The price tag of America's freedom

KENNETT, Mo. -- Two hundred twenty-six years ago, 56 men affirmed these inspiring words from the U.S. Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

These were powerful words, made all the more so by their uniqueness in a world that had yet to recognize the equality of the individual, a world in which the governed were granted almost no rights, and the pursuit of happiness was a mere dream waiting fulfillment. The document was later to prove as a guide for freedom-seekers around the world, made all the more unique by the fact that the delegates convened in Philadelphia arrived there with the united determination to guarantee rights to every citizen of the new nation.

To these founders, freedom was not for sale; they set no price on its granting and distributed it to each of the colonies. They believed fiercely that freedom was the birthright of every individual, regardless of social, economic or political standing.

So freedom was free ... or was it?

After all, the same 56 men who affirmed at the beginning of our founding document the right of every citizen of the nation to be free, affirmed at the end of that document that "for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

Our forefathers recognized that freedom was bestowed as a gift without a price tag, but preservation of this freedom would forever place the citizens of the new America in debt.

This is a debt paid in part by those whose families are forever marked by an empty chair at the dinner table, and by those families themselves. It is a debt paid in part by millions of Americans who have answered the call of their country to serve both in peace and in war. It is a debt paid in part by founders who lived up to their pledge. And it is a debt paid by those who have recently fallen victim to world terrorism.

These and others have paid their part of the debt owed for freedom. But to many in our time, freedom appears to be totally free. For too long too many of us have ignored the debt we owe for freedom, allowing others to pick up the check. It is time for us to recall and respond to the old adage, "There's no such thing as a free lunch." It's time for us to recognize and act upon the fact our freedom has a price tag.

It is improbable and impractical that all of us will serve in the military or state militias, but this does not negate our responsibility to pay our debt to preserve freedom in other ways. While there are many acts of good citizenship, many of them seem to have been overlooked in these intervening 226 years by a population that has often accepted freedom's gifts without thought of repayment, or for that matter, ever being told their obligation was written into the Constitution. After all, we have lives to lead, families to raise, homes to create, bank accounts to accumulate.

Today one has only to browse the newspaper headlines, whether in the news, business, editorial, entertainment or sports sections, for numerous examples of honor sacrificed at the altars of expediency and personal gain. Honor is not genetic; it is learned. What we read in our newspapers is rooted in lessons learned in homes, at schools, and in communities. For the debt of preserving freedom, our first payment should be our collective striving to be people of honor.

The second payment is logically our determination to do our duty as citizens. As Charlie Brown once said in a discussion with Linus about growing up: "Growing up is like being in a car and first riding in the back seat and somebody else takes care of everything, but one day, wham! You're grown up when you can't ride in the back seat anymore."

Duty means giving up the back seat and taking the wheel.

Some duties are civic, like paying taxes and voting; other duties are moral and have to do with integrity, caring for our families, pulling our own weight. A natural tendency is to do the things we enjoy, but when we become intellectually and morally aware, we find that real life is duty.

We have a duty to those with whom we work. We have duties to our families, to our friends and to ourselves. Duty, like honor, is not inherited. It is taught and, by example, caught. How many of us perform our civic duties to the best of our abilities, by informing ourselves of the issues involved, by acquainting ourselves with how our governments work -- and how they don't work?

Oh, it's quite clear that we recognize duty all too well -- by the great lengths to which we go in avoiding it. As Daniel Webster once remarked, "A sense of duty pursues us forever, it is omnipresent."

Our freedom was without price, but America today faces a looming debt that will have to be paid if we are ever permitted to return to the normalcy we once took for granted. History books are filled with the wreckage of great civilizations that fell, not because they lacked a strong military, but for lack of morality. They crumbled from within.

As the nation celebrates another anniversary of its freedom, we need to remember that we have a duty to repay this free gift by building and maintaining strong families, encouraging ethical businesses, supporting honorable public officials and filling our schools and universities with dedicated students determined to live up to the highest ideals of the founders. Only then will we begin our obligation of repayment.

Jack Stapleton is the editor of Missouri News & Editorial Service.