I once wrote the following…
“No human being should be denied the fundamental right to educate themselves or indulge their curiosities. To deny any person the right to do so, for whatever reason, is nothing more than the safeguarding of ignorance to ensure that enlightenment does not become a threat. For nothing in this world is more dangerous than an open mind.”
When I wrote that I never thought that it would ever apply to my own sense of personal freedom.
How foolish of me.
There is a marked difference between educated debate and the white noise that confuses issues to such a point that they lose all meaning. I would like to sit here and say that the former is the norm, but I would be lying. The truth is that the latter is the norm, that the interjection of ignorance is what maintains this comfortable equilibrium that we have grown accustomed to because it is far safer than the alternative in many cases. Everyone has an opinion, and everyone is certainly entitled to one, but that right does not make the opinion of every person valid if it is uneducated or mired in agenda.
Having said that, I am no different than anyone else. My opinions are just that – opinions – but they are ones that rely on a daily routine of self education that has been a staple in my life for years. My sourcing is not limited to researching documents and a variety of literary and journalistic sources. Over the years I have established relationships with a variety of individuals that have first hand experience with regards to many topics that I write about – such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I will be the first to admit that I have never been to war, but to claim that I should forfeit the right to talk about it is nothing more than the interjection of ignorance. For if we are unwilling to look at the dark side of that which many in the post 9/11 world believe is just, how can the protection of freedom itself be used to justify anything?
I have been writing about US interventionism for years, the ideology behind it that sprung from the Defense Planning Guidance and was slowly morphed into official US foreign policy, and the falsehoods used to lead a largely blind public to war. Back then I was chastised for my commentary, and yet almost everything that an array of academics, investigative journalists, and even politicians in some cases, claimed outrageous at the time has largely turned out to be true. The invasion of Iraq was based on lies, trumped up and selective intelligence, and part of a greater US military strategy in the Middle East. Even former Vice President Dick Cheney, who repeatedly claimed that a link between Iraq and 9/11 existed prior to the invasion, is now claiming that there wasn’t one. Of course, he still foolishly maintains that Iraq was a haven for terrorist groups prior to the invasion, but even that has been disproven. Personally, I wouldn’t believe anything that came out of the mouth of a man that has said with regards to the closure of Guantanamo – “If you don’t have a place where you can hold these people, your only other option is to kill them.”
There are those that claim that I am anti-American. They are the very same people that claim many others equally so simply because they have diligently worked to constantly uncover not only the erosion of the revolutionary principles on which the United States was founded, but the ease with which that erosion has taken place. I have stated more times that I care to remember that I have always believed the Constitution of the United States to be one of the most important documents ever written. That said, who is truly guilty of anti-Americanism given its blatant abuse?
Torture is another issue that confounds me. Were I commenting on the abusive practices of a tyrannical regime a chorus of support would no doubt be present, but because the United States is guilty of it we dare not even call it torture, even though the United States itself prosecuted war criminals at the end of the Second World War for committing the exact same crimes. The truth of the matter is that an alarmingly high number of so called ‘terrorists’ held at Guantanamo are ordinary people that were in the wrong place at the wrong time and were swept up by proxies working with US elements on the ground in exchange for reward money. That’s the reality, and it’s been documented. But the question remains – how has outrage over such a thing been limited to a minority in nations in which the rule of law is viewed as sacred and the principles of the foundation on which it stands are considered worth dying for? Even more, how do the precedents set over the last eight years share troubling similarities with those social phenomena that we have long studied with contempt?
From the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to detention and torture, from poverty and mental health issues here in the Lower Mainland to the current tensions on the Korean peninsula, vigilance is mandatory, not a casual affair, and by using that word I am not referring to a self serving vigilance, rather one that seeks to reveal those elements that are hidden or obscured. There are those that claim that they haven’t the time. Over the last few days I have claimed as much myself. But the reality is that I wasn’t wired to actually believe that. I do not want my children brought up to believe that it isn’t a vital part of their lives, that events thousands of miles distant aren’t just as important as those that affect them here at home. Because in the end, the world is home.
Despite common perceptions, I am not a millionaire, and know full well the deprivations of poverty. Despite the perceptions of some, my involvement in a variety of social issues isn’t limited to writing about them on a website. I needn’t justify myself, all I need do is remain the man that I was raised to be and raise my children so that their eyes and hearts remain open even in the face of adversity and unpopularity. Because in this world, despite its apparent erosion, character is everything.
