Clubs

May 2026

The Applied Sociology Club in conjunction with the library sponsored the contest “What Does Freedom Mean to You?” and the winner was William Breslawski. He wrote a poem entitled “A Dollar of Freedom.” The contest was held as part of the 1776: The Big Bang of Modern Democracy exhibit from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History that was on display in the library February 3 – 27.

A Dollar of Freedom

by William Breslawski

I don’t know what freedom is

I did once, but then I lost it

Maybe freedom is the wind

Unstoppable, inherent to life itself

Or perhaps freedom is a toy a parent gifts to us

Something that can be taken if we lose the privilege

What if freedom is money?

Something most need to earn, but few are lucky enough to gain in large quantities

And the more you have, the more you can take from others

The more unstoppable you are

Some people sit on a throne of freedom

Some blow their nose and wipe their ass with freedom

While others beg on the streets for some spare freedom

But the thing about money is, it’s just paper

It’s not real, or, it’s only real because we decided it’s real and has value

So is freedom real?

Or did we only decide that it’s real so that some can have more than others?

William Breslawski