Land of the Free

I was struck today by an interesting concept when cruising the attention-deficit highway. There's a group starting a new fuel station - called Terror Free Oil.

Let's not mince words, after all, right?

The group believes the step toward energy independence is through terror-free oil. Hmm. But they still import the oil from non-Middle Eastern countries, so I wouldn't say energy indepedence is the outcome, so much as supplier shift. And obviously, the name boldly exclaims the prime directive - no longer buying oil from countries that finance or support terrorism...


Now that's an oil slick of a slippery slope. For what is terrorism? According to my friend Wikipedia:

"Terrorism is a term used to describe violence or other harmful acts committed (or threatened) against civilians by groups or persons for political or other ideological goals."

Hmm... would the US government ever do such a thing?

Now of course, the straight-forward truth is that they don't want to finance Middle Eastern terrorists (such as al Qaeda). And those groups have become the face to the word, terrorism. It's no different from products names that become the objects themselves - like dumpster, kleenex, and coke. Perhaps words are minced, after all.

So then I thought about the concept of free. Everyone likes to see the word, but we know that even free things come at a cost. Somehow, somewhere, you have paid for it. Even free trial periods and free samples are just a hook. Maybe you can hold out. But I bet you've caved and bought. Fess up!

Civil Freedom. That has a continuing cost.

In what other things are we seeking an absence? We have the healthy stuff (fat-free, sodium-free, sugar-free). You all know my position on caffiene-free. Then there's conflict-free diamonds (thanks, Leo and Djimon). Wrinkle-free pants, that's a good one. But they don't always deliver as promised. Who can I sue about that? I want a free ride.

My dad's Ford Freestar wasn't so free.

I'm beginning to see the future of this concept of "free." Here's my wish list for future free-ness:
- Line-free grocery checkout lanes
- Red light-free cruising
- Freegan-free communities (they are scurry folk)
- A Get Out of Jail Free card (hey, you never know; I could be a lawbreaker)

Penny for your thoughts? Feel free to share your opinion.