They're Cows, We're Pigs - Essay Example

As Americans, we have also been endowed with a freedom that has come with the price tag of great responsibility. Freedom is charged with exercising the tolerance, compassion, and dignity that must be afforded to all individuals in the world. In exercising our right to be free, we must ensure that our national freedom from bondage does not become the freedom to oppress. Exercising freedom is the process of practicing great restraint. America has a national heritage of economic wealth, mobility, and freedom of expression.

Yet, these basic freedoms, that are often taken for granted, come with an obligation to act responsibly. Wealth cannot be used to exploit people that are struggling to climb from a history of poverty and into the developing community of nations. Our freedom of mobility does not grant us the right to travel to distant lands only to be occupied for the purpose of greed and political convenience. Freedom of expression requires that we speak honestly and with dignity for the purpose of promoting truth.

We have the freedom of speech and movement, but we do not have the freedom to abuse these fundamental rights. Being granted our freedom has given us the inalienable right to be treated with respect and dignity. It has also given us the opportunity to treat the rest of the world with the same level of dignity that we expect. Aristotle once said, "Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them" (in ThinkExist). We deserve the respect we get only when we exercise our freedom from, but do not exploit our freedom to be judgmental, prejudicial, or injurious.

In conclusion, in the book They're Cows, We're Pigs the protagonist Smeeks gained his freedom and squandered it by wasting it on exploitation and greed. Freedom is a treasured place where we escape the chains of others and are afforded the dignity of being free. It is not a license to steal, lie, plunder, or participate in the ghastly deeds that Smeeks became known for. Just because we can do something does not make it right. We have freedom of speech, movement, and a free market. These are the treasures that we must nurture and not abuse, as they are the key to dignity and respect only when we offer them to our fellow man in return.