In Honor of the 4th of July
In Honor of the 4th of July I thought I would share one of my favorite essays by L. Ron Hubbard, titled Strong Voices in the Land.
Mr. Hubbard wrote this in 1970, when the US was wracked by student revolt and inner-city riots. The Viet Nam war raged and a generation of youth were "not taking it anymore."
The anti-Iraq war marches remind me of the 70's and it is again an era of discontent as shown by results of a recent Gallop pole on President Bush's approval ratings hiting new lows.
The full essay by L. Ron Hubbard can be read online, but I thought I'd quote the first part as I believe it is so pertinent today. I believe it is part of our heritage in America to speak up about those things we feel should be corrected and thereby help the country acheive its potential both at home and as an international power.
"When things are not running right, when the public, unable to perceive why, drift down to an apathy below perception, when a culture, already misguided, drifts further and further toward ruin, the nation is fortunate indeed that it has men with the genius to recognize approaching doom and the courage to speak out.
"Fought, discredited, reviled by a blind system in the hands of a power elite careless of all destinies but their own short span, contemporary philosophers are called “Revolutionaries,” “Communists,” “Agitators,” “Malcontents,” “Rabble-rousers” and any other harsh word which the captive press and the arrogant pompous and blind Establishment can find in their dictionaries.
"Heedless, deaf to all reason, psychotic in their righteousness, the “pillars of society,” the “safe men,” like the treacherous rams of the stockyard who lead the sheep to the slaughter pens, refuse to hear any faintest criticism of their senselessness and fight back with an underhanded ferocity that seeks by any discrediting means to still any and all new thought." >> more
For more information on the application of the work of L. Ron Hubbard to improving society visit the Scientology Effective Solutions web site.