I feel ambivalent about Stallman's "freedom/free beer" phrase

I wondered who coined the phrase "free as in freedom, not free beer" which we use to describe what "free" means in -NIX. I researched it a little, but guessed the answer before I saw it: Richard Stallman. I'm not really surprised, given Stallman's obvious lack of respect for property rights; but there's a dark side to the phrase itself that makes me feel ambivalent about it. (Honestly, given Stallman's history, I think someone else possibly spoke the phrase to Stallman, and he was merely the first to use it before an audience.)

Being an English major, I'm good at picking apart words or phrases to guess what someone really felt or meant, what attitude lay behind them. The key to Stallman's attitude (and other users' attitude) is "free beer." I happen to know that the concept of giving people free beer is an expression of disdain for them; it has been used socially and politically to denigrate certain policies that will supposedly benefit some group. I once read someone's campaign people saying in opposition to a proposal: "next it will be free beer." I think I personally would rather say "free as in freedom, not free as doesn't cost money."