Equality, Freedom, and You
Wake up, good people
Here we are! Just past Independence Day, 2022!
Almost two hundred and fifty years ago, “our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”*
In the intervening years, this new nation has, with varying degrees of success, been through many tests. Presently we are involved in yet another crisis “testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated,”* can continue to endure.
There are those who wish to codify minority rule and inequality. These misguided and powerful few wish to subvert “government of the people, by the people, for the people”* to their own desires. Their propaganda promoting a tainted version of “freedom” has polluted the minds of many who do not see that full implementation of their policies will result in the death of the republic.
Those who would overturn the republic and their followers spout lies, damn lies, and angry propaganda. We are saturated with all.
The time for waiting, watching, and wishing has passed. As John Stuart Mill said, “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.”
These “bad men” rely on the fact that many will see the recent changes in America and respond with the belief that there is nothing that can be done.
Complacency is the most powerful enemy of freedom and equality.
Do not lose hope. Do not despair. Despair in the hearts of good people is exactly what the liars want.
One may say, “But I’m only one person. I can’t do anything about this mess.”
Yes, you can.
“Speak out, you got to speak out against the madness
You got to speak your mind, If you dare.” — David Crosby from “Long Time Gone”
You must dare. If you only say, “No, I don’t believe that,” when you hear others spout lies, you are doing us all a service. You need not get into an argument. You need not convince the perpetrator of propaganda of their confusion. You need not have the last word. You only need to let them know that the lies go no further.
Let the misinformed know you are unconvinced. That George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were slaveholders. That there is separation of church and state in the Constitution, as the Founding Fathers desired. That the riot on January 6th, 2021 was an insurrection attempting a violent overthrow of the duly elected government.
Good men and women cannot afford to look on in horror and remain silent. We must make our voices heard amid the cacophony of half-truths, propaganda, and outright lies. And regardless of the cost, we must stand up against the threats and violence of those who would use force and fear to silence us.
Otherwise, it will be a “long long time before the dawn.”
*Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
