Good men are in chains. Ridicule is heaped upon them. It’s easy to get discouraged. But this is the lot of truth-tellers. This is the inevitable result of living the truth. Giving up now would only compound the crime. Don’t submit to disappointment and despair. Don’t abandon these good men, Pete Eyre and Adam Mueller. The mindless brutes may cage our bodies but they will never cage our minds. Only we have the power to permit that.
Anyway, what’s the alternative? Shall we give up and go back to being neutral and indifferent? Join “the appalling silence of the good people“? Condemn them? No. We are on the right course. We are all born equal. No man should be made to bow to another, either literally or by removal of articles of clothing. When a gesture of respect is mandatory, it becomes an act of submission. And no man may be made to submit to another. We are drawing attention to the man behind the curtain. And it is paying off. My conscience demands my perseverance. What about you?
Is it just a hat? Is it “common sense” to remove one’s hat in court? Accepted wisdom? Did Pete “get what he deserved”? Imagine the terrible things said about Rosa Parks when she kept her seat at the front of the bus. All blacks to the back of the bus. That’s “common sense”. Everybody knows that! What a drama queen. She deserves what she got. I can hear it now.
Consider a man in South Africa who made a fuss about some identification cards. He raised quite a stink by burning them. Later, he created another scandal over the wearing of traditional dress in courts of law. Today, some still hate him. But it was precisely his commitment to principle, his disobedience and his perseverance that made Mohandas Gandhi a hero.
Think back to George Fox, who founded the Quakers in the 17th century. The custom of taking off one’s hat, bowing and scraping to others in deference – it offended him. So he stopped doing it. He stood against the multitudes of powerful people – even in court – and defied what he believed to be wrong. And he went to jail for it.
”ŽRosa Parks could have moved to the back of the bus. Gandhi could have accepted the ID cards instead of burning them. George Fox could have caved and taken off his hat too. But they didn’t, and that is what makes them great. They persevered. We are stronger for it. As Oscar Wilde said, “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience and rebellion that progress has been made.” People who disobey cause those around them to think, to question and to evolve.
Given that our human history is littered with tyranny, domination and injustice at the hands of powerful elites, the call to action is stronger now than ever. Stand with Pete, Adam and all other political prisoners who dare disobey unjust laws and illegitimate authorities. They are our path to a more just and peaceful future.
13 replies on “It’s Easy to Get Discouraged, but Persevere We Must”
Wow! You nailed this! I was getting discouraged, but this helped me snap back. Thanks.
I couldn’t have asked for a more inspirational response, Jim. Thank you.
I’m not trolling here, I really want to know: How do you keep from getting angry with the people who scorn these heroes? And more importantly, how do you keep from viewing them as the enemy?
They are not the aggressors, they don’t owe me anything, and they have a right to their opinion. BUT – when they voice that opinion, and vote, and consider themselves a part of that fiction called ‘society’, they become a part of that evil, oppressive machine. A machine that would fall apart immediately if some tiny percent of the people withdrew it’s blessing.
Normally I wouldn’t even ask this question, I would just keep to myself and not take a stand on anything because they’ve won, and I can’t fight them because they’re not doing anything that I consider wrong. In this way, I almost become one of them, but I don’t get that burning feeling of hatred. But you, George, and those you post about, are making me think I’m missing something big. Something that will allow me to take a stand for what I consider right, and not develop a burning hatred for the (evil?)(selfish?)(stupid?)(ignorant?)(innocent?) masses: the silent good people.
Thanks,
– Trevor.
Trevor, thanks for asking such an important and difficult question.
Maybe it’s just me but I’ve been actively speaking out for what I feel is right since I was 14. And I was always ridiculed. I was always in the minority. So I maybe I have developed a limited immunity.
Maybe the secret is to remember that they are wrong. If 1 million people are screaming a hateful lie at you, it is irritating but it doesn’t shake me. So maybe if we revisit our principles, why we do this, why we believe this, the work that Pete and Adam and have done and just the fact that some people out there enjoy hurting others, it will serve to inoculate.
Another thing that has constantly happened to me is that I’ve had success. I am quite sincere and always try to listen first and understand the other person. This usually impresses at least one person in the audience. So I’ve had success in sparking individuals to question themselves and evolve.
I try to imagine myself in the shoes of the ridiculer. Maybe I would have said that myself 10 or 20 years ago. How would the me of today spark constructive change in that potential me of yesterday?
Finally, getting angry means I lose. Guaranteed, every time. It took me awhile to internalize this. I want to correct misconceptions and honestly give the person a chance to be corrected. So if I get angry, I defeat myself. I can not allow myself to be angry.
Even the most blatantly evil of people can be reached with love. I must admit, sometimes it is very hard to stay in a loving frame of mind. But the alternative is to go out in a blaze of glory and that would end the party early. I want to enjoy the party (life) as long as possible.
In order to get the good people to take a stand, I think we have to awaken their sense of justice.
I’m thinking out loud here. Does any of that make sense?
George, you nailed it with this one. I’d take it a step further & suggest that people should even embrace ridicule to a degree. It means you’ve challenged the other side & they don’t want to face the contradictions in their thinking
Below is from a debate about the morality of taxation:
Darren wrote:
[This Larry character claimed that taxes are “voluntary” because people pay them without the IRS having to raid their homes first]
This is like saying that rape is voluntary because the victim submits rather than be beaten, stabbed, or shot. Your moral compass is in need of a serious overhaul. You don’t deny that taxes are imposed by force on people that are not committing crimes (violating others rights). Yes, taxes are imposed by law, law that violates people’s rights. This is the initiation of force that you bend over backwards to ignore. Thank you, the debate is over my point is made.
Ohhhhh Darren, we bow down before your Obviously Superior Moral Compass! The Debate Is Over and your Point is Made! Ohhhhhhh how could we ever have thought we could stand before your Might Moral Superiority! Ohhhhhhh those mean ol’, bad ol’ tax laws! And just look at me and Ashley and Sonny….. beeeeeennnnnnnnding over backwards to ignore the Initiation of Force….. ohhhhhhh….
Darren, you hair’s on fire.
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Thank you Larry for making a complete ass of yourself with these last mocking posts. You make it obvious how morally & intellectually bankrupt you are.
Perhaps this isn’t Larry, maybe a 10 year old is posting this stuff in his name. Who knows? Anyway, until Larry here comes back with some adult comments I’m going to sign off on this thread having mopped the floor with him.
http://www.meetup.com/WeSurroundThemGathering/messages/boards/thread/6975098/2060#39485271
The enemy is not refuted: enough to unmask him as a bourgeois.[7] Marxism criticizes the achievements of all those who think otherwise by representing them as the venal servants of the bourgeoisie. Marx and Engels never tried to refute their opponents with argument. They insulted, ridiculed, derided, slandered, and traduced them, and in the use of these methods their followers are not less expert. Their polemic is directed never against the argument of the opponent, but always against his person. Few have been able to withstand such tactics. Few indeed have been courageous enough to oppose Socialism with that remorseless criticism which it is the duty of the scientific thinker to apply to every subject of inquiry.
–Ludwig von Mises
Well said!! Great quote! Thank you Darren.
Thanks for the reply, George. It does make sense, and I think the point about not worrying about the ridicule is very well made. And as Darren said, perhaps even enjoying the ridicule. I have that part ok, I think. The anger that I feel does not come from me being ridiculed, it comes from… Huh, I thought I understood this part until I went to write it down.
It’s about the fact that good people, even some amazingly good people, who I am proud to be associated with, and who would never dream of ridiculing me, or anyone, are on the wrong team. They’ve bought this lie that is the mainstream. They would never say anything bad about someone standing up for their rights, like Pete Eyre, Julian Heicklen, or Steven Anderson, to name a few. They certainly would not wish anything bad on these people. But they would consider them misguided, and view these freedom fighters in almost exactly the way I view ‘the silent good people’.
I know where the anger comes from. It comes from not being able to reach them. It’s frustration turning to anger.
So you answered my question even better than I thought you did – you have had some success.
That gives me a lot to think about.
Ah I know exactly what you mean.
At the LoT meetup in Philly, an older gentleman that I respect said to me right in the middle of the thing that Pete and Adam bring all their trouble on themselves.
It was so stupid and out of place, I was in shock for a minute.
Some people have come a long way and still have a ways to go. Maybe we all do.
Perhaps this is the concept they don’t understand. Once you know the truth, the next step is to live it. When you live the truth, it makes people uncomfortable. You inevitably break some stupid rules. This gets the cops on your tail. And if you are a consistent and courageous person, you will continue living the truth while you interact with the cops. And that will really piss them off.
Operation Spark Plug (sparking thought in statists) is incomplete if it doesn’t extend to those in the liberty community already, and even more importantly, ourselves.
Awesome write-up George. Would do any activist well to give it a once-over.
Thanks Pete, glad you liked it.