"The road to hell is paved with good intentions"
It's an old saying, and it's been used far too often to really make the impact it should these days. I however, feel it is true especially in these dark days of uncertainty over the future and our own goals. What has happened since 9am on September the 11th, 2001 has been the symptom, not the disease.
It has taken over 30 years, but finally, we are all suffering the same fever that has gripped the 2nd and 3rd world for generations. We are all choking to death on the lies spoken by men who have led us from one war to another, one financial crisis to another, one tragedy to another. How many children have starved to death, or surrendered to the dark night while gasping violently in thier mother's arms as they frantically try to keep breathing through the toxic gasses the factory thier parents work in fill the air. How many men have gone from being masters of thier own temperment to men of fury, blind rage and purporters of the most horrible acts because of the pain inflicted upon them by men of power who seek not a national interest but a financial reward? That pain, that dark night, has stalked the population of the East, and the southern continents for many years. Now, it is coming for us.
Our leaders have one thing right: we are in danger of being destroyed by a weapon of mass destruction. This weapon, however is not chemical, biological or nuclear. It is an idea. An idea that we exist only to serve those with greater wealth than us. An idea that we have no say in our nations' future. An idea that we are subservient to the most ruthless and that men of good will are but fools who must be lauded but never directly supported. It is an idea that has kept us all in chains since before any one of us can remember. An idea that has seen fleeting moments of hope torn across it, yet always restored to strength by the unwillingness of men of character and concience to act.
You speak of taxation, and the justification for war in Iraq, Afghanistan and a dozen other places we will probably never any of us see in our lifetimes. I ask you, why are you so concerned about the events thousands of miles away when the biggest violation of human rights happens every day - every moment of our lives. Why do you not ask - why must I feel there is no one I can vote into government that can make things better? Why must I work so hard in profession and recieve a meager reward with even less respect from those around me? Why is it not enough for everyone in society to gain a place for themselves, for thier family and thier future without fear of being paid too little or provided with less than they require?
Men who came before us dreamed the same dreams we do - of a world where all men are equal, where each person has thier place in the world respected by all, where freedom and the good of your fellow man can be respected above all else? Why has this not happened? Why have so many generations failed to meet the challenge of building a better future? Can it ever happen?
I believe it can. I believe it can because in our hearts we men of good will have never given up, the few of us there are. We have kept the dreams alive in our hearts, in our minds, and in our children. Those among us who oppose us, do so not because they are "evil" but because they are tempted by the short term gains that thier lies provide them with, and the riches thier brutal and violent actions can bring.
It is the role of those of us who believe in a better tomorrow to stand fast, and uphold our ideas and principles that will always overcome the most gross levels of greed and most horrifying of violent acts. When we fail to do this, we become what truly is evil - we abandon our faith in the future and in ourselves and we betray our future children and thier own dreams.
We often falter, we often lose the moral courage to do what is right - but so long as we stand back up, dust ourselves off, admit to ourselves we made a mistake and confront injustice and hardship face on - then we can always call ourselves good people.
These are the reasons I do not fear the unjust man in this world. These are the reasons why I believe no matter how grim the future may seem today, tomorrow morning with the sunrise there is new hope.
These are the reasons I say to those who would exploit my fellow man and rape my fellow women: You are nothing to fear.
These are the truths I will commit my faith and my heart to.
These are the truths we must fight for, we must die for, and we must remember.
We must be free.
