The Fifth of November
Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
~ English Folk Verse (c.1870)
This morning, without actually realizing the appropriateness of the programming, I watched V for Vendetta.
I mean, I knew that the movie starts and ends on 05 November. And I remember that the whole thing is a reference to Guy Fawkes – but that wasn’t why I chose it! The time change this morning means I was up at 03:00 and could not get back to sleep and when I accessed my Plex account playlist, it was on the first page of the display.
Not wanting to watch any of the others, I fired-up the video server and viewed V for Vendetta. A short way in, is when I came across the actual reason for this post.
Without having any intention of giving away anything – here is a spoiler alert. I am about to quote a speech made the title character of the movie: V. It isn’t a spoiler in that it gives away anything you couldn’t work-out for yourself by watching the trailer of the film, but as it is a large chunk of the text, I thought I would warn you. You are warned.
Allow me first to apologise for this interruption.
I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of everyday routine, the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition, the totality of television. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration, where upon important events of the past, usually associated with someone’s death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, are celebrated with 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. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? 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 who are 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 did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease. They were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic, you turned to the now high chancellor, Adam Sutler.
He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent.
V’s Speech to England
~ From V for Vendetta
I mention this because it is appropriate not only for the date – happy Guy Fawkes Day, all! – but also because it rings eerily true. Look at how both sides of the political debate want to scare their constituency into obedience.
To those on the Right, the candidate of the left is a harpy, or a criminal, unamerican, or simply wants to pry your rights away from you without your consent. The party screams at you – horror stories about how the ideas of the Left are personally bad for you and generally bad for the country. This while taking from you with the policies they espouse.
Meanwhile on the Left, hyperbole and exaggeration on how bad the candidates on the Right are. They are stealing your money and your rights; they are hyper religious and care only about the wealthy.
Is there some truth to these claims? Yes – a modicum of truth exists in every claim made by the parties. (Individual politicians? Well! That’s a bit of a different matter…)
The point is that the populace is being manipulated. You are allowing yourself to be swayed by arguments that cannot stand-up to scrutiny, and for that reason more than any other, none is allowed. Anyone not toeing the party line, anyone who does not blythely repeat what the party wants you to is ostracized. And, as dangerous as that is, I say “GOOD!”
Those of us who refuse to toe the party line have something that the party faithful don’t – the ability to think for ourselves; the ability to know right from wrong and NOT allow someone else to tell us what to think. In the graphic novel and the movie, the police state that V is fighting against is the fault of the people – they allowed the party to come to power and take their freedoms away. They gladly surrendered their freedoms for a little security. But as Benjamin Franklin said: “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”
The surrendering of your rights to buy security is a mistake because the two are unrelated. Your surrendering your rights will not buy you the safety you want. Just as your blind belief that your party will keep you safe is a complete fiction. You are neither in as much or in as immediate danger as your party would have you believe. Anot not all who would claim to protect you are your friends.
Wherever you are today, I hope that you have the facility to tell the difference between the truth and an empty promise made by a party that simply wants your vote for their benefit.
Don Bergquist – November 05, 2017 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA
