Open letter to armchair generals

Open letter to armchair generals

Dear General,

Today, it’s obvious that freedom in the Western world is in danger. The trouble is, it is rare that the people who recognize the danger have any connection to power.

All over the world, politicians devise new ways to abuse you, your rights, and your dignity. You have a lot to worry about: from the Assault Weapons Ban, to increased search and seizure powers, to drug prohibition, and all the way to the Ashcroft Patriot Act. And with every day that passes, your situation gets only worse.

Tell me, have you ever stopped and looked at the screen and asked yourself,

· How do they get away with it?

· How do they manage to pass such nonsense into law and policy, again and again?

If you’re like most aware people, you probably shrug and blame the uninformed – the careless majority that takes the abuses for granted. Maybe you blame the corrupt media and the evil politicians.

All that may be true. But it was always true. And it will be true forever.

But you probably conclude there’s nothing you can do about it. So you move on with your life, content to be an Armchair General.

The press was corrupt during the time of Mahatma Gandhi and MLK. Yet those people made a difference.

The majority of colonists were indifferent in 1775. Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, and friends made a difference.

Certainly the politicians were just as evil in Warsaw, 1943.

The uninformed are not to blame – they simply don’t know. But there is someone who bears responsibility for the sad state of affairs.

It’s you.

You have known about all of the abuses, the prisoners, and the killings. Perhaps you chose to hang a poster on your wall declaring how you support freedom. Maybe you signed up for an email list. Or you might’ve attended a meeting with others who agreed with you about the problem.

Other than that, maybe you’ve chosen to move on with you life.

Perhaps you swore at the television when the FBI burned the Branch Davidians alive. Maybe you went to see a movie when Aaron Zellman was working on Innocents Betrayed. Maybe you stayed home with your girlfriend when Ale Yarok activists were handing out election leaflets.

You ignorant neighbor is not responsible, General. He doesn’t KNOW freedom is in danger. You do.

Let me tell you a short story, General.

In Auschwitz, the Nazis killed something in the order of two thousand people a day. Every day Allied victory was postponed meant death to two thousand people.

Some things never change. The anti-freedom politicians are killing and imprisoning people every day – in Colombia, in Baghdad, in Israel, in America. From Waco, to Thailand, to Tel-Aviv – the war on freedom rages on.

And if, because of your inaction, the war rages on one extra day – those people will suffer. The Good Book says, “To him who knows to do right, and does it not, to him it is sin.” With your knowledge and awareness comes responsibility.

I beg you, do something, General. Do something, and do it today, because some folks cannot afford for you to wait until tomorrow. Fight for the cause you support most – ending the drug war, supporting the right to bear arms, freedom of speech – but [i]fight[/i] for it, General.

Otherwise, when freedom wins (and it will win) – it might just turn out to be a day too late for someone.

And that someone could be you.

Author: Boris Karpa, AKA MicroBalrog
Slight Editing By: Jiim Babka