inspiration

Good day, America. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of

every day routine- the security of the familiar, the tranquility of

repetition. I enjoy them as much as anybody. But in the spirit of

commemoration, thereby those important events of the past usually

associated with someone's death or the end of some awful bloody

struggle, a celebration of a nice holiday, I thought we could mark

this November the 5th, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by

taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little

chat. There are of course those who do not want us to speak.Because

while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will

always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for

those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is,

there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there?

Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you

had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now

have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and

soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well

certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will

be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for

the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you do it. I

know you are afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There are

a myriad of problems which conspire to corrupt your reason and rob you

of your common sense. Fear is getting the best of you, and in your

panic you turn to the government. They promise you order, they promise

you peace, and all they demanded in return was your silent, obedient

consent. Last night I sought to remind this country of what it has

forgotten. More than four hundred years ago a great citizen wished to

embed the fifth of November forever in our memory. His hope was to

remind the world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than

words, they are perspectives. So if you've seen nothing, if the crimes

of this government remain unknown to you then I would suggest you

allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I

see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I

ask you to, this November fifth or before, go to

www.newindependencehall.com and sign the new declaration of

independence, and together we shall give them a fifth of November that

shall never, ever be forgot.


Yours truly,
Ben Franklin


ps. this is a modified quote from the movie v for vendetta. the fact that the words are not truly original does not make them any less true.