Modern Newspeak* has perverted the word free into its antonym. Considering what “free” really means, I wholeheartedly agree with those who adore free education, free food, free healthcare and all other forms of a free lunch.
To them I say, “TANSTAAFL“.
FREE – Synonyms
autonomous, freestanding, independent, self-governed, self-governing, self-ruling, separate, sovereign
Related Words
freeborn; delivered, emancipated, freed, liberated, manumitted, redeemed, released; unconquered, unruled, unsupervised; empowered, enfranchised
Near Antonyms
bound, captive, conquered, enslaved, fettered, subdued, subjugated; inferior, subordinate, subservient
* Newspeak Wikipedia definition * George Orwell’s definition
Look at the full definition of “free”. The one below is from www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thesaurus. I encourage you to look it up in a real paper, hardbound dictionary of respectable size. You will find nearly 30 meanings for the word with only one suggesting that free is some controlling agency doling out favors with so many stings attached the favors look like a fly caught in a spider web.
Full Definition of FREE
1
a : having the legal and political rights of a citizen
b : enjoying civil and political liberty
c : enjoying political independence or freedom from outside domination
d : enjoying personal freedom : not subject to the control or domination of another
2
a : not determined by anything beyond its own nature or being : choosing or capable of choosing for itself
b : determined by the choice of the actor or performer
c : made, done, or given voluntarily or spontaneously
3
a : relieved from or lacking something and especially something unpleasant or burdensome
b : not bound, confined, or detained by force
4
a : having no trade restrictions
b : not subject to government regulation
c of foreign exchange : not subject to restriction or official control
5
a : having no obligations (as to work) or commitments
b : not taken up with commitments or obligations
6
: having a scope not restricted by qualification
7
a : not obstructed, restricted, or impeded
b : not being used or occupied
c : not hampered or restricted in its normal operation
8
a : not fastened
c : capable of moving or turning in any direction
d : performed without apparatus
e : done with artificial aids (as pitons) used only for protection against falling and not for support
9
a : not parsimonious
b : outspoken
c : availing oneself of something without stint
d : frank, open
e : overly familiar or forward in action or attitude
f : licentious
10
: not costing or charging anything
11
a (1) : not united with, attached to, combined with, or mixed with something else : separate
b : chemically uncombined
c : not permanently attached but able to move about
d : capable of being used alone as a meaningful linguistic form
12
a : not literal or exact
b : not restricted by or conforming to conventional forms
13
: favorable —used of a wind blowing from a direction more than six points from dead ahead
14
: not allowing slavery
15
: open to all comers
— free·ness noun
— for free
: without charge