A call to arms

[GoodCallYouWin]

The world is a terrifying and exciting place. We live at a time where mankind is rushing headlong into the future at a tremendous pace. While this planet has been in existance for roughly five billion years, mankind has been in existance for only two million of these years. Our history begins modestly, barely sentient creatures stumbling around in the dark but then progresses boldy, as we discover fire, forge weapons from steel, decipher the mysterys of chemistry and begin our rudimentary efforts at philosophy.

Throughout this journey we create theories to guide us. The most elementary theory, that of good and evil, provides a rational basis for morality. More complicated theories allow us to begin to understand more of our outside world than the dubious knowledge our senses provide us. These theories are not perfect; sometimes they aid us in our quests, sometimes they set us back. The progress of man is not simply a continuous march into the future, but all too often a process of two steps forwards and one step backwards.

We stand at the precipice of a most dangerous epoch; an age where man has discovered weapons more powerful and more deadly than even the most imaginative among us could not have predicted a few centuries ago. Great planes fly from continent to continent, we enjoy a standard of living which in previous generations was reserved for royalty and we have begun to take baby steps towards the conquest of space. Meanwhile, across the globe, low intensity conflicts continue to rage. Children bear arms against other children, fourty thousand people starve to death every single day and all manner of tyranny and despotism still enslaves most of the human race. The one constant in this world of flux is change.

People dream of change, they fight for change and they die for change. Millions have sacrificed themselves at the altar of a better life, for their children, their country and the world; but change will not come willingly. It must be coaxed along, not by the brute force of coercion or the slimy cudgel of propaganda but by the tremendous power of ideas. We must never doubt that ideas have consequences; this has been proven time and again, by both the prosperity that the ideas of freedom have brought to this planet and the terror and despotism that the ideas of collectivism and socialism have inflicted upon hundreds of millions.

And so we are faced with a terrifying struggle. Can we overcome the forces of apathy, fear, tyranny and collectivism and bring the ideas of individuality, peace and freedom to the forefront? Must we be forced to forever wait in the shadows, praying for our time to come or will be able to seize the stage and demand an end to statism forever?

The 21st century will be a time of tremendous consequences and importance. We are faced with extraordinary challenges. Today the State Department brought forth a new round of economic sanctions against Iran, part of the lead up to war between the U.S.A. and Persia; uncomfortably echoing the build up to the war with Iraq. In almost every country in the world the cancer of socialism rots away at the freedom's and prosperities of the people who are forced to endure them; everywhere in the world, government continues to grow. The media serves as a loudspeaker for those in power; amplifying their propagandistic messages mindlessly.

And yet hope is not completely lost. The ideas of liberty and freedom are relatively new in a world which has known little aside from tyranny and collectivism throughout it's existance. Many people instinctively despise their 'elected' masters and the internet is providing a free market alternative to heavily influenced statist media. Every day more join the cause of liberty.

And so I urge you all to forget the petty struggles of the past, to over come your fears and to put aside the differences that we are exploited into fighting over. It is time to end the old class war and the collectivist group think attitudes that build hatred between groups; it is time to embrace the age of the individual. Forget the petty disputes you have grown too passionate about, and embrace the new battle; between those who would rule through coercion and those who embrace voluntarism. Take up philosophic arms against those who would ask you to bend to their will and embrace the revolutionary spirit that is present inside every truly free man, and remember the words of an earlier age; that each generation must renew their struggle for freedom, lest we slip into servitude.