Tag: #gunviolence

The Cost of Freedom

The Cost of Freedom

In light of the recent 4th of July mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, I’ve been rethinking Stephen Stills classic song, ‘Find the Cost of Freedom’.

“Find the cost of freedom
buried in the ground
Mother earth will swallow you
lay your body down

Find the cost of freedom
buried in the ground
Mother earth will swallow you
lay your body down”

Written at the height of the Vietnam War, it was released as the B side to ‘Ohio’ which was a direct condemnation of Kent State. ‘Find the Cost of Freedom’ was less explicit. There have been multiple suggestions as to the meaning of the song, including the student deaths at Kent State, the death of our soldiers in Vietnam, or even the cost of war to us as a people. Although simply written, with fewer words, it’s a more complicated song.

CSNY Performing ‘Find the Cost of Freedom’, Back in the Day

The song was rereleased in 1982 as ‘Daylight Again/Find the Cost Of Freedom’, with seeming references to the Civil War. The line “When everyone’s talkin’ and no one is listenin’, how can we decide?” is added right before the famous refrain and it then becomes:

“When everyone's talkin’ and no one is listenin’, How can we decide
(Do we) find the cost of freedom
Buried in the ground
Mother Earth will swallow you
Lay your body down”

To me, this version seems a perfect summation of the entire gun violence issue. No one listens to anyone on the other side. The result? We see the cost of freedom, and the results of the Second Amendment, dead and buried in the ground. People are going to die, and that is just the price we need to pay for the freedom to own guns. Any kind of guns. All guns. Just lay your body down and accept it.

We here in ‘Murica have deemed that acceptable to protect our Second Amendment freedom. Everyone has the freedom to own their guns, even if it’s at the expense of other people, who just want to celebrate their freedom by watching a parade on the Fourth of July.

God Bless America.

Find the cost of freedom
buried in the ground
Mother earth will swallow you 
lay your body down

Find the cost of freedom 
buried in the ground
Mother earth will swallow you 
lay your body down

…

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Addendum:

You can read my previous blogs on gun violence here:

Speaking out on Gun Violence

Speaking out on Gun Violence

I was invited by the Brady Organization to speak at the End Gun Violence Rally on the National Mall yesterday. This was in conjunction with the 2022 DC March for our Lives on Saturday, June 11th. Here are my words …

Good Afternoon. My Name is Max Hall and I live in Marshall, Virginia. I am a graduate of West Point and Veteran of the United States Army. I served nearly 9 years overseas in defense of our country. I would also point out that I am a gun owner.

Speaking Out… Something We ALL Must Do.

As a veteran and an American, I am sick of seeing school children murdered. I’m tired of watching people shopping, going to the movies, attending worship services, or just trying to live their lives, being gunned down. Enough!

At West Point and in the military, I was trained on the safe use of both handguns and rifles and how to kill people with those weapons. Having seen the effect of those weapons, I stand here with Brady in support of gun safety. As a country, we MUST do something. Doing nothing is not an option

In today’s environment, where people think everything is black and white, insight and knowledge are often lost. I hope that is not the case here and now. Now is the time to listen to the American people. Now is the time to have courage and act. Now is the time to pass meaningful common sense legislation such as:

  • Universal Background Checks
  • Raising the age to buy firearms to 21
  • Red Flag laws, and
  • Investments in Mental Health

Listen to the American People. The vast majority of Americans, and gun owners, support common sense gun legislation.

At West Point, the Cadet prayer says in part “Make us to choose the harder right, rather than the easier wrong.” I urge members of the Senate to do the same. Do not give in to special interest groups, to pointless platitudes, or the easy route of doing nothing. Choose the harder right, and pass common sense gun legislation now.

Thank you.

My Friend Bruce Shuttleworth (Naval Academy, ‘87) , Senator Chris Murphy (Connecticut) and I were the First Three Speakers.
The Brady team laid out 2,280 schoolbooks and broken pencils around our podium. They represent the 2,280 children that have been killed by gun violence in the past 456 days — or the time that the Senate has refused to bring a vote on background checks.

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Addendum:

Thanks to my friends Mike Hammond and Donna Matturro McAleer who helped with some of the wording and theming for this speech.