Those who participate in wars, having swallowed the lie that it is for freedom (or their country, or rights, or their way of life) may believe they are fighting for freedom, and even use those words, but every war only determines (if anything) who will be the government and all governments are oppressive. The only thing anyone is fighting for in any war is the interests of their current government and possibly to choose who their next oppressors will be.
In the end it is never freedom anyone is fighting for, because almost no one really want's freedom. In my article,
"Freedom Not For Everyone," I wrote:
It is not freedom most people really want, and for most, the idea of being truly free would be terrifying. It is mistake to call any war a war for freedom or to pretend it is freedom that is the objective of any political system or ideology. All wars are fought for the sake of governments and all political systems are forms of social engineering which are supposed to produce the kind of society most people think they would like.Most Do Not Want To Be Free
What most people want is not freedom. What most people want is security, safety, guarantees, protection from change, and comfort. Most have no confidence in their own ability to live their lives successfully. For the truly free, there are no guarantees in life, and one must face every risk on their own, either learning how to deal with them, or suffering the consequences. For the truly free, nothing is provided and everything must be acquired or achieved by one's own effort. For those who love freedom, these are freedom's virtues, but for most people, the very virtues of freedom are a source of terror.
Most people will not choose to be free because the collectivists and statists are offering exactly what most people desire. Where freedom offers responsibility, the state offers relief from that responsibility. "Don't worry about making provisions for your old age, the state will take care of it." Where freedom offers the reality of risk and danger, the state offers guarantees of safety. "Don't worry about natural disasters, the government will take care of everything and protect you from them. Don't worry about the dangers of the world, the government will pass laws that will make everything safe, your job, your food, your medicine, even driving your car."
How Slavery Is Put Over
It's not called slavery, it's called, "social order," when individuals are forced to comply with rules made by others. It begins small. It's only a little oppression, but it's, "for a good cause," but once a principle is violated, whatever the justification, there is never a limit to that violation. Once the the freedom principle is violated, there is no end of the restrictions and demands on one's choices and life that will follow.
What begins as, "we cannot allow people to starve," ends as, "we cannot allow people to be uneducated, not have good housing, be poor in their old age, not have health care, not have a job, not be protected from scurrilous marketers, not be "safe" on the highway, business, homes, bathrooms, or ... (supply your favorite thing no one should have to go without, whether they earn it or not). You can have all of these things and more, at least until the slaves who are supplying them realize they are slaves; you can have them, but you cannot have them and freedom too.
The Price Of Freedom
The price of freedom is not having all those things. It is the price most are unwilling to pay. It means not having the government supply your education, health care, expensive drugs, and guaranteed retirement income. It means not being guaranteed no one will ever say something mean to or about you. It means there are no guarantees. It means you will live in a world of danger, temptation, and risks. It means you will be responsible for every aspect of your own life from the time you reach adulthood until you die. It means, if you mess up your life, you and only you will suffer the consequences.
That is the price of freedom. It is the price most people are not willing to pay.
No government system will ever produce true freedom, which most do not want anyway, and governments, and their wars, will never be eliminated, but no individual has to support or participate in them.
Only individuals can be free, but very few want it, and less will choose to make themselves free. The free are always exceptional.
H.L. Mencken said it as well as anyone ever has:
The fact is that the average man's love of liberty is nine-tenths imaginary, exactly like his love of sense, justice and truth. He is not actually happy when free; he is uncomfortable, a bit alarmed, and intolerably lonely. Liberty is not a thing for the great masses of men. It is the exclusive possession of a small and disreputable minority, like knowledge, courage and honor. It takes a special sort of man to understand and enjoy liberty—and he is usually an outlaw in democratic societies.
[Baltimore Evening Sun (12 February 1923)]
And my whole view of politics agrees with him:
I believe in only one thing: liberty; but I do not believe in liberty enough to want to force it upon anyone.