Resist Tyranny Before it Takes Root

I read a great quote from Churchill today.  It describes the precarious nature of fighting something before it's too late.  This is a very difficult subject and many people I talk to about liberty carry the attitude that, "as long as it doesn't affect me, I don't care."  Here is what I would say in response to those who will not lift a finger to resist tyranny.

"Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed, if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not so costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no chance of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."   - Churchhill

History has shown our race to be one almost always subject to the will of evil men.  Only pockets of freedom have ever existed and usually only in a local time and place.  It is never long before the new generation is born into freedom, never having fought for it themselves and they tend to take it for granted.  Most people today seem to think about our own history as an abstract idea in a far away fantastical place.  It is extremely difficult to picture what our lives would be like if we had to fight in the streets for our very lives.  And yet, history has demonstrated this is precisely what will inevitably happen.  


The hands of tyranny press ever onward crushing the innocent under its boot.  At first a small number are oppressed and the masses are acclimated to accept it.  Yet the number of downtrodden grows ever steadily by increment as the lobster boils in the pot.  Eventually the day will come when the water is so hot there is no choice left but to fight for your life.  And in that moment the greatest odds are against you.  I doubt I could convince even a sizable fraction of the population that erecting the fort against the coming dangers is our best hope.  And so, as it always does, the task of upheaval falls to a dedicated minority.  In the coming crisis it will be up to the lovers of liberty to put forth the ideas of freedom and prosperity to ensure that in the moment of dire decision, our fellow man does not fall victim to the temptation of an even greater evil.


If you are interested in this subject, I would recommend reading C.S. Lewis' The Abolition of Man.  He describes in great detail the mindset of those who oppose a free society.  In his words, the state is always working towards the day when the final rebellion will be quelled and no one will have the capacity or desire to resist.