Resources are scarce, and every society has to determine the ways it allocates those scarce resources. In a price coordinated economy, aka capitalism, prices coordinate the use of scarce resources; this leads to every individual being empowered to find economic efficiencies that drive down the cost of goods, which is why "having to buy glasses" is only "annoying", rather than crippling like it would be under alternative economic models. Under an economy where scarce resources are allocated by the government, as you suggest when you say "should be free", the incentives to drive down costs are replaced by the incentive to get in good with the government.

Look at anything the government subsidizes, such as, homes, healthcare, and education; the costs continue to rise and the quality continues to decline. Look at anything that is relatively unregulated, such as TVs and phones, which have become so abundant and cheap that even poor people can afford a new iPhone and a 4k TV.