Freedom is Free Fuckos.

[Salty]

So this person I know posted this on her FB:

Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock , did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendt , the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom. When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks. 'Ms. Cothren, where're our desks?' She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.' They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.' ... ... 'No,' she said. 'Maybe it's our behavior.' She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.' And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom. By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms.Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room. The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk less classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/ she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.' At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it. Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.. Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.' By the way, this is a true story. Please consider passing this along so others won't forget that the freedoms we have in this great country were earned by U. S. Veterans

Considering the recent discussion about education, and a larger overall discussion of US IR that has been held here, you could imagine my reaction to such a thing.

Really, it's a tame thing. Some teacher making a hokey, sentimental point to inspire apathetic youth or perhaps simply to satisfy her own sense of patriotism. Yet, my first thought it, my son needs to go to a private school. If one of his teachers pull some shit like that he will be gone the next day.

I tried to think of why that pissed me off so much. Maybe it's because I consider this person a friend and am disappointed that she would genuinely accept such a ridiculous idea as valid.
I have no ill regard towards people who serve in the military, at least no more than I feel towards humans generally. But I refuse to accept that they are the sole force that provides me with my freedoms. Especially not since the last World War.

Then I think: Where do my freedoms come from? The one's that aren't being etched away, that is. Let's not think about the 4th Amendment, yeah? We'll just leave that alone. I live in a place where I can, mostly, say what I want, when I want, as loud as I want. That's pretty important to me. Once an ex-communist from Croatia, excited to speak with an young, opinionated American teenager asked me: "What is freedom? Is it being able to own a gun?" I thought about it for a second. "It's being allowed to call the President an asshole without having your head shoved in a black bag and never being heard from again, or just shot in the street."

Generally, I feel pretty damned free. I could, should I so choose, quit my job, pack up a car and ZOOM. Do what the hell I want. For the most part, that's good enough for me. We all have different ideas of what freedom means. A large part of it is being free from others ideas, force, will. That's universal, and, again, for the most part, Americans have this.

SO, besides the freedoms we DON'T have, and the THREATS to that freedom, and such...where does freedom come from? What enables that freedom?

I think, and this may be a flawed view, that it's largely luck. The right place at the right time with the right (albeit, stolen) natural resources and rate of development combined with a few pieces of paper and a lot of killing, and afterwards, fucking.

If not, and more generally: where does freedom come from?

ETA: I'd like to think that freedom is a thing outside the influence of others. Or, rather, that it is a thing that exists and can be utilized under certain conditions, but is not given. It is something you either have, and it can be taken away. Or it is something that someone is keeping from you and you must reclaim. But that might be idealism.

[Don Coyote]

This reminds me of the status updates I get from some of my friends across the military. Those kind where they bitch about the shit, which EVERYONE is fucking allowed to do, but then end with, "at least I know I am defending our Freedoms^TM out here in Afghanistan". I have to restrain the urge to explain in detail how they aren't defending our freedoms by being out in 'stan, doing whatever they are doing.

[East Coast Hustle]

Freedom comes from you seizing it and being utterly unwilling to relinquish it no matter what.

[Triple Zero]

Can someone explain to me, in a sort of alternative-history kind of fashion, what would have happened if those vets hadn't done their thing and what sequence of events led to your children having the freedom to sit in a classroom or not?

For bonus points, discuss whether these vets might not have done a good enough job at whatever it was they did, because even though your kids have the right to sit in a classroom, apparently you're all still waiting for the other 27 vets to carry a proper education into that classroom as well, right?

I'd rather sit on the floor than be taught about creationism.

[Telarus]

Wow, that (the FB post) _could have been_ a very, very interesting tale about Privilege.



Too bad that teacher doesn't understand the difference.

[Luna]

"Why do I have the right to a desk?   Because my parents and neighbors pay taxes, so I can have a desk, and an education.  As your grandstanding is costing me the one, today, bring in my desk so I can at least have the other."

[Triple Zero]

"Why do I have the right to a desk?   Because my parents and neighbors pay taxes, so I can have a desk, and an education.  As your grandstanding is costing me the one, today, bring in my desk so I can at least have the other."

^^ pretty sure I wrote a reply there but it's gone? well it was just one of general agreement, you didnt miss much.

[East Coast Hustle]

"Why do I have the right to a desk?   Because my parents and neighbors pay taxes, so I can have a desk, and an education.  As your grandstanding is costing me the one, today, bring in my desk so I can at least have the other."

[Golden Applesauce]

I was expecting the kids to go to a different classroom and steal someone else's desk.

"What earns you the right to sit at a desk in my classroom?"
"Possession."

[LMNO]

Is the teacher trying to say that kids in other countries don't have desks?

Because I'm pretty sure COMMUNIST CHINA has plenty of desks.

[Cain]

Story is obvious bullshit.

No classroom in any normal high school in the world only has 27 students.  Even in 2005.  You're lucky if you get that number in private schools.

[Doktor Howl]

Freedom comes from saying, "THIS IS WHAT I'M GONNA DO.  OR KILL ME."

And then living up to it, if necessary. 

Also, story is bullshit.

[Luna]

Shockingly enough, Snopes says true.

http://www.snopes.com/glurge/nodesks.asp

[kingyak]

So, Mrs. Cockring, you're saying that my desk was liberated from a Nazi/Viet Cong/Islamofascist/Other (preferably swarthy) Foreigner? Because that seems like a very inefficient and expensive procurement method to me. Couldn't we have saved tax dollars by just buying the fucking desks?

[Doktor Howl]

I'M ONLY GONNA SPIT THIS ONCE:  FREEDOM DOES NOT COME FROM SOLDIERS.

NORTH KOREA HAS SOLDIERS.  NAZI GERMANY HAD SOLDIERS.  TOJO HAD SOLDIERS.  STALIN HAD SOLDIERS.

FREEDOM COMES FROM THE COMMON MAN WILLING TO PULL A PATRICK HENRY.

THAT IS ALL.  YOU MAY NOW RETURN TO YOUR EMAIL FORWARDS.