Today in the United States is Memorial Day–one day set aside each year to remember those who have given their lives to provide and preserve freedom for us.

Right now, as has happened periodically throughout our 232 year history, America has its share of critics, both domestic and foreign.

But we must never forget, no matter how frustrated we get with everything from our elected representatives to the price of milk, freedom matters.

Today hundreds of thousands of people are remembering a family member or friend who died to provide us with freedom. They died to provide us with opportunity. They died to provide us with hope. They died to provide us with prosperity beyond any that had been seen in the world.

Fortunately they succeeded. Because of their purchase the entire world has been transformed. Are there still tyrants? Of course, but in a world of instant world-wide information sharing it is becoming harder and harder for tyrants to impose their will. People, even under oppression, see there is a better way and no tyrant will be able to keep that populace under his fist forever.

The blood of these freedom saints has purchased the opportunity for us all to build and prosper, to make a better life for ourselves, our families and our community. We can help others partially because of the surplus freedom provides.

How much surplus we often take for granted. We have an infrastructure so vast we get easily frustrated when the interstate doesn’t quite go close enough to our destination or we can’t find a WiFi where we have our coffee. Education–even University study–is available to almost everyone who chooses to pursue it. Food is so plentiful we fill up enormous box stores with every imaginable delicacy.

And, despite what you may have heard, we take care of the poor. The poor in the U.S. are rich compared with much of the rest of the world. Do we still have poverty? Yes, unfortunately we do. We also have crime, drug addiction and abuse. One of the choices a family came make in a free society is to misuse even the best opportunities.

Freedom gives us the opportunity to fail, but it also gives us the opportunity for immeasurable success. Freedom coupled with perseverance can allow almost anyone to find a prosperous place in our society.

So today, while you enjoy a well deserved day off and a cookout, take a few moments to lift a beer to those who made your prosperity possible–and those who continue to do so.

The medal of honor has been bestowed on over 3,400 individuals for heroically performing acts that provided and preserved freedom for all Americans. You can read about those recipients here:

http://www.history.army.mil/moh.html