I agree with the sentiment of the passage you quote (and the original article in general), but I actually think historical circumstances are a bit different tha

I agree with the sentiment of the passage you quote (and the original article in general), but I actually think historical circumstances are a bit different than "Americans have fought and suffered and died to preserve freedom over our history." Yes, Americans have fought and suffered and died to preserve some nebulous definition of freedom, but not the Americans you think--nor the freedoms you think. I'm not sure how the original author meant the statement, but usually, statements like that refer to American soldiors who fought in wars that are assumed to have preserved US freedom. But not since 1812 have the US armed forces needed to defend the territory where the freedoms enshrined in its constitution are in effect. For the US civil war, there was no black nor white (to make a bad pun) on the Union side, so I'll call that a wash on preserving freedoms. Yes, during the world wars, the US projected its power and helped to reinstate freedoms in Europe (almost exclusively), but we're not talking about the defense of Europe here. One could argue that by using and projecting military power and becoming the sole remaining world superpower, the US has preserved US freedoms by pushing our "borders" further away and engaging the "enemies" of said freedoms before they reach us/US (which is why 9/11 was such a shock, similar to the Vandals sacking Rome). I think that's a stretch, given that much of our recent military action seems directly aimed at preserving access to petroleum energy, not actually preserving freedoms. Taking the Howard Zinn approach to US history, there have always been US citizens who are denied their freedoms within the US. From native Americans in the 19th century, to labor movements in the early 20th century, targets of McCarthy, civil rights activists, to occupiers of the 21st century. Many of these did suffer and die because they dared to oppose the political and economic status quo, and relied on their freedoms of speech and assembly to do so. And to be frank, they preserved nothing. The freedoms were always trampled whenever it suited the powers-that-be. In other words, exactly what's happening now. I think now feels different because the internet gave us a taste of true freedoms. Freedom to publish your speech to the world at almost zero cost. Freedom to find and network with like-minded people. Freedom to have political influence just by writing a blog. Freedom to enact change lawfully and peacefully by rallying against WallSt corruption, revealing the extent of the Military-Industrial Complex, questioning the wars, questioning the powers-that-be. It turns out, we never really had those freedoms on the internet. Edit to add one of my favorite pithy sayings: same as it ever was.