and to the values that made America great or will we succumb to censorship, tyranny, and a loss of individual freedom?

How do we move forward in such tumultuous times? How can we honor the fallen by fighting for freedom today? We must bravely face enemies of liberty and carry the torch of freedom for America and for all those yearning to be free across the globe. This episode includes content from the Memorial Day 2020 episode when the country was in lockdown and parades and ceremonies could not be held. We have tasted the bitterness of government overreach and now we must stand firm on the principles that made America the beacon light of freedom for the world. If America falls, there is no one to rescue us. We are the last best hope for freedom for the world.

The soldiers we honor on Memorial Day gave their lives in defense of freedom. Let’s honor them and their purpose by continuing to defend our nation. We may not all be soldiers in uniform, but we must all step up to fight for truth, justice, our Constitution, and the principles that made this nation great. May God bless America and may we never forget freedom is never free. And now I’ll share a part of that 2020 episode, the timeless truths still apply.

This episode is a little different in format and content than usual. It’s a special episode dedicated to those who could not be with me to record in person, but whose stories must be told if we desire to preserve freedom and prosperity for ourselves and future generations. I’m recording this on Memorial Day 2020. It is the day we pause to remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice – their lives for the cause of freedom.

I am often moved to tears as each year I observe the wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. I am moved to tears as I hear the 21 gun salutes at Arlington, and at the funerals of our faithful patriots, young and old, in small towns across America. I weep when I hear Taps play and I thank God for the men and women of all backgrounds, colors, and creeds who have served our nation so faithfully, allowing us the freedoms that have made the United States of America the beacon of freedom for the world.

I am not a historian, but even a brief study of our American history will inspire us with the stories of those who have gone before us and have paved the way to liberty, not just for us but for millions of people around the globe. On this Memorial Day, the one without parades, the one without large public ceremonies, I want to give back in some small way and honor those who have sacrificed for my freedoms. I have never taken lightly the freedoms we have in our country.

Our Constitution has provided an amazing framework for governing and it has stood the test of time over centuries. We must protect it, defend it, and promote it. It is the document that sets us apart from all the other countries in the world. And it is the pathway to freedom and prosperity for our country and for our citizens. I would like to pause to remember members of my own family who lost their lives in service to our nation. My father had two brothers who gave their lives in World War II. Their deaths changed my father’s family forever.

Grief follows death, and if allowed, it can become deadly in its own way when survivors cease to live life after loss. The pain of grief caused additional heartbreak in that family like it has in so many others. We would be remiss to not acknowledge the sacrifices of family members who have lost loved ones on our behalf. They all have a story to tell and we would be wise to listen and learn from them. Regardless of which war or conflict took the life of our loved ones, grief is a universal motion and it transcends political parties or geographical boundaries.

I am sure my family tree is not the only one with stories of pain and sadness. While we honor and remember the lives of the fallen, let’s also pause to honor and pay respect to the loved ones and the hopes and dreams that also died. The loved ones who were left behind faced a different kind of death and we need to acknowledge and honor them, too. Parents, spouses, children, all have had to adjust their lives in the shadow of grief. 

As I have spoken to survivors of wars and conflicts from World War II to our present times, I’m constantly amazed at the humble and selfless bravery that has been exhibited by our heroes. I have heard it echoed again and again. They stepped into danger. They put fear aside and they fought for the sake of freedom. I have been inspired by my loved ones as they have shared their stories of how they helped during times of war and conflict, from the relatives who fought on the frontlines, to those who patriotically did what they could on the home front.

Each story taught me to reach for the higher good, to live unselfishly, and to be unafraid to stand up for all that is good, right, and noble. My aunt was a nurse, volunteering on the frontlines in World War II, and to say she was brave is an understatement. She once rose to the occasion and turned what could have been a horrible tragedy into a victory by single-handedly capturing several German soldiers and turning them over to our Armed Forces as Prisoners of War. She also discovered a truckload of bodies, individuals who had been exterminated in the Holocaust, an event which she rarely spoke about, but one which undoubtedly changed her life forever.

My mother talks of rolling bandages, of Victory Gardens, of city-wide blackouts, of letters arriving with words cut out as all communication was monitored, and to waiting months for a letter or a phone call from relatives serving in faraway lands. My father who wanted to serve, but could not due to health reasons, spoke of the war effort often. He fixed vehicles, gathered rubber for military tires, and helped with supply chain efforts.

Everyone on the home front did all they could to support our nation. It was an all-for-one, one for all sense of unity. My son is a Marine. Today, he is honoring the lives of his Marine brothers who were lost while they served together in Iraq. The bond he shares with his fellow Marines and the honor and respect they continue to show for their fallen comrades and their surviving families inspires me and reminds me of the common bonds we share as Americans.

We are at a turning point in our nation. We are currently facing threats on many sides. Corrupt foreign regimes that seek to deceive, control, and overpower America and an unseen enemy, the Coronavirus. We also face what I believe to be even bigger threats, the enemies named division and fear. As in the past, we have choices to make. A house divided cannot stand. United we stand, divided we fall. We must now more than ever before decide to come together to protect and defend the principles that made this nation great.

The rights we cherish and that are guaranteed to us in our Constitution did not expire when the pandemic hit. While we must, of course, protect the vulnerable and care for the ill, we must not allow this or any other crisis to lure us into thinking that we will be safer by relinquishing our Bill of Rights or other protections afforded to us by our founding documents. Our rights do not end where fear begins.

Freedom is not free. American patriots have given the ultimate sacrifice. Now, we must do our part to honor them, by putting aside fear and division, and come together to defend the rights they so bravely protected. We must leave a legacy of liberty for the next generation and we must educate them on how to protect their freedoms when they face similar challenges. If we do not, who will?

Thank you again for listening to the Prosperity 101® Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share, and leave a great review. Don’t forget to visit Prosperity101.com to access the entire podcast library, to order my newest book, Job Security Through Business Prosperity: The Essential Guide to Understanding How Policy Affects Your Paycheck, or to enroll you or your employees in the Breakroom Economics online course. You can also receive the free ebook, 10 Tips for Helping Employees Understand How Public Policy Affects Paychecks. 

Freedom is never free. Understanding the foundations of prosperity and the policies of prosperity will help you to protect prosperity as you become informed, involved, and impactful. I give special thanks to our sponsors, Mathews Archery, Inc. and Wisconsin Stamping & Manufacturing. Please contact us today at Prosperity101.com to let us know how we can serve you. Thank you.