Three tenets to a true revolution

The three tenets of a peaceful life:

1. Love your neighbor as yourself.

2. Interact with love, not force, not violence.

3. Give more than you receive.

For three years, on and off, I have been writing a story about freedom and revolution, built around a character who has developed the name Raymond Douglas Kaliber. The three tenets are the essentials of his philosophy.

Based on Sirius IV – and therefore a very loose sequel to my first novel, The Imaginary Bomb – the tale follows a revolt against the tyrants who have attempted to rule from Earth, some 8.6 light years away. But as a wise and ancient songwriter said, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” A government established through violent overthrow of a repressive regime can only be repressive itself, as violence begets violence.

It was an Imaginary Revolution. My story tells how Kaliber created a new kind of commonwealth, based in his tenets of a peaceful life.

I can’t wait to share it. I see so much of Sirius IV every day in the headlines, and I wish I could see Ray Kaliber out there working already.

Who benefits from your fear?

The fear is ratcheting up again. Again I’m reminded of the scene in the movie V for Vendetta when the mad tyrant Adam Sutler demands that the citizenry be reminded “why - they - need - us!!!”

I turn on the news this morning and the U.S. is leading a coalition to make war against Libya. The fallout continues from the Japan earthquake - literally, as crews continue to work to avert catastrophe at a crippled nuclear power plant. In my home state of Wisconsin and elsewhere, a battle is brewing between the private sector and public employees, with either side claiming the other is motivated by greed. Like the bar patron in V for Vendetta, one is tempted to wonder aloud, “Do you believe that shit?”

The other option is to be afraid. Fear kills reason. Fear leads to irrational decisions. When fear wells up in your throat, the only rational thing to do is to force it back down. Refuse to be afraid.

Then consider: Who benefits when you are afraid? In the story, the tyrant Sutler clearly felt he had the upper hand when ordinary citizens were cowed. A fearful citizenry is more easily led. The forces of tyranny can advance their attack on freedom more easily against people who don’t want to be afraid anymore. They have a tougher row to hoe against people who simply refuse to be afraid, people who see through the ruse and preserve their freedom.

As H.L. Mencken famously said, “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Don’t let them alarm you. If you are afraid to speak out, speak anyway. Refuse to be afraid.

The aim side of ready-fire-aim

A lot of good business folks have recommended the idea of approaching a project with the philosophy "Ready-Fire-Aim!" That is, get it ready, but don't necessarily waste too much time "aiming" the project, tinkering until all your ducks are in a row. With the flexibility of Internet technology these days, that tweaking can be done on the fly.

So what you've seen this week is a tweak on the fly. (My, that sounds a little risque, doesn't it?) After further due diligence I've reversed my earlier thoughts and decided Refuse to be Afraid is indeed the title that my first non-fiction book will wear for posterity.

What happened? Well, a couple of things that a good entrepreneur or author wannabe should consider before pulling the proverbial trigger.

Pink squirrels, fear and the freedom to dream

This is important now: Don’t think about pink squirrels for the next 30 seconds. Ready? Go!

You have a pretty clear image of a pink squirrel in your mind now, don’t you?

And that, simply put, is why I'm going to put out a revised edition of my book Refuse to be Afraid with a new name: Free to Dream.

Respect your instincts

One day when I was 16 years old, I got curious about the cigarettes that a friend had begun smoking out of habit. I asked if I could try one. “Sure,” he said, handing one over, helping me light it and giving a quick demonstration of how to inhale.

My lungs rebelled immediately, and by the time I was halfway through my head ached and my stomach was turning. I extinguished the cigarette and never considered tobacco again.

When I first got out of college, I vowed never to buy anything on debt except a house and perhaps a car. It struck me that if I bought something on credit, a $100 purchase would end up costing me $120 or $180 or more depending on the interest rate and how long I took to pay it off. But I found myself unable (or unwilling?) to establish a substantial savings account. After a year or so, I bought a new stereo system on an 18-month plan.

That felt so painless that I took out a credit card, for “big” items only, of course.

The Sacred and the Lore of Attraction

My commute material last week included the audiobook of The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. I had a few concerns about the book, which were partially addressed in the book There is More to the Secret by Ed Gungor, which I read over the weekend.

Freedom is not for the faint of heart

You are free to shout "fire" in a crowded theater. All you have to do is be prepared to accept the consequences — for example, time in jail or prison, and/or civil suits by people injured in the ensuing panic, or their survivors.

You are free to blame a madman's actions on your political adversaries. All you have to do is be prepared to accept the consequences — for example, looking like a damn fool when the madman's friends confirm he was apolitical and paid no attention to your adversaries.

Freedom comes with responsibility, accountability for your words and actions. It's not always easy to speak your mind publicly, because just as you have every right to express your views, those who hear have every right to offer their opinions in response. Sometimes other people's opinions of yours won't be pleasant.

Never mind what Big Brother said, freedom is the opposite of slavery. The solution to foolish or angry words is a reasoned response. The solution is not silencing the foolish or angry speaker by the force of new law – and the solution is certainly not violence. Not ever.

Freedom is not for the faint of heart. Freedom of speech means sometimes we will hear things we'd rather not hear. Stupid and/or evil folks will abuse freedom, and you can count on that. But the actions of a few do not justify stealing freedom from the many.

Freedom is not a gift of government. You were born with certain, inherent rights. Governments are formed to secure these rights, not create them. The most tyrannical government cannot remove these rights, although (as governments are designed to do) it may impede the exercise of freedom, and often does.

Freedom is the default mode of a human being. We relinquish our freedoms at our own peril. Think hard before you advocate for restricting any of them.

They hate our freedoms

In the aftermath of the unspeakable incidents Sept. 11, 2001, in New York City and elsewhere, many people said the terrorists did what they did because they hate America’s freedoms.

In the aftermath of the horrific incident Saturday in Tucson, Ariz., it’s a bit disheartening to see the extent to which Americans hate America’s freedoms.

Rather than place the blame for the deaths of six people and the wounding of 12 others where it belongs — in the hands of a deranged individual — politicians and pundits have blamed instead the increasingly nasty tone of political discourse in this country, or the availability of guns.

Thoughts on the opening of the 112th Congress

The new governor of Wisconsin raised some eyebrows the other day with something noncontroversial that he said during his inauguration speech.

Gov. Scott Walker said, among other things, “Our rights as free people are given by our creator, not the government. Among these rights is the right to nurture our freedom and vitality through limited government.”

Some made a small fuss about the insertion of a supernatural creator into a secular event. They had little recourse, seeing as Walker was quoting from the Wisconsin Constitution when he talked about being “grateful to almighty God for our freedom.”

For centuries and even millennia, humanity has operated on the presumption that some people are better than others, that common people are born to serve superior people, and that the kindest superior people bestow freedoms on commoners who find favor with them.

In 1776 the Founders of the United States of America turned this notion on its head, declaring that we are born free.

Opening the book on a new year

Lyrics to a little ditty I wrote back in the day ...

Live Till You Die

Nobody said that it would be easy,
Everyone said it could not be done,
But nobody said it would not be worth it,
So go for it now — you've only just begun.

There's no shame in failing before the end comes.
While there's life, there is hope, there's a seed.
It's better to try, give it all that you have,
Than attempt to do nothing and succeed.

There's just too many people out there
Not caring if they live or die
There's just so much to find out there —
You can't laugh if you're afraid to cry.

So this is my plea: Live till you die.
There's no reason you should give up now.
Tomorrow's a blank page to write what you wish —
The rising sun will show you how.

Cross posted to Uncle Warren's Attic