Liberty Yell: Last Mile Before the Night?

By Matthew Sperling on Dec 08, 2015 at 09:30 AM in Featured Essays, Liberty Yell

Last Mile Before the Night?

One more major terrorist attack, and we will be faced with an ongoing violation of the concept and practice of freedom.

The shameless drumbeating now going on for enhanced security and military deployments--distilling all courses of action into brawn over brain--should tell us everything we need to know about the real threats to our way of life, but it seems that any counterforce to the self-righteous cries for revenge are buried under the fear of being called "unpatriotic." Whoever said that patriotism requires the unclenching ignorance of a closed mind?

To be clear: We need to defend ourselves, just as we have during centuries of warfare between the mostly Judeo-Christian West and those followers of Mohamed based mainly around the Mediterranean. Perhaps the shores of Tripoli have experienced a rapid continental drift and are now just up the coast from Miami Beach, but this means the geography of violence has merely become more inclusive; that is, America is more attached to the process which has mostly been taking place far away. What has driven us to the current bloodshed?

There does not appear to be a single head of government with the courage to explain what's going on. We created the monsters who are killing us in the streets of Paris and San Bernardino. These are the same monsters beheading people and posting the images on line. At least, they are clear and honest about their actions. How many times have we seen footage of the people and other living things we have murdered with our own weapons? How often have we seen the bodies of those tortured and killed by regimes that we support in the name of profits for various blood-soaked enterprises?

The lie de jour has us sitting in Fortress America--as innocent as the pure blue sky--when some crazy people suddenly decided to kill us in our beds, in our malls, at our businesses.... All that death just fell out of the sky and landed on our good times. Of course, this ignores the deaths already dealt out to thousands of American men, women and children by our own homegrown nut jobs with pistols, rifles and bullets, wielding an arsenal obtained without the bother of gun regulations. Why not strip the safety features off our cars and take down the speed limit signs? The ensuing carnage might make us feel more American. While we're at it, let's fire all the building and health inspectors. Why support the police? We should just arm ourselves and shoot it out for whatever reasons suit us. One big, completely-not-O.K. Corral from sea to shining sea.

It is a mere seven years since one of the greatest robberies in history. Trillions were stolen by institutions which were...unregulated. Even when this massive thievery was recognized far and wide, the perpetrators were almost universally allowed to walk. The government which might have pursued more of these thieving varmints was too busy collecting campaign donations to do more than shout, "Hey, look over there! Isn't that an illegal immigrant?" or "Obamacare is the work of the devil!" or "Oh, my God! Not gay marriage!"

What happens next? Every one of us carries the power of our belief in peace, in liberty and in justice. These beliefs will sustain us and give us the pathway back to the light.

However long the dark hours prove to be, our hearts will endure. Our strength will endure, because the triumph of good is never a small, weak thing.

Love is power. Courage is power. Laughter is power. These are some of the strengths which no one can take away, no matter how great the threat.

Blessings on the earth, our only home. Now, organize.