On Freedom
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”
- Viktor Frankl
As Viktor Frankl suggested, man’s last and enduring freedom is his capacity to choose his response to the unalterable conditions of his existence. We cannot always determine our situation or our lot in life, but we can determine our response to these circumstances. That is what makes a man free; not his conditions, but his actions.
Tyranny has always existed and will continue to flourish. Power is an intrinsic element within the social landscape; it will always find its way into the hands of those with ambitions, beliefs, and values different from your own. This is not a creation of any particular political party, ideology, or culture. This isn’t a problem of our current generation. It’s not a sign of the “end times.” It’s merely the story of our human condition. We do ourselves a disservice when we despair, reflecting on the facts of our reality. Our world is not shaped by our dreams and hopes – only by our will and determination. If one wants to be free, they must take action to free themselves, not simply theorize about a world where tyranny no longer exists.
“The task of men is not to desert historical struggles nor to serve the cruel and inhuman elements in those struggles. It is rather to remain what they are, to help man against what is oppressing him, to favor freedom against the fatalities that close in upon it. Man’s greatness lies in his decision to be greater than his condition. And if his condition is unjust, he has only one way of overcoming it, which is to be just himself.”
- Albert Camus
There has never, and will never, be an Armageddon of liberation. No decisive victory for freedom has ever been achieved; no lasting peace or universal system of values has prevailed. We are fated for never-ending conflict; cycles of prosperous freedom to impoverished despotism, progression from strong and established virtues to decrepit and soulless nihilism, cultures of productive and proud peoples to parasitic and disgraceful mongrels.
Our task is to find a means to live free within this unfree world. To hold true to order and our ideals even in the midst of chaos and decay. To embrace the values and virtues that are time-tested and honorable. To uphold the lessons of tradition and ancient wisdom, acquired over the ages and far more insightful than the prescriptions of the self-appointed “experts” of modernity. This way of life is not popular, nor will it ever be so, but it is our way.
Men of principle and honor are unconcerned with popularity. To be well-liked is to be an entertainer; a puppet; a mirror-image of the current fascination. Such men are forgotten and disregarded the moment they become boring or old. Our aim is not directed by spectators. Our endeavor – liberation – has a direction of its own.
“Perhaps the forces that now menace freedom are too strong to be resisted for very long. It is still our duty to do whatever we can to resist them.”
- Aldous Huxley
Our society has fallen to globalist agendas, supported by multinational corporations, and pandered to the lowest common denominator. Democracy and socialism are hailed as an achievement, but who among us thinks it wise to place our fate in the hands of the loudest mob?
Strong men are few; wise men are fewer. The masses are comprised of weak and witless cowards. It is these same masses of men that determine the interests and trajectory of our society today. Courage and intelligence are not inherent within the crowd. The virtues of strength and wisdom were not determined by a vote, nor can their utility be undone by it. But that’s the belief of the contemporary man; that anything popular is righteous. Tyranny today differs from tyranny of the past in this way: that ours is not a tyranny of the powerful few, but of the meager mass.
There are many liberty-minded men out there that will only engage in acts of liberation that are designed to set everyone free – “liberty for all.” It is their belief, at least to some degree, that liberation is only possible if the masses can be enticed by it. Theirs is a marketing campaign aimed at the lowest rung of society; an attempt to persuade the willing slaves into liberty; to implant a strong set of virtues into spineless cowards; to encourage productivity and creativity amongst thieves and parasites.
The majority of our species has no real interest in freedom. They may pay lip-service to it, but that is all they’re willing to pay. Most men, especially in the present-day, are far too comfortable in servitude. Strategies for freedom that involve reprogramming human nature, disregarding our history, and envisioning a future of unprecedented behavior is entirely unrealistic. We must accept that our ambition is only that – our ambition. The majority is neither desiring nor deserving of freedom. It’s a fool’s errand to free a man that adores his chains; not to mention that imposing freedom on those who don’t wish for it is its own kind of tyranny.
“Liberty is a matter of selection; a predisposition; a type of destiny – only those fit for it will have it.”
- Liberty and the Will to Power
In our modern age, to attain freedom, we must revert back to the ways of the Iron Age. A time when order was established by gathering together men of like-minded values, not by a popular vote. A time when this order was defended, not in the courtroom, but on the battlefield. A time when the common man rose to power, not by subverting the values and beliefs of his society, but by uplifting them. To set ourselves free from the madness of modernity and the tyranny of the masses, we must come together to form our own order and defend it by means unknown to the contemporary men of corporate democracy. Our ambition must be to form a tribal order of strong virtues, cut out a corner of this mad world for ourselves, and within this claimed territory, see our beliefs, ideals, and values flourish.
Our fraternity – the Sons of Liberty – was born from tyranny; our very existence is tied to it. If there was no injustice in this world, if all men were free to live as they saw fit, then SOL would be obsolete. We exist because the conditions for freedom must be continuously fought for; they are never given or granted without measures of force enacted against the powers-that-be. This force for freedom, if surrendered or even yielded, will result in an immediate degradation of our liberty and those ideals we hold dearest.
The actions that sustain life are never completed; they are repeated. Seeds must be sown to produce our food, but after the harvest, we don’t simply retire, we make preparations for the next growing season. Such is the nature of our human existence; all things worth doing are necessarily worth repeating. Failure to act out the practices that provided for our ancestors will result in our demise.
“The history of liberty is a history of resistance.”
- Woodrow Wilson
There are proven historical methods of liberation and they are repeated within every age. We never hear of the “War for Liberty,” but we can observe the battles throughout our entire existence. Just as a farmer’s way of life revolves around the cycle of seasons, so too does the freedom fighter’s way of life revolve around the epochs of liberty and despotism.
As Sons of Liberty, we understand our history. The fight is either on hand or on the horizon; it’s sometimes difficult to discern between them. In light of this, we devote ourselves to liberty’s continued proliferation. We never stop. We never surrender. We hold true. It’s our chosen way of life.
Freedom is an action, not an achievement; it’s a journey, not a destination.
